House panel approves phased retirement bill
The proposal would allow a blend of work and retirement in an effort to keep retirement-eligible feds in the workforce.
A proposal that would allow federal employees to work part-time while collecting partial retirement is now headed to the House for a full vote.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on April 18 green-lighted H.R. 4363, which allows phased retirement for eligible federal employees. The idea was first introduced in the Federal Hiring Modernization Act of 2010, then reemerged in the Obama administration’s 2013 budget proposal.
Under the bill, eligible employees would continue working on a reduced schedule and get paid partly from a reduced salary and partly from retirement annuity. The bill would also require employees to spend 20 percent of their time on mentoring others and help with succession planning, which could help improve the continuity of government operations, said Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
He praised the bill’s passage and said it would help those employees who aren’t quite ready to retire from federal service.
“This legislation would provide personal flexibility for federal employees who wish to cut back on their hours but not fully retire,” he said. “Rather than enter full retirement before they are ready, or continue working longer than they would like, employees would be able to do a little of both.”