Retirement Backlog Hits New 2023 Low in November
Federal employees looking to retire soon can look forward to faster processing times for retirement paperwork.
According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the backlog of pending federal retirement claims hit a six-year low in November, falling to 15,826 pending claims.
It is the third time this year the backlog has hit a six-year low. November’s numbers are also the lowest of 2023, which saw the backlog drop in seven of 11 months.
Despite the progress, the number of pending claims is still more than OPM’s goal of no more than 13,000 pending claims at any given time. November also saw the fewest claims filed since June.
Average monthly processing time fell to 66 days in November from 73 days in October, meaning it is taking an average of about two months to get a claim through. That is well below the 85-plus days it took to process claims this time last year.
OPM Efforts Appear to be Paying Off
OPM has been taking steps to get that backlog down and shorten the amount of time that employees wait in limbo.
Earlier this year, OPM released a Retirement Quick Guide and a video to better inform employees about the process, the steps required, and to try and cut down on application errors, which are one of the biggest delays in retirement processing.
OPM also released a long-term IT strategic plan which includes a provision to modernize the retirement process by trying out a “digital retirement system” and digitizing paper records
The agency is also planning for the expected retirement surge which typically occurs in January through March. In a memo, OPM asked agencies to send estimates of anticipated retirement applications and to develop processes to mitigate errors on applications. OPM is also boosting staffing to handle the expected surge in applications.
In January, February, and March 2023 for example, over 30,000 retirement claims were filed. The rest of the year averaged about 6,500 a month.