Simply Junior

The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) began in 1920 and has given disability, survivor and retirement benefits for the majority of civilian employees in the Federal government until 1987 when the new Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) was created. Nevertheless, over two million people carry on receiving Civil Service Retirement System retirement and survivor benefits every month.

Retirement benefits are presently financed by both Government and employee contributions to the retirement fund, and the benefits are provided based on the duration of service and the average pay over the highest three years of pay.

What are the eligibility requirements for Civil Service Retirement System benefits? An employee is qualified to retire voluntarily if the following provisions are met: at least five years of creditable civilian service; is separated from a position subject to Civil Service Retirement System coverage; is covered by Civil Service Retirement System for at least one year within the two-year period immediately preceding the separation; and meets age/service combinations of age 55 with 30 years of service, or age 60 with 20 years of service, or age 62 with five years of service.

For employees who separate from service and have met the criteria except for the age/service combination may be permitted to a deferred annuity at age sixty-two. To be qualified, the employee must not take a refund of retirement deductions upon separation.

In determining the service which may be used for an employee’s eligibility for retirement under the Civil Service Retirement System, is not restricted to service in positions subject to CSRS retirement deductions, it may also comprise service where the pay of the employee is not subject to retirement deductions, such as under a temporary appointment. Honorable active military service may also be qualified, subject to conditions: it was executed before the separation date upon which is the basis for entitlement to annuity; it is not comprised in computation of military retired pay except for certain service-connected disability requirements; if the military service was executed after December 31, 1956, some employees will have to create a deposit for the service to receive firstly or for other employees, to retain credit after the age of sixty-two.

Although the service used in determining an employee’s eligibility for retirement is typically the same as creditable service for computation purposes, there are some exceptions: periods of CSRS service refunded, will not be creditable unless a redeposit is made; if the refunded service was executed before October 1, 1990, it will be qualified even if no redeposit is made but the annuity will be actuarially decreased; non-education service is made on or October 1, 1982, is not qualified if a deposit has not been made. October 1, 1982 prior service is creditable by the annuity will be decreased by ten percent of amount owed; active military service executed after December 31, 1956 is not creditable for employees first employed in a covered position after September 30, 1982 except if a military deposit for the service is made; and unused sick leave is commendable in computing benefits. Sick leave is changed into days or months of service using the Sick Leave Chart in the OPM operating manual, but it can never be used for eligibility.

If you are looking for information about disability retirement plans, then you will want to read this article In it, we will discuss exactly what a disability retirement plan is and why it is offered by certain employers, as well as your rights that you have when you qualify for disability retirement plan.

A disability retirement plan is a way to provide lifetime income for an employee who is unable to work any longer, due to a disability. These plans are offered by certain employers as a benefit of working for them. They extend to employees of all ages.

In general, disability retirement plans are negotiated as a percentage of the highest compensation the employee has paid. For example, a typical disability retirement plan may call for terms of paying out 45% of the highest wage earned by the employee while actively working.

Typically, employers who offer a disability retirement plan, also offer a service retirement plan. The difference here is that the service retirement plan provides a lifetime income for an employee who reaches a minimum age (usually around 60) or completes a number of years of work.

This is important because there are certain rights every employee has when it comes to being offered a disability retirement plan or service retirement plan. Your rights would be violated if you qualify for both retirement plans, but were forced to take a disability retirement plan that didn’t offer the same compensation.

Also, it is illegal for an employer to exclude anyone who meets the requirements of the disability retirement plan, but who has a particular disability. There is no difference in what kind of disability you suffer from, only that you suffer from a disability. Your employer cannot discriminate on different types of disabilities, when it comes to awarding a disability retirement plan.

If you feel you have been discriminated by an employer based on your disability, you should contact the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It will help you to seek relief and get the proper benefits associated with your disability retirement plan.

In conclusion, I’ve given you some information about disability retirement plans. These are great plans to consider as the deciding factor for choosing between different places of employment. Keep these in mind, as well as your rights that you have with your disability retirement plan, to be sure you get what’s coming to you.

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) is a phased-in reinstatement of the retired pay deducted from military retiree’s accounts due to their receiving of department of veterans Affairs (DVA) compensation, showing on their Retiree Account Statements as the “VA waiver”. The phased-in restoration started January 1, 2004 with the initial payments dated February 2, 1004.

A person is qualified for the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay if they have a DVA-rated, service-connected disability of fifty percent or higher, except if they are a disability retiree with less than twenty years of service or a retiree who combined the military time and civil service time to meet the criteria for a civil service retirement. If they have combined the military time and civil service time in order to improve their civil service retirement from OPM, then they are eligible for the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay payments, but they will have to replace their retired pay by coordinating with OPM. If one becomes eligible for CRDP, their payments will start automatically.

Payments from the Concurrent Retirement and Disability pay are delivered through direct deposits or mailed-based on their current retired pay information. The payments will reflect as a decrease in the VA waiver deduction on their retiree Account Statement, but they will maintain to be given the same amount from the DVA.

The Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay payments are taxable according to their current retired pay federal Income tax Withholding (FITW) tax rate and may have an effect on the amount they wish to have deducted for State Income tax Withholding (SITW).

The payments are also subject to collection actions for child support, community property, government debt, alimony, and garnishment. The Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay payment rates are as follows: (computation begins with the “table rates”)

-If rated unemployable $750.00

-If rated at 100% $750.00

-If rated at 90% $500.00

-If rated at 80% $350.00

-If rated at 70% $250.00

-If rated at 60% $125.00

-If rated at 50% $100.00

The total computed CRDP amounts based on the rates will increase each year until January 2014 when they will be receiving their full retired pay entitlement and their DVA disability compensation with no reduction. Unlike Retired Pay Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLAs), The Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay increases will be effective on the 1st of January every year, to be paid on the first business day of February. In addition, since retired gross pay, DVA compensation, and consequently VA waiver amounts, increase very year with COLAs, they will not be able to precisely extrapolate CRDP amounts for upcoming years.

CRDP amounts will automatically decrease or increase based on the percentage of disability accounted to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) by the DVA. Just remember that the monthly CRDP amounts cannot go beyond the lesser of your monthly gross related pay or VA waiver amount.