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Retirement system for employees within the United States civil service

The Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) is the retirement system for employees within the United States civil service. FERS became effective January 1, 1987, to replace the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and to conform federal retirement plans in line with those in the private sector. FERS consists of three major components:
The FERS annuity, a defined benefit plan,
Mandatory participation in Social Security (most CSRS employees are not part of Social Security and do not pay taxes into the system, nor are they eligible for benefits unless they qualify under private sector employment or by being rehired and covered as CSRS with a Social Security Offset), and
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a defined contribution plan which operates like a 401(k).

Since January 1, 1984, employees with fewer than 5 years of non military experience on December 31, 1986, were covered under interim retirement rules under which they were covered by both CSRS and the Social Security system (commonly referred to as CSRS Offset). They made reduced payments to the CSRS (1.3 percent of earnings instead of the usual 7 percent) and contributed their full employee share to Social Security. Employees with more than 5 years of non military service on December 31, 1986, continued under the dual benefit coverage unless they opted to switch to FERS between July 1, 1986, and December 31, 1987. Employees covered only by CSRS remained covered by it unless they opted to switch to FERS. Unlike TSP, where an employee can choose not to participate and thus not have any withdrawals from salary, FERS contributions are mandatory. However, at retirement or separation from Federal service, one may ask for a refund of contributions made; only employee contributions (this includes deposits and redeposit for creditable military service and civilian service where no FERS annuity contributions were made) are refunded (with interest; the interest portion is taxable income unless rolled over into an IRA), government matching contributions are not refunded and are lost. However, a spouse or former spouse must be notified, and a refund will not be allowed if it would end a court ordered right for a spouse or former spouse to obtain benefits from the employee's Federal service. And if the employee returns to Federal service, a refund voids entitlement to an annuity based on the former service unless repaid upon return.

The FERS annuity is based on a specified percentage (either 1% or 1.1% for most employees, see below), multiplied by (a) the length of an employee's Federal service eligible for FERS retirement (referred to as "creditable Federal service", which may not be the actual duration of Federal employment) and (b) the average annual rate of basic pay of the employee's highest paid consecutive 36 months (three years) of service (commonly referred to as the "high 3" period). The "high 3" pay includes all items for which retirement deductions are withheld; this includes basic pay, locality pay adjustments and shift differentials, but not overtime (except in special circumstances mainly involving first responders), bonuses/awards, severance pay or buyouts, payments for unused annual leave and credit hours, or "hazard pay" (additional pay for certain "hazardous" duty assignments, such as working in a combat zone). All salaries earned during the "high 3" period are time weighted, and include COLA's, within grade (step) increases, and promotions. The "high 3" period normally is the final three years of service but does not have to be (e. g. an employee taking a voluntary downgrade to avoid a reduction in force (RIF) could have a high 3 period in an earlier time frame). The FERS annuity is structured to provide employees an incentive to continue working for at least 20 years in Federal service and until age 62 (which is also the earliest age at which a FERS employee can collect Social Security benefits), since employees retiring at or after age 62 with 20 years of service or more have the annuity calculated at 1.1 percent of the high 3 average times the number of years worked (including fractional years using months but not days), while employees not meeting those criteria have the annuity calculated at 1 percent of such. Separate calculations exist for certain workers (mainly Members of Congress or congressional staff, law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic control specialists) and for employees who transferred from CSRS to FERS. An employee retiring under age 62 will receive a "special retirement supplement" which duplicates what an employee would earn under Social Security at age 62, but at age 62 the supplement ends. Disability retirement annuity payments are offset totally by any Social Security disability payments for the first 12 months, and then partially afterwards until age 62; at that time the annuity is treated as if the employee had worked for the entire period of disability (but at the same grade and step, with no within grade increases or career ladder promotions taken into account), and the "high 3" and resulting annuity is recalculated taking into account any COLA's that would have been earned between the original retirement and age 62. Unused sick leave is converted, at 100% of the balance for employees retiring in 2015 and after, to additional creditable service based on a conversion table, where 2,087 hours equals one full year of additional creditable service. The leave can only increase the amount of creditable service for annuity purposes; it cannot be used to create an eligibility which did not exist (e. g. to either make an otherwise ineligible person eligible for retirement). For example, a person born in 1965, age 56 years and two months, with 29 years and 10 months' actual creditable service, plus sick leave hours which equate to four months of creditable time, would not be eligible for retirement (even though, for annuity calculation purposes, s/he would be credited with 30 years and two months of creditable service), because although s/he has reached the MRA s/he lacks the actual creditable service required to retire. The actual calculation of creditable service adds years, months, and days separately for civilian employment, military employment repurchased, and unused sick leave. For example, an employee with 33 years, 11 months, and 17 days of actual service time, plus four months and 20 days of unused sick leave, will be calculated as having 33 years, 15 months, and 37 days of time. The days are then converted to months at a rate of 30 days = one month, with any excess days lost (in this case, the 37 days will convert 30 days to one month, with the remaining seven days lost, leaving the employee with 33 years and 16 months). The months are then converted to years at a rate of 12 months = one year, with the remaining months shown as a fraction (in this case, the 16 months will convert 12 months to one year, leaving the employee with 34 years and four months, or 34 4/12 years for annuity calculation purposes). No other types of earned leave are factored into the annuity calculation. Unused annual leave hours are "cashed out" (paid to the employee, at his/her rate of pay as if the employee remained on the payroll until the leave was fully used; in the event of an intervening COLA leave remaining after its effective date will be paid at the new rate). Where applicable, earned but unused credit hours are also cashed out upon retirement at the same rate as annual leave. Other types of unused leave (such as compensatory time off for travel outside normal duty hours, and time off awards given in lieu of cash) are not paid and are thus lost if not used before retirement. Generally, an employee has the right to determine his/her "date of final separation" (i. e. the last day on the payroll; it does not have to be the final working day in a pay period); the following day is the employee's retirement date. The annuity does not begin until one full calendar month has passed since the employee's retirement. Thus, an employee retiring on June 30 will have his/her annuity begin on August 1 (as the employee will be retired beginning July 1 and for the entire month of July), but an employee retiring on July 1 will not have his/her annuity begin until September 1 (as the employee will be retired beginning July 2 but not for the entire month of July, only in the following month—August—will the employee be retired for an entire month). Per the Comptroller General in a 1945 decision, employees cannot be on "terminal leave" through the date of retirement (except in extenuating circumstances); this is often avoided by the employee being allowed to use up desired leave, but then coming into work on his/her final work day for out processing tasks (turn in of badge and computer equipment, etc.) Married employees will have their annuity reduced by a survivor benefit unless the spouse specifically in writing consents to receiving less than a full benefit; the reduction is based on the survivor benefit chosen. Employees are eligible for a COLA if they meet certain criteria. The most notable is retirement after age 62; most employees who retire before age 62 will not receive a COLA (on either their annuity or their special retirement supplement) until age 62 (however, certain categories of employees, mainly those who are required to retire early based on their occupation or who retire on disability, will receive a COLA before age 62). Because employee contributions are post tax, a portion of any FERS annuity received is not taxable. However, the non tax portion is relatively small (since the majority of the annuity contributions are paid by the government); and even though the non tax portion would be paid back within a few months after retirement, tax law requires it to be spread out over a period of years depending on the annuitant's (and his/her spouse's) age (but in the event the annuitant dies before it is repaid, the unpaid balance is paid as shown below).