Agencies Urged to Prepare for Year-End Retirement Rush
As we near the end of the year, federal agencies are being urged by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prepare for the surge in retirement applications that typically happens between December and the early part of the new year.
OPM is hoping to avoid significantly adding to the retirement backlog which it has been working to reduce.
In a memo, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja asks for agency assistance ahead of the busy period, particularly with reducing errors in applications before they are submitted to OPM.
Director Ahuja notes that about one quarter of applications submitted to OPM contain errors that delay processing and payout of benefits.
“The best way to reduce these delays is to ensure that applications are free from errors before they are submitted to OPM, and for agencies, payroll providers, and OPM’s Retirement Services to work closely to address questions and errors in a timely manner,” wrote Director Ahuja, who noted the agency’s monthly error report is a good “starting place for such discussion and collaboration.”
Agency Tasks
OPM asks agencies to take several actions before the coming surge:
· Provide early input to OPM on the number of applications expected from their workers during the retirement surge period with the first update requested no later than November 30, 2023. OPM says “projections and expectations shared on a monthly basis will help OPM staff to manage workloads appropriately.”
· Implement an internal quality assurance process to review applications for errors before they are sent to OPM. Director Ahuja notes that error-free applications can be completed in as little as 30 days.
· Ensure that retirement applications are submitted to OPM no later than 32 days after an employee’s separation from federal service.
· Send employees to OPM’s annual retirement application training events.
· Encourage HR employees to visit the OPM retirement processing center in Boyers, Pennsylvania to help during the busiest time of year.
· Ask HR employees to read OPM’s Retirement Quick Guide, which provides the latest information on the retirement process including timelines and what to expect during each step.
OPM Works to Reduce Backlog
This comes as OPM hopes to avoid adding to the retirement backlog, which is on the downswing but still greater than OPM’s goal of no more than 13,000 cases pending at any given time.
At the end of September, the backlog hit its lowest level since 2017, with 15,852 cases pending, the second time in 2023 that the backlog hit a six-year low. OPM also saw faster processing times for such applications.
To reduce the backlog, OPM unveiled a long-term IT strategic plan which includes a “digital retirement system” by 2026.
In the short-term OPM increased staffing, streamlined processes, and released guides to help employees and processors stay informed on what should be happening at each step of the retirement process and to cut down on errors.
Insight into Retirement Errors
On the subject of errors, FedScoop obtained data from OPM that showed that the governmentwide error rate for retirement applications is up significantly from a decade ago,
It was 20 percent in August 2022 up from 8.3 percent in August 2012, and 28.6 percent in January 2023, up from 17.7 percent in January 2013.
Errors vary from missing certificates to missing signatures.