New Bill Would Allow Former Temporary Federal Employees To Count Their Years in Temporary Service

Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA) recently introduced a new piece of legislation to help temporary federal employees who had been employed on a temporary basis and then transferred to full time. A previous gap in the legislation had led to some significant complications when it came time for employees to receive retirement benefits, so Kilmer introduced this new legislation with the intent of rectifying these concerns.

Kilmer introduced the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 5389) after he received complaints from employees of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, who saw many employees come and go earlier than others because they had been full-time employees throughout their careers. For instance, 54-year-old Allen Hodge began his career as a temporary employee and shifted to full-time employment five years later. Hodge, and employees like him, spoke out after they discovered that their years of temporary jobs would not count towards the minimum number of years required to retire before the age of 62.

Hodge began as a temporary worker, but after five years of temporary employment was offered a full-time position, and over the years, worked his way to becoming manager of the shop where he started his career. The frustrating part of Hodge’s situation was the fact that other employees who began later than he did were leaving earlier because they had started as full-time employees.

Hodge and some of his fellow shipyard workers eventually sought the support of Kilmer, who, after seeing the case’s complexities, joined their cause. “This is an issue that impacts the largest employer in our area—the federal government. We know there are a lot of workers in our area that are really affected by this,” said Kilmer, who introduced his proposed bill on the 22nd of March. As of the time of publication, the bill has not yet passed the House.

The challenge with potentially delaying temporary federal employees’ retirement, especially in a job that requires physical labor to any significant degree, is that not only does it put more risk on the employer, but the additional work could worsen the health concerns inherent to retirement.

Kilmer told the Kitsap Sun that federal employees who would be eligible for this bill would have the ability to pay catch-up contributions, but that they would also have to pay the government’s portion to offset the federal budget hit.

“I think that…would increase the likelihood we could get this passed,” said Kilmer. In the instance of Hodge, this would be around $50,000 to cover both his own and the government’s contributions, but he said it would be worth it for the chance to plan his life for retirement with security.