More Assistance Is Coming for Feds Having TSP Transition Issues and Flood Victims

Participants in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program have had a difficult month. In addition to suffering losses in the financial markets, they also experienced issues with the June 1 switch to a new recordkeeper.

According to Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, a high frequency of calls to the Thrift Savings Plan‘s Thrift Line has continued for more than a month following the switch. The workforce at the hotline will have nearly quadrupled by Friday, going from 485 on June 1 to a projected 955, which is fantastic news for participants attempting to get through to a representative who can answer their inquiries (there were already 805 contact center representatives as of June 21).

Weaver forewarned that the recently hired agents would need some time to get trained before taking their first call. Although the new recordkeeper offers several advantages, like a safer login process and access to 5,000 mutual funds, many participants first encountered difficulties with the fundamental actions required to utilize these features, such as setting up their accounts.

Weaver noted that the TSP executive director has promised to provide weekly updates on the recordkeeper transition to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and will provide ad hoc updates to any concerned lawmakers.

Norton stated that she was “pleased Director [Ravindra] Deo accepted my request to be issued weekly updates.” She went on to say, “The new system continues to cause my constituents, federal employees, and retirees around the nation significant problems, including taxes being wrongfully deducted from accounts, inaccurate beneficiary information, and inability to access their retirement assets.”

Weaver reported that 1.2 million different TSP participants had used the new system since it launched on June 1. In a typical year, almost 3.3 million participants – or half of all participants – log onto My Account.

An Expansion of the COVID Response’s Special Hiring Regulations

On June 27, the Office of Personnel Management expanded the use of special hiring privileges to aid in recruiting personnel for the federal response to the COVID-19 epidemic. According to the email sent to agency heads by OPM Director Kiran Ahuja, hiring officials may still use the Schedule A recruiting power for excepted services to fill temporary positions directly relevant to the pandemic up to March 1, 2023.

Schedule A enables agencies to forego traditional competitive hiring processes to discover candidates more quickly and effectively. For instance, organizations are not required to make the position public on USAJobs.gov (though they can still do so if they would like).

To fulfill their missions and/or to fill open positions, agencies currently “continue to need more tools to perform strategic, targeted hiring for specific, short-term tasks,” Ahuja stated. According to OPM, “Agencies have ongoing obligations directly tied to the COVID-19 epidemic. Hence the continuous exercise of this extraordinary power is justified.”

Specific hiring regulations apply for temporary appointments lasting up to a year in positions directly related to the COVID-19 response. Hires made before the deadline may be kept on for an additional year.

Assistance for Flood Victims

To assist federal workers and their families impacted by the catastrophic storms and flooding in Montana, OPM has created a leave donation program. In June, major floods brought on by heavy rain and melting snow affected Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding areas, necessitating rescue efforts, evacuations, and closures.

Through the emergency leave transfer program, flood victims in Montana’s Carbon, Park, and Stillwater counties can take extended time off to recover from floods that occurred on June 10 or later without using up any of their own paid leave. If an agency had staff members impacted by the storms and flooding, OPM left it up to the individual agencies to determine their needs and set up contribution programs.

The July 1 memo from Ahuja to agency heads stated, “Agencies with employees affected by the disaster are in the best position to determine whether and how much donated their employees need annual leave, and which of their employees have been adversely affected by the specific emergency within the meaning of OPM regulations.” Additionally, they are best positioned to promptly arrange the transfer of donated annual leave inside their agencies.

If officials don’t have enough donated leave on hand to meet their needs, they can potentially ask other federal agencies for assistance.

If an employee wants to contribute time off, they should speak with their agency rather than OPM, and if they need assistance, they should write to their agencies.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9143022300

Bio:
My name is Kevin Wirth and I have worked in the financial services industry for many years and I specialize in life insurance and retirement planning for individuals and small business owners, with a specialty in working with Federal Employees. I am also AHIP certified to work with individuals on their Medicare planning. You can contact me by e-mail or phone. I look forward to the opportunity of working with you on these most relevant areas of financial planning.

[email protected]
914-302-2300

Disclosure:
These articles are intended for educational purposes only. Please contact your advisors for legal, accounting or investment advice.