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GAO Report: Improvements Needed at Office of Personnel Management to Ensure Successful Retirement Systems Modernization

68 pages. "GAO was asked to [1] determine whether OPM is effectively managing the RSM program to ensure that system components perform as intended and [2] evaluate the risks, cost, and progress of the RSM program. To meet these objectives, GAO analyzed program documentation against relevant plans, policies, and practices." [GAO-08-345, Jan. 31, 2008]

Text of OPM Final Regs: Federal Employees' Retirement System; Government Costs

"The Office of Personnel Management amends this rule to clarify the manner OPM uses for determining a supplemental liability under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), and to clarify the process by which the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury may request reconsideration of OPM's valuation of the supplemental liability. The rule also clarifies the employee categories OPM uses to compute the FERS normal cost percentages. The rule also amends the definitions of actuary, present value factor, and actuarial present value to ensure these definitions are uniform and appropriate."

Hearing on Leading by Example: Making Government a Role Model for Hiring and Retaining Older Workers

The page provides links to the Witness Testimony of Barbara Bovbjerg, Director, Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues, US Government Accountability Office; Robert Goldenkoff, Director, Strategic Issues, US Government Accountability Office; Nancy Kichak, Associate Director, Strategic Human Resources Policy, Office of Personnel Management; Thomas Dowd, Administrator, Office of Policy Development and Research, Employment and Training Administration, US Department of Labor; Max Stier, President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service; and, Chai Feldblum, Co-Director, Workplace Flexibility 2010.

Text of OPM Final Regs on Phased Retirement for Federal Government Employees (PDF)

"The final rule informs agencies and employees about who may elect phased retirement, what benefits are provided during phased retirement, how OPM intends to compute the annuity payable during and after phased retirement, and how employees may fully retire after a period of phased retirement.... OPM will be issuing separate guidance to assist agencies and employees with administrative and procedural matters that do not need to be addressed in this rule. Employees may not enter phased retirement or submit applications for phased retirement to OPM until 90 days after publication of this final rule."

U.S. House Hearing: 'The Federal Employees Health Benefit Program: Is It a Good Value for Federal Employees?'

Hearing held April 11, 2013. Links to testimony by Jonathan Foley, Director, Planning and Policy Analysis, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; William A. Breskin, Vice President of Government Programs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Thomas C. Choate, Chief Growth Officer, UnitedHealthcare; Mark Merritt, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association; and Jacqueline Simon, Public Policy Director, American Federation of Government Employees.

Text of OPM Proposed Regs: Federal Employees' Retirement System; Government Costs

"OPM proposes to ... [1] clarify the process by which the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Postmaster General may file a request for the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System to reconsider an amount determined to be payable to the CSRDF with respect to a supplemental liability.... [2] amend its definition of 'actuary' ... [3] establish separate normal cost percentages for FERS, FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE employees within each employee category ... [4] include members of the Capitol Police as 'Congressional Employees' for purposes of deriving separate normal cost percentages for this employee group.... [5] include U.S. Postal Service employees as a separate category for which OPM will derive normal cost percentages.... [6] establish the procedures and requirements for a request for reconsideration of a supplemental liability determination filed by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Postmaster General.... [7] refine its definitions of present value factor and actuarial present value ... to ensure that these definitions are uniform and appropriate."

Text of OPM Final Regs on Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for Members of Congress and Congressional Staff

"While OPM acknowledges that, in general, the [ACA] did not intend to disrupt existing health insurance coverage, in this context, the Act included clear and unambiguous language providing that all Members of Congress and congressional staff employed by the official office of a Member of Congress be subject to the terms of Section 1312 regardless of their dates of employment. Thus, the final rule implements Section 1312 of the [ACA] as written.... Because a Government contribution is, in essence, an employer contribution, the final rule clarifies that Members of Congress and designated congressional staff must enroll in an appropriate SHOP as determined by the Director in order to receive a Government contribution.... this ensures that Members of Congress and congressional staff do not have additional choices in the individual Exchanges with a Government contribution that other individuals lack."

Can Part-Time Retirement Save the U.S. Postal Service?

"[P]olicymakers are closely watching recent proposals that would institute work-retirement hybrid programs for all federal workers. Both the House and Senate have approved proposals to help ease eligible employees into retirement slowly -- allowing agencies such as [the U.S. Postal Service] to delay hiring and training new employees. While the House bill would amend U.S. code to allow [federal employees] to continue working part time while partially retired, a lesser-known but similar setup already is available under an Office of Personnel Management regulation."

Senate Passes U.S. Postal Service Overhaul

"The legislation ... allows the agency to offer buyout and early retirement incentives to 100,000 employees, switches to five-day delivery if officials cannot come up with other cost savings within two years, and restructures a requirement that the Postal Service prefund its retirement health benefits with more than $5 billion annually.... New amendments passed into the bill this week scale back workers' compensation benefits, curtail USPS executive compensation to a level on par with Cabinet secretaries and address the backlog of USPS retirement claims at the Office of Personnel Management."

GAO Report on Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave: OPM Should Take Steps to Further Raise Awareness of the Program

"Starting October 1, 2020, most federal civilian employees became eligible to take up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the arrival of a new child whether by birth, adoption, or foster care. The Office of Personnel Management's government-wide data showed that most federal employees were aware of the benefit, and the number of employees who took paid parental leave generally aligned with OPM's initial estimates. However, OPM's webpage for federal leave policies is outdated and doesn't include information about the benefit." [GAO-24-106654 Jan. 25, 2024]