Fwd: {{ruralcarriers@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 39-SE, V. 1, Dec. 18, 2007 (List 22)
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From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 2:23 PM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 39-SE, V. 1, Dec. 18, 2007 (List 22)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 39-SE Vol. 1 December 18, 2007 Tuesday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feedback and the tremendous interest in this newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES!
_________________________________________________________________________
Issue Codes = Issue A(A is not usually used and constitutes just the issue #) and B-E are news and human interest stories; Issue NJ are New Jersey related issues and editorials; Issue OP are editorials or commentary; Issue SE are special editions of investigatory reports or series: Issues SP are special issues with important news; Issues ST are Steward/labor relations related articles and Issues-X are breaking news articles of importance.
*************************************************************************
Sick leave plan falls short, manager groups say
How much money is enough to persuade a federal employee not to abuse his sick leave benefit? Five thousand dollars? Ten thousand? That’s the question in play now as federal manager groups, congressional staffs and the administration try to fashion a bill aimed at preventing feds who are approaching retirement from taking unused sick leave when they are not sick.
After two months of wrangling, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., floated a draft bill that would pay up to $5,000 to feds for their unused sick leave. The benefit would help only those in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), who currently get no compensation for their unused sick leave when they retire. Employees under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) are compensated for unused sick leave, and as a result, have far more unused sick leave accumulated when they retire.
But last week several management groups criticized the draft bill, saying it doesn’t compensate FERS-covered employees enough. They called on Moran to raise the cap to $10,000 and to pay a higher rate of compensation — 15 percent of hourly pay instead of the current 10 percent — for unused sick leave that exceeds 1,000 hours.
“Does $5,000 present enough of an incentive for employees to conserve their sick leave? I’m not sure it does,” said Jessica Klement, government affairs director at the Federal Managers Association, speaking on behalf of a coalition of government managers groups.
The legislation Moran proposed would compensate FERS employees 10 percent of the hourly rate of their high-three salary — the average of the employee’s highest salaries over three consecutive years — for accumulated sick leave in excess of 500 hours, with a $5,000 pay cap. As drafted, the benefit would not be retroactive.
“This is a good government management issue — your employee is not there and they are not getting their work done and, without an incentive, they have no reason to stay,” Klement said.
Sick leave abuse cost the government an estimated $68 million in lost productivity in the year ended March 30, 2006, an August Congressional Research Service report says.
The management groups — the Senior Executives Associations, Federal Managers Association, Federal Aviation Administration Managers Association, National Council of Social Security Management Associations and Professional Managers Association — say raising the cap to allow for payouts as high as $10,000 or instituting a sliding scale would cost the government less than the loss in productivity caused by thousands of feds taking sick leave. There is no estimate of how much less.
Moran is banking on that calculation. The success of the legislation on the Hill will likely depend on the benefit’s final price tag and how it compares with the estimated costs of sick leave abuse, said Heath Bumgardner, a staff member for Moran. Bumgardner plans to meet with the Office of Personnel Management this week to discuss the legislation and what it would take to get the administration on board.
“I think Mr. Moran is going to weigh how much he believes it’s costing the government right now without this tool,” Bumgardner said. “Ultimately that’s a political question he’ll have to answer.”
Among the details he hopes to iron out with OPM are options for paying for the benefit. Bumgardner has said ideally the payout would be funded with the same salaries and benefits money that currently supports sick leave and leave abuse. But convincing OPM and other members of Congress that such a scheme will work may be tricky, he said. Until a cost for the program is projected, he said, all funding possibilities are no more than speculation.
The Congressional Budget Office, which calculates cost estimates for pending legislation, will not study the bill before it is introduced. Moran plans to introduce the legislation early next year.
OPM officials said they are working on the legislation with Moran’s office, but declined to comment further.
FERS employees get no benefit for saved sick leave, while CSRS applies an employee’s unused sick leave to his length of service, and that translates into higher retirement pensions. Both CSRS and FERS employees earn 13 sick days a year. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., plans to co-sponsor the bill, his staff said. Bumgardner said he expects others to sign on later, including Rep. Danny Davis, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs subcommittee on the federal workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. After the bill is introduced in the House, Moran’s staff will also contact members of the Senate for support, starting with Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on oversight of government management, the federal workforce and the District of Columbia. http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3255567
Best Date to Retire in 2008 (or early in 2009)
December 17, 2007
By John Grobe
I guess it's too late to write a column about the best day to retire this year. Many other writers have beaten me to the punch. In addition, most folks have already set their retirement dates, and their retirement parties are in full swing. This article is for those of you who are biding your time and plan to retire in late 2008 or early 2009 and may be interested in looking at the best dates to retire a year from now.
First and foremost, the best day for you to retire is whenever you feel like it (and meet the requirements). Once you are eligible to retire, you can leave whenever you want. It could be on the first day you are eligible, your birthday, or the day the Cubs win the World Series.
Having said that, many retirees choose to retire near the end of the calendar year. The primary reason for this choice is the ability to get a large lump-sum annual leave payment. Being able to carry over 240 hours of annual leave into the new year and then accrue and additional 200 or 208 hours, can leave one with a large lump sum payment.
The 2008 leave year ends January 3, 2009, anyone retiring on that day (or on January 2nd, if their workweek were complete) would receive 208 additional hours. Someone retiring on December 31st or January 1st would receive 200 additional hours.
The lump-sum leave payment does not have several deductions taken out of it.
Retirement deductions (7% for CSRS and .8% for CSRS Offset and FERS) are not withheld.
Insurance payments are not withheld, as they were withheld out of the last paycheck and will be withheld out of the first retirement check.
TSP payments cannot, by law, be taken out of lump sum leave payments.
Also, the lump-sum leave payment would not be received until the next tax year when, presumably, you would be in a lower tax bracket. Another advantage to retiring near the end of the year is that your lump-sum payment is computed as if you had begun to take the leave on the first workday after you retired and used it until it expired. This way the bulk of the payment would be computed at next-year's salary.
For FERS employees: The best day to retire is December 31, 2008. If a FERS employee were to work even one day in January 2009, he/she would not receive an annuity for that month. A FERS employee who retired on December 31, 2008 would receive their first annuity payment on or about February 1st and the check would cover the month of January. By working as little as one day in January, the first annuity payment would be received March 1st and it would cover the month of February.
CSRS employees whose workweek ends on January 2nd will find January 2, 2009 the best day to retire. They will get paid for the New Years holiday and January 2nd and will receive a pro-rated annuity payment (on or about February 1st) for the remainder of January. CSRS (and CSRS Offset) retirees have the flexibility to retire up through the third of any month and still receive a prorated annuity. So get out those red pencils and circle your retirement date on the 2008 or 2009 calendar.http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1453
Daily TSP Rates | December 17, 2007
CloseChangeYTD
G$12.26+0.01 +4.7%
F$11.81+0.02 +6.01%
C$16.29-0.25 +3.82%
S$19.27-0.37 +2.72%
I$23.93-0.54 +7.7%
CloseChangeYTD
L 2040$17.86-0.26 +5.12%
L 2030$17.09-0.22 +5.17%
L 2020$16.39-0.18 +5.2%
L 2010$15.30-0.09 +5.3%
L Income$13.39-0.04 +4.94%
[source:Fedsmith.com]
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources. I do not speak for any Postal or Union entity and have no authority to serve as spokesman for, against or otherwise in Postal or Union matters.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly or behind anyone's backs without their knowledge.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
**If you do not wish to receive these disseminations, please notify Hier...@comcast.net and request removal from dissemination list.
**Please address all comments, feedback, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it OK to share or if you want the submission to be confidential and anonymous, please indicate that it is CONFIDENTIAL and I will never disclose authorship, content or any other identifying detail. Absent express authority to share, I will strictly maintain confidentiality per my legal obligations and responsibilities.
RURALC...@ROOTSWEB.COM MAIL LIST.
FOR DISCUSSION OF POSTAL AND RURAL CARRIER RELATED SUBJECTS.
STEWARD CONTACTS
http://www.nrlca.org/stewards.html
NRLCA CONTACT INFO.
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
Fourth Floor
1630 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3465
Phone: 703-684-5545
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to RURALCARRI...@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 2:23 PM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 39-SE, V. 1, Dec. 18, 2007 (List 22)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 39-SE Vol. 1 December 18, 2007 Tuesday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feedback and the tremendous interest in this newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES!
_________________________________________________________________________
Issue Codes = Issue A(A is not usually used and constitutes just the issue #) and B-E are news and human interest stories; Issue NJ are New Jersey related issues and editorials; Issue OP are editorials or commentary; Issue SE are special editions of investigatory reports or series: Issues SP are special issues with important news; Issues ST are Steward/labor relations related articles and Issues-X are breaking news articles of importance.
*************************************************************************
Sick leave plan falls short, manager groups say
How much money is enough to persuade a federal employee not to abuse his sick leave benefit? Five thousand dollars? Ten thousand? That’s the question in play now as federal manager groups, congressional staffs and the administration try to fashion a bill aimed at preventing feds who are approaching retirement from taking unused sick leave when they are not sick.
After two months of wrangling, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., floated a draft bill that would pay up to $5,000 to feds for their unused sick leave. The benefit would help only those in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), who currently get no compensation for their unused sick leave when they retire. Employees under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) are compensated for unused sick leave, and as a result, have far more unused sick leave accumulated when they retire.
But last week several management groups criticized the draft bill, saying it doesn’t compensate FERS-covered employees enough. They called on Moran to raise the cap to $10,000 and to pay a higher rate of compensation — 15 percent of hourly pay instead of the current 10 percent — for unused sick leave that exceeds 1,000 hours.
“Does $5,000 present enough of an incentive for employees to conserve their sick leave? I’m not sure it does,” said Jessica Klement, government affairs director at the Federal Managers Association, speaking on behalf of a coalition of government managers groups.
The legislation Moran proposed would compensate FERS employees 10 percent of the hourly rate of their high-three salary — the average of the employee’s highest salaries over three consecutive years — for accumulated sick leave in excess of 500 hours, with a $5,000 pay cap. As drafted, the benefit would not be retroactive.
“This is a good government management issue — your employee is not there and they are not getting their work done and, without an incentive, they have no reason to stay,” Klement said.
Sick leave abuse cost the government an estimated $68 million in lost productivity in the year ended March 30, 2006, an August Congressional Research Service report says.
The management groups — the Senior Executives Associations, Federal Managers Association, Federal Aviation Administration Managers Association, National Council of Social Security Management Associations and Professional Managers Association — say raising the cap to allow for payouts as high as $10,000 or instituting a sliding scale would cost the government less than the loss in productivity caused by thousands of feds taking sick leave. There is no estimate of how much less.
Moran is banking on that calculation. The success of the legislation on the Hill will likely depend on the benefit’s final price tag and how it compares with the estimated costs of sick leave abuse, said Heath Bumgardner, a staff member for Moran. Bumgardner plans to meet with the Office of Personnel Management this week to discuss the legislation and what it would take to get the administration on board.
“I think Mr. Moran is going to weigh how much he believes it’s costing the government right now without this tool,” Bumgardner said. “Ultimately that’s a political question he’ll have to answer.”
Among the details he hopes to iron out with OPM are options for paying for the benefit. Bumgardner has said ideally the payout would be funded with the same salaries and benefits money that currently supports sick leave and leave abuse. But convincing OPM and other members of Congress that such a scheme will work may be tricky, he said. Until a cost for the program is projected, he said, all funding possibilities are no more than speculation.
The Congressional Budget Office, which calculates cost estimates for pending legislation, will not study the bill before it is introduced. Moran plans to introduce the legislation early next year.
OPM officials said they are working on the legislation with Moran’s office, but declined to comment further.
FERS employees get no benefit for saved sick leave, while CSRS applies an employee’s unused sick leave to his length of service, and that translates into higher retirement pensions. Both CSRS and FERS employees earn 13 sick days a year. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., plans to co-sponsor the bill, his staff said. Bumgardner said he expects others to sign on later, including Rep. Danny Davis, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs subcommittee on the federal workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. After the bill is introduced in the House, Moran’s staff will also contact members of the Senate for support, starting with Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on oversight of government management, the federal workforce and the District of Columbia. http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3255567
Best Date to Retire in 2008 (or early in 2009)
December 17, 2007
By John Grobe
I guess it's too late to write a column about the best day to retire this year. Many other writers have beaten me to the punch. In addition, most folks have already set their retirement dates, and their retirement parties are in full swing. This article is for those of you who are biding your time and plan to retire in late 2008 or early 2009 and may be interested in looking at the best dates to retire a year from now.
First and foremost, the best day for you to retire is whenever you feel like it (and meet the requirements). Once you are eligible to retire, you can leave whenever you want. It could be on the first day you are eligible, your birthday, or the day the Cubs win the World Series.
Having said that, many retirees choose to retire near the end of the calendar year. The primary reason for this choice is the ability to get a large lump-sum annual leave payment. Being able to carry over 240 hours of annual leave into the new year and then accrue and additional 200 or 208 hours, can leave one with a large lump sum payment.
The 2008 leave year ends January 3, 2009, anyone retiring on that day (or on January 2nd, if their workweek were complete) would receive 208 additional hours. Someone retiring on December 31st or January 1st would receive 200 additional hours.
The lump-sum leave payment does not have several deductions taken out of it.
Retirement deductions (7% for CSRS and .8% for CSRS Offset and FERS) are not withheld.
Insurance payments are not withheld, as they were withheld out of the last paycheck and will be withheld out of the first retirement check.
TSP payments cannot, by law, be taken out of lump sum leave payments.
Also, the lump-sum leave payment would not be received until the next tax year when, presumably, you would be in a lower tax bracket. Another advantage to retiring near the end of the year is that your lump-sum payment is computed as if you had begun to take the leave on the first workday after you retired and used it until it expired. This way the bulk of the payment would be computed at next-year's salary.
For FERS employees: The best day to retire is December 31, 2008. If a FERS employee were to work even one day in January 2009, he/she would not receive an annuity for that month. A FERS employee who retired on December 31, 2008 would receive their first annuity payment on or about February 1st and the check would cover the month of January. By working as little as one day in January, the first annuity payment would be received March 1st and it would cover the month of February.
CSRS employees whose workweek ends on January 2nd will find January 2, 2009 the best day to retire. They will get paid for the New Years holiday and January 2nd and will receive a pro-rated annuity payment (on or about February 1st) for the remainder of January. CSRS (and CSRS Offset) retirees have the flexibility to retire up through the third of any month and still receive a prorated annuity. So get out those red pencils and circle your retirement date on the 2008 or 2009 calendar.http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1453
Daily TSP Rates | December 17, 2007
CloseChangeYTD
G$12.26+0.01 +4.7%
F$11.81+0.02 +6.01%
C$16.29-0.25 +3.82%
S$19.27-0.37 +2.72%
I$23.93-0.54 +7.7%
CloseChangeYTD
L 2040$17.86-0.26 +5.12%
L 2030$17.09-0.22 +5.17%
L 2020$16.39-0.18 +5.2%
L 2010$15.30-0.09 +5.3%
L Income$13.39-0.04 +4.94%
[source:Fedsmith.com]
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources. I do not speak for any Postal or Union entity and have no authority to serve as spokesman for, against or otherwise in Postal or Union matters.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly or behind anyone's backs without their knowledge.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
**If you do not wish to receive these disseminations, please notify Hier...@comcast.net and request removal from dissemination list.
**Please address all comments, feedback, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it OK to share or if you want the submission to be confidential and anonymous, please indicate that it is CONFIDENTIAL and I will never disclose authorship, content or any other identifying detail. Absent express authority to share, I will strictly maintain confidentiality per my legal obligations and responsibilities.
RURALC...@ROOTSWEB.COM MAIL LIST.
FOR DISCUSSION OF POSTAL AND RURAL CARRIER RELATED SUBJECTS.
STEWARD CONTACTS
http://www.nrlca.org/stewards.html
NRLCA CONTACT INFO.
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
Fourth Floor
1630 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3465
Phone: 703-684-5545
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to RURALCARRI...@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
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