Phased Employment/Phased Retirement Status Highlights
Phased employment/phased retirement is not an
employee right, but rather an option that requires the
consent of both the employee and the employing agency.
To be eligible to elect Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement, an employee must have been working a
full-time work schedule for the 3-year period
immediately before the effective date of a Phased
Employment/Phased Retirement election and must
qualify for a retirement under 5 U.S.C. § 8336(a) or (b),
or 5 U.S.C. § 8412(a) or (b). The age and service
requirements for those retirement provisions are as
follows:
CSRS:
Attained age 55 with at least 30 years of
creditable service, or
Attained age 60 with at least 20 years of
creditable service.
FERS:
Attained MRA (minimum retirement age) with
at least 30 years of creditable service, or
Attained age 60 with at least 20 years of
creditable service.
(MRA ranges between age 55 and 57 depending on
date of birth)
An employee who elects Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement will continue to work on a part-time basis
based on a working percentage, which currently equals
50 percent of a full-time work schedule. The employee
is also considered a phased retiree entitled to a phased
retirement annuity.
The phased retirement annuity equals the amount of the
annuity the employee would have received had the
employee fully retired, without credit for unused sick
leave and without reduction for survivor annuity,
multiplied by the phased retirement percentage. The
phased retirement percentage equals the result of
subtracting the working percentage from 100 percent.
Currently, there is only one possible working
percentage, 50 percent, thus the phased retirement
percentage is 50 percent.
The FERS annuity supplement is not payable with a
phased retirement annuity.
Deposits for military service must be paid in full at the
time the employee enters Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement. Deposits and/or redeposits for civilian
service must be paid in full before the phased retirement
benefit is finalized. Read carefully the information on
service credit provided in Part 1 below.
Federal insurance coverage under the Federal
Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, the
Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)
Program, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision
Plan (FEDVIP) and the Federal Flexible Spending
Account Program (FSAFEDs) remains with the
employing agency during Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement. The cost of the premiums and the amount
of the FEGLI coverage is based on a full-time work
schedule even though the employee is working on a
part-time basis of 50 percent of full-time.
Leave accrual will be based on the part-time schedule.
An employee in Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement may elect to enter full retirement status at
any time by submitting an Application for Immediate
Retirement (CSRS) or (FERS), SF 2801 or SF 3107, as
appropriate. A phased retiree cannot retire on a
disability retirement.
An employee in Phased Employment/Phased Retirement
may elect to end Phased Employment/Phased Retirement
and return to regular employment status, subject to the
employing agency's consent. Any change to the
employee's working percentage will also end Phased
Employment/Phased Retirement and cause the employee
to return to regular employment status. When Phased
Employment/Phased Retirement ends and the employee
returns to a regular employment status, the phased
retirement annuity terminates and the period of time that
the employee worked under Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement will be treated as part-time service in the
computation of any future annuity benefit. Credit for
that part-time service will be based on the working
percentage. Any service performed in excess of the
working percentage during phased employment will not
be credited in any future annuity benefit.
If an employee in Phased Employment/Phased
Retirement dies before electing full retirement status, the
death benefits will be based on the benefits provided for
survivors of deceased employees. The period of time
that the employee worked under Phased
Employment/Phased Retirement will be treated as
part-time service in the computation of any survivor
annuity benefit. Credit for that part-time service will be
based on the working percentage. Any service in excess
of the working percentage will not be credited in any
survivor annuity benefit.
Standard Form 3116
-3-
October 2014