Drowning under a growing case backlog in 2001, the Social Security Administration rehired 152 of its retired claims representatives, office attorneys, administrative law judges and other employees on a part-time basis. By 2006, 392 retirees were on board.SSA got special waivers from the Office of Personnel Management to pay those retired employees their full pensions and part-time salaries. Without the waivers, retirees returning to SSA would have had their pensions docked by the amount of their salaries. In effect, they would have been working for free.OPM and some leading lawmakers are pushing legislation to expand those waivers — available now to only a few agencies — to all agencies.But the government’s two biggest unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, oppose the measures, which have gone nowhere.Without the waivers, retirees would be “working for nothing, and I think that is outrageous,” OPM Director Linda Springer said at a Feb. 29 news conference.Now, with the Bush administration in its final year, Springer appears pessimistic about the chances of getting the bills passed.“It will probably be the greatest frustration I have” this year, she said.
What I do not understand is why Social Security would be offering incentives for employees to retire early at the same time they are trying to rehire retired employees -- unless the real goal is reduction of the work force.
Just a guess, but wouldn't part-time retired employees cost the agency less than full-time employees. I would assume the retired employees health insurance would come from agency money and there would be no retirement costs for the retired part-timers.
ReplyDeleteI just like to know who in their right mind would want to come back and put up with all the BS. I pray for the day I'm in the KMA club and can leave.
Most components have FTE ceilings and early outs both get them below those ceilings and allow for some new hiring. A controlled exodus of older staff allows younger folks to be brought in. And rehiring retirees I think doesn't count against the FTE issue because they are restricted to a set # of hours. From the rehire's perspective it's good money on top of the pension, probably doing something like finally training the person who replaced you that you couldn't do before.
ReplyDeleteI worked as a rehired annuitant last year - whoever wrote the article has it backward. My annuity was not docked by my salary, my salary was reduced by my annuity. So I did not work for nothing, I still made more than twice minimum wage and felt that I was able to serve the public and my co-workers. If asked, I would probably return as long as my skills/knowledge had not become too out of date.
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