A collection of organizations representing front-line, managerial and senior executive federal employees has joined with a congressman active on civil service issues to call on agencies to increase their use of phased retirement.
The statement by Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., and the groups notes that phased retirement authority is now three years old and decries what it calls a “slow rollout.”
“Congress authorized federal agencies to utilize phased retirement in recognition that our nation’s 21st Century civil service requires greater flexibility and choice in retirement options,” said Connolly in a statement. “Agencies often clamor for increased personnel flexibility from Congress, and phased retirement is intended to be precisely the type of innovative tool that enables managers to provide unique mentoring opportunities for the next generation of civil servants, while ensuring that agencies do not lose decades of institutional knowledge and experience in a massive federal retirement tsunami.
“Based on feedback from my constituents, there is a strong demand among experienced federal employees for alternative retirement options that allow individuals to effectively transition out of government service,” he said.
The statement notes that a number of agencies have the concept under active consideration but that many employees who had been hoping to use the program have grown frustrated and have retired rather than wait. If an agency does not plan to use the authority, it said, it would be better to simply inform employees of the fact and remove the uncertainty.
