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Rehired Annuitants CSRS

Returning to Federal Service




 

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Rehired Annuitant Guidance for CSRS Retirees Desiring to Return to Federal Service

If your annuity does not stop under the rules listed below, you will continue to receive it while you are working. Your pay will be reduced by the amount of annuity paid for the period you work. If you do not work full time, the reduction in pay will be adjusted proportionately. However, some pay is not subject to this reduction for annuity. Pay is not reduced for an annuity for a period during which you have elected to receive injury compensation benefits in lieu of annuity or when you receive a lump-sum payment of annual leave on separation.

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Reemployment will cause your annuity to stop if -

  1. You are a disability annuitant whom OPM has found recovered or restored to earning capacity prior to reemployment;
  2. You are a disability annuitant who was not disabled for your National Guard Technician position but were awarded disability annuity because you were medically disqualified for continued membership in the National Guard;
  3. Your annuity is based on an involuntary separation (other than a separation that was required by law based on your age and length of service or a separation for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency) and your new appointment is permanent in nature (for example--Career, Career-Conditional, or Excepted); or
  4. You receive a Presidential appointment subject to retirement deductions.

Employee Status and Retirement Coverage

If your annuity stops as the result of your reemployment with the Government, your status will be that of a regular employee.

If your new appointment gives retirement coverage,

  •  the coverage will be CSRS if:
    • you had CSRS coverage when you retired, and
    • you are reemployed within 1 year of your retirement.
  •  the coverage will be CSRS Offset (CSRS and Social Security coverage) if:
    • you had CSRS Offset coverage when you retired,
    • you are reemployed more than a year after your retirement, or
    • you are appointed to a senior position that is subject to mandatory Social Security coverage.

Benefits When Reemployment Ends

When your reemployment ends, a new determination about your rights to retirement benefits will be made. Your prior retirement benefit generally has no impact on your new retirement benefit.

If you meet all the requirements for an immediate retirement (see Retirement Facts 1, The Civil Service Retirement System), your benefit will be computed as though you are retiring for the first time. (Note: The unused sick leave balance used in the initial retirement computation will be added to the unused sick leave balance when your reemployment ends.)

Generally, you will have to wait until age 62 to receive a deferred annuity if you do not qualify for an immediate retirement benefit when your reemployment ends.

In rare situations, an annuity based on an involuntary retirement may be reinstated when your reemployment ends. The annuity will be reinstated if:

  • you were reemployed after more than 1 year of your initial retirement, and
  • your reemployment lasted less than 1 year.

A disability annuity may be reinstated when your reemployment ends if:

  • you have not reached age 62,
  • you were reemployed more than 1 year after you separated for disability retirement,
  • Your reemployment lasted less than 1 year, and your disability had recurred, or your earnings capacity falls below the 80% limitation.

Supplemental or Predetermined Benefits

Reemployment may increase your retirement and death benefits. As a reemployed annuitant, you can earn either a supplemental annuity or a redetermined annuity. A supplemental annuity is an annuity that is added on to your present annuity.

A redetermined annuity is a recomputed annuity that takes the place of your present annuity. If you work as a reemployed annuitant on a full time, continuous basis for at least 1 year, you may be entitled to a supplemental annuity. If you work part time, you must work a proportionately longer period to earn a supplemental annuity. If your reemployment continues for at least 5 years, or the part-time equivalent, you may elect a redetermined annuity.

Intermittent service cannot be counted in establishing eligibility for a supplemental or redetermined annuity and cannot be used in the computation of a supplemental annuity.

If you die while reemployed, after becoming eligible for either a supplemental or redetermined annuity, your surviving spouse may have his or her survivor benefit either increased or recomputed.

CSRS reemployed annuitant service cannot be credited in a supplemental or redetermined annuity unless a deposit is paid after separation, or retirement deductions are withheld. If you are reemployed in a full-time or part-time position, you may elect to have retirement deductions withheld from your pay. The amount of retirement deductions or deposit is a percentage of your basic pay before it is reduced for annuity.

Disability Annuitants

 

The following are important facts that may affect your future retirement benefits if you are a disability annuitant -

  1.  If you are reemployed on a permanent basis in a position equivalent in grade and pay to the position from which you retired, OPM may find that you have recovered from your disability;
  2.  If you are reemployed subject to medical and physical qualification standards equivalent to those of the position from which you retired, OPM may find that you have recovered from your disability;
  3.  The pay of the position in which you are reemployed, prior to the offset of annuity, will be included as earnings in determining whether you are restored to earning capacity and your annuity must stop;
  4.  Receipt of, or continued entitlement to receive, full or partial injury compensation benefits from the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation during reemployment, when those benefits are based on the same injury or medical condition that is the basis for OPM's award of disability retirement, is conclusive evidence (unless there is contravening medical evidence) that you have not recovered from your disability; and
  5.  If you are age 60 or over, your annuity cannot be stopped because of your earnings, and OPM can find that you are recovered only if you request to be found recovered.

Exceptions

Not all of the above rules apply to all reemployed annuitants. If you are reemployed -

  1. Under special provisions for positions for which there is exceptional difficulty in recruiting or retaining a qualified employee or there is a direct threat to life or property, or other unusual circumstances warranting emergency employment;
  2. On an interim basis, as a consequence of an administrative or judicial body reviewing the grounds for your separation;
  3. As a Presidential appointee to a position that is permanent in nature;
  4. As a former Member of Congress who separated from Congressional service with more than 5 years of service as a Member of Congress;
  5. As a justice or judge of the United States, as defined by section 451 of title 28 of the United States Code; or
  6. Under another retirement system for Federal employees

Additional Information

This section is excerpted from CSRS / FERS Handbook Chapter 100. For information on FEGLI and FEHB coverage visit the OPM site to view the guide. 

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