Current System Called a Burden All Around

By: fedweek

The current retirement date provisions were enacted to save money on the theory that employees would retire at the end of a pay period and that there would be a saving until the next month began, DoD said. However, “since employees plan their retirements to avoid periods when their pay has stopped and their retirement annuity has not begun, the current provisions regarding the commencement date of annuities save little or no money . . . The current deviations in annuity commencement dates between retirement systems and types of retirement result in a cumbersome administration process for human resources personnel who must counsel and advise employees on retirement. In addition, they make a complex process even more burdensome by laying additional responsibilities on HR personnel to ensure that all employees are appropriately advised regarding annuity-commencing dates.” Also, employees who are caught unaware of the current policies often “allege inadequate or ineffectual retirement counseling. This often results in additional administrative costs to respond to their complaints.”