Phased Retirement

DCPAS recognizes the importance of retaining institutional knowledge as well as the practical knowledge gained from years of experience in the Federal Human Resources (HR) Field. Phased Retirement can be beneficial to both agencies and target employees. When appropriately executed, Phased Retirement aids employees in their transition to retirement, helps maintain continuity of essential business operations, and retains skilled employees to help train their replacements.

Phased Retirement is a HR tool that allows full-time employees to work a part-time schedule and draw partial retirement benefits during employment. It is also another tool to enable agencies to manage their workforce, promote best practices, and encourage experienced employees to spend some time mentoring the next generation of experts. DCPAS provides resources on this management tool to DOD Benefits Officers and Service Centers.

Participation is voluntary, and requires the mutual consent of both the employee and employing agency. In order to participate, an individual must be a full-time employee for the preceding three years. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the individual must be eligible for immediate retirement with at least 30 years of service at the minimum retirement age of 55-57 depending upon year of birth, or with 20 years of service at age 60. Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the individual must be eligible for immediate retirement with at least 30 years of service at age 55, or with 20 years of service at age 60