Retirement, Early-Outs and the Incentive

(This article appeared in the November/December 2012 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.) 

Greg Bell, Executive Vice President

Many APWU members are contemplating a momentous decision: whether to end their careers to qualify for a $15,000 incentive. Under the terms of a Sept. 28 agreement negotiated by the APWU, eligible employees who opt for regular retirement, voluntary early retirement (VER) or resignation will receive payment in two installments. The first installment of $10,000 will be paid on May 24, 2013; the second installment of $5,000 will be paid on May 23, 2014.

A secure retirement is one of our greatest benefits, and the decision to retire is among the most important you will ever make. I urge you to con- sider it carefully, and to participate in USPS counseling sessions so you can make an informed decision.

The APWU Retirees Department also offers information about retirement issues. You can email questions to the APWU Retiree Q & A Center at RetireeQandA@apwu.org.

If you decide to go, I strongly suggest you join the APWU Retirees Department, which is the voice of retired APWU members within the APWU.

In negotiating the incentive agreement, the APWU’s objectives were to achieve a monetary incentive for members who are ready to leave the Postal Service, to ensure that no groups of APWU-represented employees were excluded, and to minimize the impact and hardship of excessing on members who remain. This is the first time the APWU negotiated an incentive agreement where no categories of employees were excluded.

Eligibility Qualifications

The retirement incentive offer applies to all categories of APWU-represented employees.

To qualify for early retirement, employees must have at least 20 years of service and be 50 years of age or older, or 25 years of service at any age. For employees in the Civil Service Retirement System, the annuity is reduced 2 percent for each year workers are un- der age 55.

To qualify for regular retirement, employees must have at least 30 years of service and be 55 or older; or 20 years of service and be age 60 or older; or 5 years of service and be age 62 or older.

Employees who do not qualify for regular or early retirement may resign in order to receive the incentive.

Not covered by the agreement are employees who are in a probationary status on the date of separation; issued a Notice of Removal or Letter of Decision as of the effective date of retirement or resignation; separate via dis- ability retirement, and employees who separate via transfer to another federal agency.

 Eligible part-time regular and part-time flexible employees will receive a prorated amount based on the number of paid hours in the 26 full pay periods prior to the effective date or their retirement or resignation, as follows:

Deadlines

Full-time employees except em­ployee in Non-Traditional Full-Time (NTFT) duty assignments of less than 40 hours must indicate their intent to accept the incentive offer is Dec. 3, 2012.

The deadline for part-time employees and employees occupying NTFT duty assignments of less than 40 hours is Jan. 4, 2013.

Employees who indicate they are taking regular retirement or are resign­ing may revoke their decision up to the effective date of their retirement or res­ignation.

Full-time employees (except for employees in NTFT assignments of less than 40 hours) who indicate they are taking the VER and who wish to revoke the decision must do so by Dec. 3, 2012.

Part-time employees and employees occupying NTFT assignments of less than 40 hours who indicate they are tak­ing VER and who wish to revoke their decision must do so by Jan. 4, 2013.

Separation Dates

Most full-time employees will have a separation date of Jan. 31, 2013.

Part-time employees and employ­ees occupying NTFT assignments of less than 40 hours per week will have a separation date of Feb. 28, 2013.

Employees in Accounting Services position of the Information Technol­ogy/Accounting Services (IT/ASC) bargaining unit also will have a separation date of Feb. 28.

Eligible employees who, as of Sept. 28, 2012, had a scheduled retirement or resignation date before Jan. 31, 2013, may retire or resign on their scheduled date and receive the incentive. Employees who had a previously scheduled retirement or resignation date after Jan. 31, 2013, must change their date to Jan. 31, 2013, and if they are retiring must meet retirement eligibility on that date in order to receive the incentive.

Retirement Counseling

Employees contemplating retire­ment are eligible for counseling. Retirement counseling will be conducted via phone in group sessions not to exceed 10 retirees. Employees requesting additional help after participating in a group session will be accommodated on an individual basis.

In accordance with a 2009 pre-arbitration settlement, local management must arrange reasonably private space for employees who wish to receive individual retirement counseling on the clock. Employees are permitted to have their spouse and/or advisor present during counseling.

Employees who cannot obtain counseling from Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) without assistance will be offered help from local management. Whether an em­ployee is unable to start or complete the retirement counseling without as­sistance will be determined jointly by local management and the union on a case-by-case basis.

Incentive Payments

If you decide to retire or resign, it is important to make sure that management has the address where you want the payments to be sent.

The incentive retirement agree­ment stipulates that eligible employ­ees will complete PS Form 3077, Re­quest to Forward Salary Check, and submit it to their employing office. The incentive payments will be dis­tributed to the address provided by the employee. In the absence of the submission of PS Form 3077, both payments will be mailed to the loca­tion where employees worked before they retired or resigned.