As of the closing date of the Designed Resignation offer, 75,000 out of 2.3 million
Federal employees accepted the offer. Once accepted, it appears this decision will
not be rescinded. For those who remain Federal employees, what now?
Employees who did not accept the deferred resignation offer should know what
Federal benefits are in place should they lose their jobs. This article is to clarify the
retirement qualifications and separation rights for those who are Retirement
Eligible, Mid-Career and New Employees.

Retirement Eligible Employees:
Regular retirement benefits are available if you have enough age and service to
qualify. The deferred resignation offer did not remove that. To know if you are
eligible for a regular retirement, here are the requirements:

1. You must have the minimum retirement age. For CSRS, it is age 55. For
   FERS, it varies between ages 55-57 depending on birth year and is called
   your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA). Those born in 1970 and after will
   reach minimum retirement age at 57. Those born prior to 1970 will need to
   consult the chart below for their minimum retirement age:

2. You must also have the required amount of Federal service to be eligible.

Those who have reached MRA need at least 30 years of qualifying service,
but those who are age 60 and older need only 20 years or more qualifying
service. Any federal employee who has reached age 62 or older is eligible to
retire with 5 years of civilian Federal service or more.

IMPORTANT:  MRA + 10 Retirements

Employees who reach minimum retirement age with less than 30 years of required Federal service may also be retirement eligible if they have at least 10 years of qualifying service or more.  This is called the MRA+10 Retirement, for FERS employees only, and is available if:

1. The employee has reached MRA or older
2. Has 10 years or more qualifying Federal service, 5 of which must be civilian service.
3. Employee accepts a permanently reduced amount. Employees should request a retirement estimate from their Human Resources (HR) Department before choosing this option. It is also recommended the employee request information on how to postpone the MRA+10 retirement payments if they choose to avoid the reduced amount.

Additionally, retirement eligible employees may continue Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB), as long as health insurance enrollment was continuous over the last five years before retirement. Eligible family members remain covered.

Mid-Career Employees:

These employees are generally not eligible for regular retirement at this time. They may have worked for the Federal government at least 10 years or longer, but do not have the minimum retirement age. If so, it is possible they may qualify for one of the early retirement options: a VERA or DSR.

VERA

The VERA (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority) is an offer from Human Resources to do an early retirement if specific requirements are met.  For a VERA:

1. An employee must have at least 25 years or more Federal service, and may retire at ANY age, or
2. An employee must have at least 20 years or more qualifying Federal service, and must be at least age 50 or older.
3. An employee is choosing to voluntarily separate.
4. There is no penalty or reduction to this monthly retirement benefit for FERS employees, though there is for CSRS employees under age 55.
5. The Federal health insurance will continue as long as the employee has been continuously enrolled the last 5 years immediately before retirement. 

DSR

A second early retirement option for mid-career employees may be the Discontinued Service Retirement (DSR). The Human Resources Department will send a notice of mandatory separation to those employees who will be terminated with an effective date of separation. The same age and service requirements for the VERA will apply. Though this is an involuntary separation, an employee meeting age and service requirements may apply for this early retirement benefit.

Deferred Retirement

Unfortunately, if an employee is separated from Federal employment, and does not qualify for any of the above retirements, there is still one last option called a Deferred Retirement. With this option, if on the day of separation the employee does not have enough age and/or service to qualify for any other immediate retirement, a future retirement benefit may be payable as long as the employee:

1. Leaves all retirement contributions with OPM
2. Has at least 5 years or more qualifying Federal service
3. Applies for the benefit using the Application for Postponed and Deferred Retirements (RI 92-19) at the required retirement age, and
4. Sends all information to the OPM address on the form.

With a Deferred Retirement, an employee will not be able to keep the Federal health insurance.

New Federal Employees

Employees who have been working for the Federal government less than 10 years and who are under age 62 will have limited options if terminated. Please see  below:

1. A new employee can leave their retirement contributions in the FERS retirement fund and later at age 62, apply for and collect a FERS retirement benefit for life, or
2. The employee may request a refund of retirement contributions and move on without future entitlement to a Federal government retirement benefit.
3. The Federal health insurance will terminate.
4. A severance package may be available if the employee qualifies.
5. If a new employee has less than 5 years Federal government service, there are no future retirement benefits available. A refund of retirement contributions is payable upon request. 

Severance Packages

If a terminated employee does not qualify for any of the retirement options, it may be possible to receive a severance package. HR will determine eligibility and compute benefits payable. This package provides a calculated payment amount based on a number of factors that will include salary and length of service, however, Federal health insurance will not continue. Temporary Continuation of Coverage may be requested. Human Resources will provide further information on eligibility, but the basic qualifications for severance pay are below.

To be eligible for severance pay, you must:

1. Be serving under a qualifying appointment
2. Working a regularly scheduled tour of duty
3. Have completed at least 12 months of continuous service
4. Be removed from Federal service by involuntary separation for reasons other than inefficiency (for example, unacceptable performance or conduct)