OPM wins A-76 competition

Office of Personnel Management employees won an A-76 competition for work related to processing Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act (FERCCA) cases, according to an April 4 agency announcement.

OPM’s Division for Human Resources Products and Services (HRPS) will take over responsibilities from KPMG, whose contract for the services expired in January.

The competition determined whether OPM or a private-sector company could process FERCCA cases more efficiently and effectively. HRPS was able to do it for nearly $500,000 less per year than its private-sector competitors. OPM says internal work on FERCCA could save up to $1.7 million in a three-year period.

“Utilizing in-house resources and expertise will bring greater efficiency and effectiveness in processing the claims and facilitating the transfer of current federal employees and annuitants,” OPM Director Linda Springer said. OPM has won 15 out of 17 A-76 competitions it has entered.

Springer said the agency’s handling of FERCCA cases should eliminate some problems with retirement coverage there. “Once FERCCA is completed and a new technology is implemented, we should no longer have employees with incorrect retirement coverage in the future,” she said.

The act, passed in 2000, aims to assist federal employees who were placed in the wrong retirement system after Dec. 31, 1986. It allows workers to choose between the Federal Employees Retirement and Civil Service Retirement systems.