Legislation modifying federal retirement rules advances

The House and Senate both advanced legislation on Wednesday to make it easier for federal employees to continue serving the government at the end of their careers, either as part-time workers or retirees.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee adopted an amendment to tobacco legislation (H.R. 1256) that would grant employees under the Civil Service Retirement System who work part time instead of retiring prorated credit that would count toward their annuity payments. Currently, CSRS employees have their annuities calculated under two different systems, one that applies to work performed before 1986, and another that applies to work performed after that year. The amendment, which was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., and passed on a voice vote, would standardize the calculation so the same salary would apply to work performed before and after 1986 in annuity calculations.

The legislation also included a provision that would allow Federal Employee Retirement System enrollees to cash out their unused sick days when they retire. FERS, created in 1986, eliminated that sick time provision. But advocates of reforming the system say that change encouraged employees to take a lot of time off toward the end of their careers to use up the sick days they had accrued.

"However, with the benefit of 23 years of hindsight, we recognize that the inequity in the treatment of accrued sick leave between FERS and CSRS has hurt productivity and increased agency costs," said Margaret Baptiste, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. "For that reason, we strongly support the concept that all federal civilian retirement programs credit unused sick leave toward retirement."

Sens. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced legislation that would allow agency heads to bring back retirees for limited appointments of up to one year, without reducing their salaries by the amount of their annuity payments. The bill would allow agencies to fill up to 2.5 percent of positions with these annuitants, but if that figure rises above 1 percent, agencies must file reports explaining the appointments to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Office of Personnel Management.

Kohl introduced similar legislation in January.

Max Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, praised the bill.

"At a time when the workforce is aging and the federal government is facing a significant loss of experienced talent, it is critical that we find new ways to minimize the effects of the impending brain drain," Stier said.