House passes sick leave credit for FERS employees
June 24th, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Elise Castelli
The House approved a measure tonight that would allow federal employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System to count their unused sick leave toward their retirement pension calculations. The measure could bring the newer FERS system in line with the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which always allowed that calculation.
The Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act of 2009, H.R. 2990, passed in a 404-0 vote. It now moves to the Senate, which stripped similar provisions from a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco.
In addition, to allowing FERS employees count sick their unused leave toward retirement, the bill also allows FERS employees who return to federal service to get credit for their previous service and to redeposit their retirement annuities.
CSRS employees also benefit from the bill. The legislation lets CSRS employees who choose to work part-time at the end of their careers collect their full annuities.
The bill also extends locality pay to Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories. The transition to locality pay will start in 2010 and end in 2012.
Tags: CSRS, FERS, locality pay, sick leave