Government affairs

Today, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Walter Jones (R-NC), introduced the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 5389), which would provide certain federal employees the option to make deposit for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988, thus making such time creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System, and for other purposes.

“Folks who work hard for our country deserve a government that has their back,” said Rep. Kilmer. “This bill lets people retire securely and on time. Workers shouldn’t have to put their physical health at risk because some government red tape says they should work longer than their peers.”

“H.R. 5389 rights an injustice to our civil servants by allowing them to ‘buy back’ the time they spent serving in ‘probationary status.’” said Rep. Jones.

The legislation appears to cover postal employees and should apply to letter carriers who spent time as casuals, TEs and CCAs. NALC continues to seek clarification on exactly which employees would be included. It also remains unclear as to the potential budget impact this bill will have, therefore the prospects of this legislation advancing are not good.