Wait ‘Til Next Year on Phased Retirement, DoD Says

In one of the most substantial statements issued by an agency to date regarding the status of phased retirement planning, the largest federal department, DoD, has projected that it won’t implement the authority until “early calendar year 2015.” An internal fact sheet notes that while OPM can begin accepting applications as of November 6, “there are policy decisions, automation updates, and bargaining unit requirements that will impact when DoD employees may begin to apply. The department is currently developing implementing guidance and identifying challenges or limitations.” Several components earlier had said separately that they are working on similar issues, although they did not set a goal for implementation. The DoD announcement essentially means that any employees desiring to retire around the turn of the year—which is when federal retirements tend to spike, for various benefit calculation reasons—will either have to abandon the idea of phased retirement and take regular voluntary retirement, or put off their retirement for a number of months on the hope that they will be eligible for phased retirement.