OPM Director Katherine Archuleta has given agencies permission to send their applications in for Phased Retirement as early as November 6, 2014.  Employees who are eligible to participate in Phased Retirement must receive permission from their agencies. The employees who participate continue to work part-time in order to increase and preserve institutional knowledge.
The participating employees will receive a Phased Retirement partial annuity and continue accruing additional service credit toward their final annuity. The employees or phased annuitants will render 20 percent of their time towards mentoring employees to acquire critical information needed to do the work of the agency. Agencies will have the latitude and flexibility to fashion their mentoring programs to suit the needs of individual agencies.
It will be interesting to get a report of the number of applications received after November 6, 2014. The employees, however must have worked a minimum of 3 years before retirement and have accumulated enough time in order to qualify for retirement. Individuals who take voluntary early retirement do not qualify to participate in phased retirement. There must also be a written agreement between the agency and the employee outlining the duties and responsibilities to be achieved during phased retirement. The term of the agreement depends solely upon the parties involved as to how long the assignment will last.
Although OPM processes the applications for phased retirement, those persons desiring to participate must talk to their managers and supervisors to determine what opportunities might exist for them within their own agencies. Each agency will have the responsibility to decide which positions will actually be a part of phased retirement.
It took two years for OPM to issue a final ruling although Congress approved the law in 2012. This is a new program where agencies will have, it seems, a tremendous amount of latitude to define and set parameters for their programs. Although the final ruling has been issued agencies still have a lot of work on their hands to develop programs that will support the goals and objectives of OPM‘s Phased Retirement.
This is a wait and see game. How many employees will participate? What metrics will be used to determine and capture the effectiveness of the program? How many years will it take to collect and analyzing data sufficient to report real outcomes? What are the factors that will determine the continuity of the program?  Are there circumstances or factors that will render the program ineffective and pull the plug on it?    These questions might have already been asked during the public comment period, but might be worth revisiting for those still trying to get their arms around Phased Retirement.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
OTHERÂ PHASED RETIREMENTÂ RELATED ARTICLES
Explanation of Phased Retirement
Phased Retirement – Closing the Knowledge Gap
Phased Retirement – Participation
