FERS Creditable Service

Creditable service under FERS usually includes-

• Federal “covered service”, that is, service in which the individual’s pay is subject to FERS retirement deductions, such as service under a career or career conditional appointment,
• Federal service performed before 1989, where an employee’s pay was not subject to retirement deductions, such as, service under a temporary appointment, as long as a deposit is paid. There are a few exceptions to the rule that the service must have been performed before 1989, in order to be eligible to pay a deposit. The only exceptions are:

• U.S. Senate Child Care Center service
• Peace Corps/VISTA service
• service under the Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS)
• service performed before 12/31/90 with the Democratic or Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic or Republican National Congressional Committee, and
• service with the Library of Congress Child Development Center prior to 12/21/00.

Deposit: A deposit is the payment of the retirement deductions, plus interest, that would have been withheld from your pay if you had been covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) during a period of employment when retirement deductions were not withheld from your salary. You are not required to make this type of payment.

If Retirement Deductions Were Never Withheld-

Generally, nondeduction service cannot be credited under FERS, unless it was performed before 1989 and a deposit is made.

Deposit for Service Ending before January 1, 1989 and Covered by FERS: You can make a deposit for creditable Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) service you performed before 1989 during which retirement deductions were not withheld from your pay. Interest is charged from the midpoint of periods of service and is compounded annually. Interest is charged to the date the deposit is paid in full or the annuity begins, whichever is earlier. Interest is applied at the rates described in the table below. If you do not pay for a period of this type of service, you will not receive credit in determining your eligibility to retire or in computing your retirement benefit.

Deposit for Service Ending on/after January 1, 1989 and Covered by FERS: With certain minor exceptions, a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employee cannot make a deposit for non-contributory service performed on/after January 1, 1989.

If You Received a Refund of Your Retirement Deductions-

Refund Received After FERS Coverage Began-

If you receive a refund of FERS deductions after the effective date of your FERS coverage, you can never redeposit these funds, and the period covered by the refund will not be creditable for the purposes of entitlement or computation of your annuity.

Refund Received Before FERS Coverage Began-

You can repay any refund you received for any period of civilian service during which retirement deductions were withheld from your pay and later returned to you before you were covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Interest is charged from the date of the refund and compounded annually. Interest is charged to the date full payment is made or the date annuity begins, whichever is earlier. If you do not pay for a period of this type of service, you will not receive credit in determining your eligibility to retire or in computing your retirement benefit.

Redeposit: A redeposit is the repayment of retirement deductions that were previously withheld and refunded to you, plus interest.

Exception for individuals with a portion of their FERS annuity computed under CSRS rules-

If you have civilian service performed before the effective date of your FERS coverage and part of your annuity will be computed under CSRS rules, that service will be credited under CSRS service credit rules.

Making Payment to Get Credit for Service-

You should apply to make a payment by completing a Standard Form 3108 [491 KB] (Application to Make Service Credit Payment/FERS). You should use this form even if a portion of your FERS annuity will be computed under CSRS rules.

If you are a Federal employee-

Send your completed application to your department or agency because they must certify it. Please do not file an application if you plan to retire within six months. OPM will give you an opportunity to make payment when it computes our annuity.

If you are not currently a Federal employee-

Send your completed application directly to:

OPM
Retirement Operations Center
Deposit Section
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045

If you are within six months of retirement-

Submit your request to make the deposit or redeposit at the same time you submit your application for retirement. We will notify you of any amounts due so you can decide whether or not to make the payment. We cannot, however, authorize your regular annuity payments until we have your decision about the payment.

Military Service

Credit for Military Service-

As a general rule, military service in the Armed Forces of the United States is creditable for retirement purposes if it was active service terminated under honorable conditions, and performed prior to your separation from civilian service for retirement.

Service Performed Before 1957-

• creditable without deposit

Service Performed on or after January 1, 1957-

• a deposit must be paid to credit the service to establish title to an annuity or to compute your annuity

Exception for individuals with a portion of their FERS annuity computed under CSRS rules-

If your military service was performed before the effective date of your FERS coverage, the military service will be credited under CSRS rules.