OPM has published rules to carry out the phased retirement authority enacted into law last July, which will allow for changing to half-time employment on reaching retirement eligibility while also drawing half of the annuity earned up to that time. The authority still won’t actually be available for at least another two months, however, pending a comment period. The rules in today’s Federal Register (June 5) flesh out the general outlines of the program previously announced, including specifying that phased retirees generally will be treated as active employees for benefits purposes, that they will have to spend at least a fifth of their working time mentoring other employees, that they could move back to full-time work but will not be allowed more than one phased retirement period, that they would have to make needed deposits to capture credit for certain service time before entering phased retirement, and that on full retirement their benefits will be recalculated. The lengthy rules provide detailed policies on those and many other aspects, including exceptions in some cases. One notable feature is that the rules provide for employees to apply for phased retirement on their own initiative using a form that is yet to come; earlier there had been a general expectation that it would be offered at the agency’s initiative. However, the agency still would have discretion over whether to approve an employee’s request.
