11/2/09: Last week, President Obama signed the Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 Bill (S.1390/H.R.2647) into law. This was the culmination of a longstanding effort by NTEU to bring fairness and reform to the treatment of tens of thousands of federal employees and retirees who will benefit from a number of changes included for the civilian workforce.

The measure includes the provisions to allow unused FERS sick leave to be counted toward the retirement calculation as is done for CSRS employees; fix the CSRS part-time anomaly so those who choose to go part-time at the end of their careers will have their pensions calculated correctly; allow former employees to redeposit their FERS retirement contributions and get credit for past time served; and, allow federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories to participate in locality pay like other federal employees do. 

The final measure also includes a provision that provides temporary authority to federal agencies to reemploy part-time, retired federal civilian employees under limited conditions and for specified positions, without requiring an offset of annuity against salary. This is a change from current law which generally requires an offset, unless an OPM waiver is provided to the agency.

NTEU has been in touch with the OPM about implementation of all of these new provisions. In general, the overall civilian employee package is effective upon enactment, or when signed by the president. However, OPM is working to put implementation procedures in place. Contact the SEC's human resource office should you require information on any of these new provisions in the weeks and months ahead.

While this package has been long in coming, it is a welcome development for federal employees and retirees.