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Information on this page is provided by Roseanne Jefferson.
Roseanne is a retired USPS employee with an extensive background in USPS
retirement, disability retirement, OWCP, EEO, Labor Relations and HR.
She conducts individual and group counseling and is able to
comprehensively discuss the pros and cons of employees who are on OWCP,
disability retirement and regular retirement. Roseanne will be happy
to answer your postal retirement questions. Contact Roseanne at
roseanne.jefferson@icloud.com. |
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Postal Retirement
Q&A March 2013 |
Good Day Postal Employees!!!
From the emails I
have been receiving all over the
country, the "loss" of staffing as a
result of the VERA for Clerks has
taken a toll on everyone. Many of you
out there have written just to tell me
how difficult it has been; or that
management is coming down harder on
employee's as it relates to
discipline. Some of you have related
specific incidents to me, that you
have felt were unfair or just simply
ridiculous. I understand everyone's
frustration, as I also understand the
frustration of being a management
employee. As I have written before,
many times the course of action(s)
taken by a Supervisor, Postmaster,
Manager, or even a District Manager
for that matter, may have had
absolutely NO input on the decision(s)
that they are required to carry out.
Many times in management, more
than I can count, action plans are
developed in Headquarters, pushed to
the Area Offices, to be carried out by
each of the Districts. It does not
mean that everyone or even anyone
agrees with the action plans that HQ
has initiated. If you are given
instructions to implement an office
closing, or reduce staffing by not
filling vacant positions, there is no
real internal negotiations, it has
been decided. Each district has it's
own set of unique differences and
sometimes that could alter what a
district does, but generally, when HQ
"blesses it", it is rolled out to the
field. I say that to say, everywhere
in the country, all Districts, Post
Office's, NDC, & Plants are feeling
the pressure of job vacancies,
timekeeping errors, higher than
average discipline being issued, and
high sick leave usage. I have been
told this phrase a lot it's the "NEW
NORMAL". This has been written to me
many many times, so it must be what
they say when you object to some new
rule or way to complete a job
function. I keep telling you
all�..there HAS TO BE A FULL
RESTRUCTURE, in order to gain control
of our Postal Service.
Q 1. -
Dear Roseanne,
I read your column
every month and very much enjoy it. My
husband just retired on Dec 1. I know
that you say everything should work
out that he should have received his
terminal check two weeks later and
then his first check from OPM the
month following. Well he did not
receive his terminal check until
1/4/13 and we are still waiting for
his first OPM check as of 1/8/13. ASC
did not forward his file to OPM until
12/31/12. Any idea when he could
expect his first payment? Or why there
was such a delay in processing. He
turned in all his paper work starting
in August and everything was in order.
The letter from ASC said it could take
5 to 6 weeks to receive his first
interim payment from OPM. I hope this
isn't the case, it's very distressing
that after 35 years they can't even
make sure he gets paid in a timely
manner, thanks, DG
A 1. Hi DG,
thank you and appreciate you reading
the columns. I do my best to try to
help folks during this time when it
seems no one can tell you anything. I
know one thing....I have NEVER WROTE
that a retiree would receive his first
check from OPM one following the
retirement...that never happens. I
have a time line that is pretty
accurate, and 1 month is not in it! As
far as the terminal check is
concerned, sometimes they will look
for any "outstanding" monies owed the
PO before issuing the last check that
includes all earned annual leave. This
is new because of the many employees
that do have outstanding balances such
as window clerks having owed money due
to shortages in their drawer, or
advanced annual leave etc. The date of
the terminal check has no real bearing
on how fast OPM does the retirement.
Once the retirement is sent to HRSSC,
it is split and part of is goes to
Eagan ASC for validation of service,
salary history etc. Then they forward
that information to OPM. BUT OPM has
been working on the retirement from
the point of time HRSSC sent it to
them.
So let me give you
a typical time frame for a December 1
retirement (last day of work was Nov
30th). And let me tell you
this....that although his retirement
date is Dec 1, just like Social
Security....you are paid one month in
arrears...so even at that, this
December check would not even be due
to you, until Jan 1. Of course and of
course they are no where near done
with the retirement.
Between Jan 15-22...first letter from
OPM acknowledging retirement package
Between Jan 30-Feb 8 ...second letter
from OPM with the CSA or CSF number
depending if employee was CSRS or FERS
Between Feb 15- 23 first INTERIM CHECK
(about 80% of what the net check will
be)\
Between Feb 28- Mar 19 second
INTERIM CHECK (about 80% of what the
net check will be)
April 1 Settle
up check...the shortages from the
first two interim checks, and one full
check
May 1 First regular check
June or July you will receive a blue
and white pamphlet that outlines the
retirement as a whole and gives all
the financial information relative to
his retirement.
This time
line is typical, meaning there is
nothing outstanding about this
retirement such as "higher level" in
the past, or periods of LWOP, or
unpaid military time. I hope this was
helpful. Please let me know after you
begin receiving this information as
dated above how correct I am. I know
that all the retirements I did this
year, I use this time line, and all my
clients call or email me to tell me
how on the money I was with the dates.
Roseanne
Response 1. Roseanne,
Thank you for writing back to me about
this issue. I must have seen that time
line in one of the retirement blogs on
PostalMag. Sorry for attributing it to
you. Just to update you on my husbands
pay status, fortunately for us it
wasn't as bad as you pointed out. His
first interim check arrived on Jan 23
and his second arrived on Feb 1. So I
guess we are on a regular pay status
now, just waiting for OPM to catch up
and pay him the full amount. Reading
your column today someone said that
the phone sessions were unhelpful. My
husband watched the videos on Liteblue
to help him fill out his paperwork and
found they answered his questions
sufficiently to fill it out correctly.
You are also correct in stating that
it takes at least a month to receive
your final pay check. I wasn't even
looking for it to come to the office
and was surprised when my supervisor
said that it came in, there is so much
they neglect to tell you about all of
this. Wow!! You are providing a great
service to all retiring postal
employees who know about this site.
Thank you so much for all you do! I am
not looking forward to going through
this myself in a few years. DG
Q 2. Hi Roseanne. I have been a sub
for almost six years until recently. I
became a regular rural carrier on
January 12, 2013. I received my first
paycheck last Friday and noticed that
I am not under the retirement of
8-Fers like everyone else. I am paying
almost three times more out of my
check than everyone else. Under my
retirement with FERS it shows a C FERS
ARE and it shows FICA Code C next to
it. What is this??? Is this a tax? I
already am paying into social
security. I can't get ANY help from my
postmaster or HR. I even spoke with
someone with Accounting in Eagan. I
just want to know if all that money
they are taking out of my check will
be there for me when I retire. Or will
it be going towards taxes? We have a
lot of issues at our post office in
CITY/STATE. We have a new postmaster
for about the last 3 or 4 months and
so many of us are not getting paid. I
still have not been paid for a route I
worked on November 2nd last year.
Others are missing for different days
and routes of pays. One sub is owed 4
days of pay. Every pay period carriers
AND clerks are not getting what they
worked. I have been in constant
contact with the union regarding the
issues. It is very disappointing
because I looked forward to working
with the PO for so long and now to be
going through the way we are being
treated is very sad. My postmaster
won't even look at me when I am trying
to have a conversation with her
regarding my pay or other issues. She
even puts her hand up at me...like
talk to the hand and just walks away.
It is so humiliating. Another thing,
our United States Flag hardly ever
gets put up anymore. I find that very
disrespectful and unpatriotic. For the
last two weeks at least, I have had to
tell them that the flag is still not
up. Last friday and monday it was not
put up at all. I was told yesterday
from a clerk "what's it to you? why do
you care?" Just an unbelievable
response from someone that served in
the military. So, I am just getting
started in my retirement savings. I am
42 years old and could use any
recommendations you might have
regarding this. Thank you for your
time towards helping all of us. I
appreciate it very much. Have a
blessed day! CM
A 2. Hi CM,
First, once you receive a paycheck
that shows you are a CAREER employee,
then we can go through it. If that is
the pay stub you are referring to in
the email�THEN LOOK at the box that
says "retire" and the code for FERS is
8, my first question �what do you have
in the little teeny box that says
retirement? Better yet, if you could
scan me a picture of the pay stub,
then I can review it to see what you
are seeing and then let you know what
all of it means. As far as your office
not putting up the flag daily perhaps
that was a direct order from the PM or
from the District Office due to an
incredible work load. However, I
sincerely doubt that the actual 5
minutes it takes to put the flag up
and 5 minutes to take it down, was
coming from UPPER management. The
public (customers) look for the flag
as a symbol that it IS THE POST OFFICE
they are at. I understand your
concern, and why you care, as just as
soon as 2 customers call that District
Office, and tell them that the flag at
the XYZ Post Office in ANYSTATE, USA
you can believe that flag will be
going up EVERY DAY after that.
Roseanne
Q 3. Dear Roseanne, I
have been a city carrier for the past
31 years. I was planning on retiring
at the end of March but now with the
talks of incentives should I wait
awhile and see what happens? I have my
blue book complete,and I am taking the
retirement counseling at the end of
February. Also, after I send my
retirement blue book into HR there is
no changing your mind�..Correct? I
don't know what to do. Any advice you
have would sure help. Thank You, E.
A 3. Hi E, It's always a toss
up! I retired with an early out in
2009, and about 8 months after I did,
they did another early out for
management, but this time with a
20,000 incentive�so you just never
know. You also don't know what will
happen either in terms of work either,
this is a very difficult time for the
organization. Very few thought that
the PO would attempt to stop Saturday
delivery�but they are doing their best
to try. If they succeed, then the need
for that T-6 carrier all over the
country is gone..so it is possible
from that perspective regarding an
early out. But waiting on it totally
depends on how badly you want to
retire or see if they offer an
incentive to retire, either way, it's
really about you and if you are ready
to retire or not�.with or without an
incentive. And of course you can
change your mind if you are retiring
and it's NOT an EARLY OUT. You have
until the close of business on that
day to rescind your paperwork�..but my
advise would be, if you are on the
fence wait a month or so to see if you
are really ready. Pulling it back is a
HARDSHIP on everyone, YOU, YOUR
DISTRICT, your supervisor, YOUR PAY!!!
HRSSC, who has to undo everything they
have already done...everyone. So be
sure, and if not, give it a month or
two�.continue to work and see if you
can live on the amount of money in
retirement... then re-evaluate your
decision. Roseanne
Q 4. I think
your column is very informative. I
visit PostalMag frequently and many
people on the site are fans of your
articles because you know what you are
talking about; and your answers are
very helpful for the people that are
looking for the right answer. Thanks
for your continued help with our
questions. I am a letter carrier with
almost 34 years of service counting my
military time (which I bought back).
All the gloom and doom of the articles
on PostalMag and such makes me wonder
about retiring. The article was about
the Post Office running out of money
and not being able to pay their
employees. If such a thing were to
happen and you were already retired,
is it true that if anything happens to
the Post Office, since you were
retired, you would not be effected??
When you retire, are you now covered
by the OPM and would you be locked in
to get the pension money you retired
on.. Thanks for any info you can give
me because as you know, it is nervous
time out here waiting for the Early
Out shoe to drop for Letter Carriers..
Can you also elaborate on if you can
access your Thrift Savings if there
were an early out or would you have to
wait for 59 1/2 years of age, thanks,
AB
A 4. HI AB, First you would
be, as I am, and all retirees, safe as
it relates to your annuity, in
particular CSRS�.flat out!! I would
think by your years (34) you were CSRS
but since you bought back your
military time AND because you refer to
59 1/2 and only FERS employees even go
there, I know you are FERS. Do you
realize that this 59 1/2 issue deals
with just TSP (and not the OPM federal
annuity)�and typically for most
employees, the 59 1/2 issue means
NOTHING. -- If you retire as a FERS
employee and are at your MRA, you
don't have to wait until 59 1/2 to
begin to collect on your TSP annuity,
that is just misunderstood
information. As far as the early out
for carriers�well I am doing a
retirement for a Union President of
the NALC next week, who is coming to
see me from a different state. His
term is up in October, so he is
retiring in November. He said he
didn't think that an early out was on
the horizon soon enough, (at least for
him) and he was leaving in
November�and would be leaving earlier
if not for his union position. That
speaks volumes to me in terms of if an
early out was coming for carriers
soon. It would be at the very least
"anticipated" by the NALC, and he, as
the president of the NALC in his
state, would be aware from a union
perspective if this was close to
happening. Roseanne
Q 5.
Thank you Roseanne for your work
helping all of us in the P.O. I am
writing to you to help answer a
question regarding the wording in
VERA. It says " Any age with 25 years
of service" Does that mean a full 25
working years or anniversary date ?? I
was hired 9/26/1987. I am working in
my 25th year. Would i be eligible for
a VERA ?? No need for you to respond
quickly. This was a discussion i had
with another employee. I guess you are
settling a bet.. even though we didn't
make one. THANK YOU again for your
monthly page in PostalMag. P
A
5. P, Let me say, "excellent
question"! First just by the fact that
you asked it in the way you did, leads
you to believe there is always "fine
printing" in nearly everything. When
talking about working a "full 25
years"�that is one issue or
anniversary date, another issue. So
why do I say that? The fact that many
employees work in a "non-career"
position prior to becoming full time
has many employees confused as how
those dates relate to overall
retirement eligibility.
If you
have 24 years and 10 months, you are
not eligible to retire under early
out�.you must have 25 full years by
the "effective date of the
retirement". Meaning when the "VERA
offer" comes out in Jan for April
(example), and in January you have 24
years and 10 months..the "effective
date is factored in to see WHO is
eligible in April..one example.
Another example where the BIG
confusion comes in is non-career
years. Non career years can be
credible for retirement
eligibility�BUT NOT FOR MONEY! This is
the big issue with many employees. SO
here is that example, an employee gets
hired as a TE carrier and works for 3
years, then gets converted to a career
PTF. His anniversary date is his
CAREER EOD date, but those non-career
years could bring him to 25 if during
an early out he only has 22 career
years. But they annuity would only be
calculated on the 22 years. There are
more scenario's but I thought this one
is the most common issue. Let me know
if this is the answer you were looking
for. Roseanne
Response 5. Thank
you Roseanne, I won the bet!!! P
Till we speak
again��.Roseanne |
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