The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday unveiled a memo sent to chief human capital officers earlier this month, outlining a new flexibility that enables agencies to use dual compensation waivers to rehire retired federal annuitants. The new authority, which was signed into law in October as part of the fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization Act, is designed to help agencies bring back retired workers to share knowledge and mentor the younger workforce.
Previously, federal retirees often had little incentive to return to work because the law would cut their salaries by the amount of their pensions. In many cases, retirees who wanted to return to government service would have to work for free. The new law allows agencies to grant dual compensation waivers, which allow retirees to earn an additional salary on top of their pensions.
OPM noted in the memo that agencies can begin using the waivers, but must adhere to certain conditions. For example, agencies must report to OPM on their use of the authority by Feb. 1 of each year through 2015. Appointments are limited to one year or less, and an annuitant cannot work more than 520 hours during the first 6 months of retirement, or 1,040 hours during any 12-month period. Reemployment of annuitants may not exceed 2.5 percent of the full-time workforce at any time, and agencies that exceed 1 percent must provide an explanation and justification to the Congress and OPM, the memo states.
It will be interesting to see how agencies use this new flexibility to retain knowledge, fill critical skills gaps and train the next generation of federal employees, particularly as more and more baby boomers enter into retirement. What significance does this new flexibility hold for your agency, particularly for retaining the knowledge of exiting IT workers?
COMMENTS
This is a great idea and will be very beneficial for federal agencies. Although unemployment rates are high, most federal agencies have not RIF'd (layed off) workers for some time. They need experienced people who can immediately be productive. The mentoring of younger workers is critical to a successful future for the agencies.
Sharon C 01/23/10 07:10 am ET
With unemployment at 10% or more, this is a bad idea. The folks that are qualified and unemployed need to be hired first. If a need still exist after that, then by all means bring them back.
Homer Jones 01/22/10 10:22 am ET