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If you wish to join
NTEU, please fill out
the application here
and submit to the
Union Office in
Building 77. For the
dues click here.
NTEU, please fill out
the application here
and submit to the
Union Office in
Building 77. For the
dues click here.
| NTEU |
| JFK CHAPTER 153 |
| Sept 9, 2011 On July 18, 2011, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued final regulations concerning Section 535 of Public Law 110-161, the law establishing the enhanced CBPO retirement system. Since the issuance of the regulations, NTEU has received inquiries as to whether these regulations allow for retroactivity of benefits or buy back of creditable service for periods of time prior to the statute’s effective date of July 6, 2008. As explained below, they do not. In FY 2007 and FY 2008, Congress appropriated a total of $250 million to pay for the cost of the enhanced CBPO retirement system, which began on July 6, 2008. Unfortunately, the costs attached to providing service credit for periods prior to the statute’s effective date, including buy backs for service in predecessor legacy positions, were prohibitive, estimated at that time to exceed $1 billion. Congress thus deliberately chose to preclude coverage for service performed prior to the statute’s effective date. Accordingly, Section 535(e)(2)(B) of the statute specifies that, with one narrow exception, the statute does not apply to any service performed before its effective date. The only exception to this general rule permits service performed prior to the effective date to be taken into account to determine if an individual serving on July 6, 2008, qualified for coverage in a secondary (supervisory or administrative) position. See p. 41994 of the Federal Register notice for OPM’s discussion of that issue. Otherwise, as specified in the statute and as described by OPM in comments explaining its regulations, CBPOs were added “prospectively” as a new group entitled to enhanced retirement benefits. Fed. Reg. notice at p. 41933. Explanatory notes accompanying the regulations also set forth the above-described Section 535(e)(2)(B) and describe the statute as being “explicit that its provisions are prospective . . .” Fed. Reg. notice at p. 41994. We have recently become aware of a sample letter that has been circulating among employees that relies on a section of the regulations (5 C.F.R. 831.1606) to request retroactive credit for service performed in a legacy inspector position prior to the statute’s effective date. When read in isolation, Section 831.1606 could be viewed to permit such a request. But, nothing in the regulations can change the statute’s explicit terms. And, the statute does not permit this kind of retroactive credit. Section 831.1606 should not, therefore, be read to permit retroactive service credit buy back for periods prior to July 6, 2008. Instead, it is more reasonably read to allow individuals in an “unapproved” position, who believe they have been wrongfully denied coverage under the CBPO system for past service performed after the statute’s effective date (July 6, 2008), to request credit for that service no later than June 30, 2012. Jun 2, 2010 As you all well may know Congress plans to cut Federal employee pay and benefits in the 2012 budget. Please contact your congressmen to stop this. The NTEU website has made this possible for you to find out who is your congressmen and print out the letters. Click here for the letter. |
