The comment period for the proposed phased retirement system expires August 5, the latest step toward putting that arrangement—authorized by law more than a year ago—into actual practice. However, it probably won’t be immediately; OPM will have to examine the comments and respond to them in issuing final rules, a process that could take an undetermined amount of time. NTEU, for example, has recommended numerous changes including allowing phased retirement for all standard retirement eligibility combinations, and creating more exceptions to the general requirement that phased retirees spend a fifth of their time mentoring other employees. Under the rules as proposed, employees who are eligible to retire under certain age and service combinations will be allowed to request to switch to half-time work, receiving half the pay of the position plus half of the annuity they have accumulated to that point, without the usual offset. The proposed rules also laid out various technical considerations involving benefit calculations, working schedules and more, while stressing that agencies are to have discretion over whether to grant an employee’s request for phased retirement.