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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today offered its support for bipartisan legislation that would remove a disincentive for some federal employees looking to phase into retirement by working part-time schedules toward the end of their government careers.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wisc.) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), would change the computation of Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuities to clarify that those annuities based wholly or partially on part-time service should be pro-rated for periods of part-time work.

The way current law functions, those who retire under CSRS and who have performed some part-time work often do not get full credit for all of their full-time work in the calculation of their annuity. This can result in a disproportionate reduction in an employee’s benefit, effectively precluding someone from shifting to a part-time schedule as he or she nears retirement.

A particularly important impact of the pending legislation, said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley, is that it would help agencies in their succession planning by allowing them to retain the expertise of senior staff for a longer period of time to mentor and otherwise assist newer employees become more valuable contributors to the missions of their agency.

“This is the kind of intelligent step we need to be taking,” Kelley said. “Long-time employees have extensive experience in their jobs, and they have accumulated an enormous amount of institutional knowledge. Extending their time in government, even on a part-time basis, allows them the chance to pass that on to newer employees. That truly is invaluable.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.