Hewitt, OPM settle dispute over RetireEZ calculator
February 9th, 2009 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Steve Losey
The Office of Personnel Management has buried the hatchet with Hewitt Associates over a faulty retirement calculator, according to a statement Hewitt released earlier today:
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Hewitt have settled their dispute related to the implementation of the RetireEZ program. OPM has rescinded its October 16, 2008 termination of the contract for default and the contract has now been terminated by mutual agreement. We’re happy this matter has been resolved and we believe both parties are pleased with the outcome. We look forward to continuing to deliver outsourced retirement solutions for our current and future clients.
OPM and Hewitt aren’t saying anything about the terms of the settlement, and aren’t saying how much, if any, money OPM has recovered from Hewitt. OPM paid Hewitt $21 million before stopping work on the contract in May; the contract was originally valued at $290 million over its 10-year lifecycle. Hewitt’s calculator passed only 33 percent of tests OPM administered in early 2008, when it was contractually obligated to pass tests 95 percent of the time.
OPM still hasn’t decided how it will move forward on creating an automated annuity calculator, which was meant to ensure retirees no longer had to wait months to get their full pensions. “We’re assessing our options and will move accordingly,” OPM spokesman Mike Orenstein said.
Tags: Hewitt, OPM, RetireEZ, retirement
A warning for CSRS spouses
February 3rd, 2009 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Steve Losey
Two retirement security groups are highlighting a little-known provision in the federal government’s rules that could hurt some spouses or children of federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System. If a CSRS employee leaves the federal government, but dies before applying for a pension, that employee’s spouses, former spouses or children would not receive a survivor annuity, the Pension Rights Center and Women’s Pension Project note.
In a letter sent yesterday to the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, the groups asked the agency to send a notice to CSRS employees reminding them of this wrinkle.
Survivors of Federal Employees Retirement System employees who leave the government and die before applying for a pension are eligible to receive a survivor annuity. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, introduced a bill in 2007 that would have ensured CSRS employees’ survivors would get an annuity regardless of when the employee left federal service, but it died in committee.
Tags: CSRS, pension, retirement