NEWSLETTER WEEKLY – INTERIM PAYMENTS
Federal employees have had a love/hate relationship with interim retirement payments for a number of years. The interim payment is the check Federal employees receive before receiving their actual retirement annuity. The interim payment is slightly less than the payment the employee will eventually receive. OPM believes that much of the delay in processing retirement applications is due to agencies and employees not being as thorough as they need to be in completing the application.
Once the agency where the employee works has gathered all of the relevant information needed from the employee, that information is electronicaly transmitted to OPM. There are two possible glitches that might delay or impeded the process. If there is missing information from the initial application package to the agency, then the agency personnel office will have to send the package back to the employee. Now the delays are in motion before the application package can ever leave the agency; thus, setting up a downward spiral.
If there are additional glitches in the application package once the package reaches OPM, it will be returned to the agency for corrections and/or completion. The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources gatekeeper for the entire Federal Government, including retirees and their families. The number of customers under the umbrella of OPM is said to be well over 10 million. The task before the agency is enormous. It is also an agency whose importance is often overlooked. I have long-supported the idea that OPM should be elevated to the Cabinet level.
The agency is responsible for the greatest asset the Federal Government has – its people; the one intricate, irreplaceable component of which there is no duplication possible. No, machines and automation will never totally replace humans. Case-in-point – the grocery store check-out. There they are those shiny self-checkout lanes waiting for the next customer in line. Then suddenly a human appears because the machine has malfunctioned and is screaming for the items to be removed from the belt. Machines are the creation of humans and therefore cannot replace its creator. Perhaps, temporarily. I absolutely abhor the automated 411 information robots or whatever they are. They cannot for their very life, understand plain, everyday English.
Example: Robot speaks: Say the city and state. Say what you are looking for. I speak: Alexandria, Virginia. Robot speaks: Orlandro Virgin. It is now a back and forth battle to communicate. I give up and look it up on the Internet. Get my point. Human beings are critically important and it would be good to treat another human being with great courtesy and respect the next time you get an actual human on the phone.
Okay, back to interim payments. A suggestion to those preparing for retirement. About one year before you plan to retire, download a copy of the entire Application Package and become thoroughly familiar with it. Find out what documentation you need to help complete the application. When the time actually comes for you to submit the application, because you have spent time preparing for that moment, your package will be complete and error free. Using this strategy will help OPM process your application faster and get your check to you on time.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
Dianna Tafazoli
