Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca13-16-01658/USCOURTS-ca13-16-01658-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Antonio S. Hocson
Petitioner
Office of Personnel Management
Respondent

Document Text:

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

ANTONIO S. HOCSON,

Petitioner

v.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT,

Respondent

______________________ 

2016-1658

______________________ 

Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection 

Board in No. SF-0831-15-0462-I-1.

______________________ 

Decided: October 6, 2016

______________________ 

ANTONIO S. HOCSON, San Narciso, Philippines, pro se. 

ERIC JOHN SINGLEY, Commercial Litigation Branch, 

Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, 

Washington, DC, for respondent. Also represented by 

BENJAMIN C. MIZER, ROBERT E. KIRSCHMAN, JR., FRANKLIN 

E. WHITE, JR. 

______________________ 

Before NEWMAN, LOURIE, and CLEVENGER, Circuit Judges.

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 2 HOCSON v. OPM

NEWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Antonio S. Hocson appeals a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”) affirming the Office of 

Personnel Management’s (“OPM”) denial of entitlement to 

a deferred retirement annuity under the Civil Service 

Retirement System (“CSRS”), as established by the Civil 

Service Retirement Act (“CSRA”). The Board found that 

Mr. Hocson never served in a position covered by the 

CSRS. That finding is in accordance with law; the decision is affirmed.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Hocson worked for the Department of the Navy at 

the Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines from 1976

until 1992 as a Machinist Intermediate and Machinist in 

the excepted service prior to being terminated due to a 

reduction in force. Mr. Hocson’s Record and Certification 

of Employment (“transcript”) shows that the federal 

service rendered prior to September 7, 1980, was nonpermanent with both appointments over this time period 

including a “NTE” (not to exceed) date of expiration.

On September 7, 1980, Mr. Hocson’s position was reclassified as an excepted service “indefinite” appointment. 

Mr. Hocson served as a Machinist until separation on 

June 16, 1992, due to a reduction-in-force termination. 

The applicable SF-50 for this period listed his retirement 

plan as “Other.” Both the SF-50 and the transcript reflect 

that Mr. Hocson was not in a position covered by the 

CSRA. There is no record that any of Mr. Hocson’s pay 

was ever withheld or deposited into the CSRS fund, and 

Mr. Hocson does not state otherwise. Further, the SF-50 

documenting Mr. Hocson’s separation indicates an entitlement to severance “in accordance with FEPI,” indicating a plan other than the CSRA.

In 2013, Mr. Hocson filed an application for an annuity under the CSRS. OPM denied the application because 

he “never served in a position subject to the Civil Service 

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HOCSON v. OPM 3

Retirement Act.” J.A. 46. Mr. Hocson requested reconsideration, and on February 9, 2015, OPM issued its final 

decision denying entitlement to an annuity, stating that 

Mr. Hocson did not have the minimum of five years of 

creditable service nor one year of covered service within 

the two years before his separation. J.A. 26.

Mr. Hocson appealed to the Board. The Board affirmed the denial, stating that Mr. Hocson did not serve 

in a position covered by the CSRA during one of his last 

two years of employment, as required by 5 U.S.C. 

§§ 8333(a)–(b). The Board observed that Mr. Hocson’s 

appointments were either excepted service indefinite or 

temporary, which are not covered by the CSRA. Mr. 

Hocson appeals.

DISCUSSION

To be eligible for a retirement annuity, an employee 

must have completed at least five years of “creditable 

service.” 5 U.S.C. §§ 8333(a)–(b). In addition, at least one 

of the final two years of employment prior to separation 

must have been “covered” service, that is, “creditable 

civilian service during which he is subject to the [CSRA].” 

5 U.S.C. § 8333(b). Temporary, intermittent, term, and 

excepted indefinite appointments are excluded from 

CSRA coverage. 5 C.F.R. § 831.201(a); Quiocson v. Office 

of Pers. Mgmt., 490 F.3d 1358, 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007).

5 U.S.C. § 8334(c) permits an “employee . . . credited 

with civilian service . . . for which retirement deductions 

have not been made” under the CSRS to make a deposit 

with interest to the CSRS and receive an annuity. Mr. 

Hocson argues that certain changes in the law converted 

his creditable excluded position into a covered position 

within the CSRA.

The issue relates to the applicability of 5 C.F.R. § 

831.112, which defines an “employee” eligible to make a 

deposit or receive an annuity as:

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 4 HOCSON v. OPM

(1) A person currently employed in a position subject to the civil service retirement law; or

(2) A former employee . . . who retains civil service 

retirement annuity rights based on a separation 

from a position in which retirement deductions 

were properly withheld and remain . . . in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

Mr. Hocson argues that this regulatory provision does not 

apply to him because annuities for creditable service prior 

to 1982 are governed solely by 5 C.F.R. § 831.303(a), 

which states:

Periods of creditable civilian service performed by 

an employee or Member after July 31, 1920, but 

before October 1, 1982, for which retirement deductions have not been taken shall be included in 

determining length of service to compute annuity . . . ; however, if the employee, Member, or survivor does not elect either to complete the deposit 

described by section 8334(c) of title 5, United 

States Code, or to eliminate the service from annuity computation, his or her annuity is reduced 

by 10 percent of the amount which should have 

been deposited (plus interest) for the period of 

noncontributory service.

Mr. Hocson states that this provision retroactively converted all periods of “creditable” federal employment prior 

to October 1, 1982 to “covered” service under the CSRA. 

Mr. Hocson also argues that under § 831.303(a), he is 

entitled to a reduced annuity for his federal service between July 1, 1976 and September 30, 1982.

This court has previously considered the issue, and 

concluded that statutory entitlement does not arise on 

either of these theories. See, e.g., Dela Rosa v. Office of 

Pers. Mgmt., 583 F.3d 762, 765 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (holding 

that § 831.112(a)(2) “allows a ‘former employee’ to make a 

deposit only if that former employee is already covered by 

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HOCSON v. OPM 5

the CSRS”); id. at 764 (agreeing that § 8334(c) does not 

allow a former employee to “convert [creditable] service 

into covered service and thereby establish eligibility for a 

CSRS retirement annuity”); Herrera v. U.S., 849 F.2d 

1416, 1417 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (“temporary, indefinite appointments” were not “covered service”); see also Fontilla 

v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 482 F. App’x 563, 565 (Fed. Cir. 

2012) (“Section 831.303(a) does not supplant § 831.112 

and cannot circumvent the covered service requirement of 

5 U.S.C. § 8333(b).”).

There is no statutory support for Mr. Hocson’s arguments that § 831.303(a) retroactively converted creditable 

service into covered service or otherwise changed who 

qualified for an annuity. Prior to 1982, Mr. Hocson

served in temporary and excepted service indefinite 

positions that clearly were excluded from the CSRS. 

Although Mr. Hocson had more than five years of creditable service as an employee, section 831.303(a) did not 

convert creditable excluded positions into CSRA covered 

service. Section 831.303(a) does not supplant the covered 

service requirements of § 831.112(a)(2) and 5 U.S.C. § 

8333(b). The only effect of § 831.303(a) is to permit persons already covered by the CSRS to include certain 

service when calculating the annuity. We discern no error 

in the Board’s determination that Mr. Hocson had not 

served in a position covered by the CSRS.

We have considered Mr. Hocson’s additional arguments relating to his participation in a different retirement system under a collective bargaining agreement, 

and conclude that they do not affect this result.

The decision of the Board is affirmed.

AFFIRMED

No costs.

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