OPM has long had the authority on a case-by-case basis to waive the requirement that a reemployed annuitant’s salary be offset by the amount of his annuity, but only in order to meet emergencies posing immediate and direct threat to life or property emergencies resulting from other unusual situations. And certain agencies, like the Department of Defense, have been given separate authority to waive the dual compensation requirement when necessary.
Now OPM is proposing that their authority be broadened to grant such waivers (or delegate such waiver authority) for unusual circumstances that do not cause or create an emergency. Among the possibilities they cite are “the need to conform to a congressional or other mandate to meet new or expanded mission requirements by a particular date, as well as other unforeseen developments that will adversely impact an agency’s ability to carry out its mission.
Two forces seem to be at work here. First is the number of situations where current employees have been insufficient – either in number or qualifications – to get needed work done. Second is the failure of agencies to do adequate succession planning. Unfortunately, we are in an era where the incentives to retire are greater than the incentives to stay on the rolls.
Hearings on this proposed regulation have already been held in the House. Rep. Jon Porter, chairman of the subcommittee on the federal workforce and agency organization, stated that the question is “whether existing flexibilities are enough to bring back valuable retirees to federal service in a timely manner to fill voids . . . The federal government has lost and will continue to lose some of our greatest resources – our seasoned employees. Perhaps more can be done to facilitate a return to federal service by retirees in times of national need.”
Comments are due to OPM by September 6, 2006. How long it will take after that to issue a final rule will depend on what interested parties have to say and how many changes they offer. Still, it seems likely that returning to federal employment for some retirees could be a lot less burdensome financially that it was in the past. Stay tuned.
