CSRS Civil Service 

Re tire ment 

Sys tem 

Re tire ment 

Facts 

14 

Law Enforcement


and Firefighter


CSRS Retirement


United States


Of fice of


Per son nel 


Man age ment


Retirement and 

Insurance 

Service 

RI 83-20 

The Septem ber 1996 edition is still usable Re vised October 1997 
Ad di tional retire ment infor ma tion and all 

pub li ca tions of the U.S. Office of Person ne 

Man age ment listed in this pamphlet are available 

on the Internet. 

OPM Website — http://www.opm.gov/asd 
Ta ble of Contents 

Page 

Intro duc tion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Who is a Law Enforce ment Offi cer


or Firefighter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


What is Law Enforce ment and


Firefighter Retire ment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Eli gi bil ity to Retire Volun tar ily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Man da tory Separa tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

How is the Basic Law Enforce ment


and Firefighter Annu ity Computed? . . . . . . . . 3

Ad di tional Infor ma tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

i 
In tro duc tion 

This pamphlet contains a general descrip tion of the 

spe cial Civil Service Retire ment System (CSRS) 

bene fits that are available to law enforce ment officers and firefight ers. It discusses the require ments 

to be under the special provi sions, eligi bil ity to 

re tire, and how the special benefits are computed. 

Who is a Law Enforce ment Offi cer or 

Fire fighter? 

Law enforce ment offi cers and firefight ers are 

em ploy ees who occupy a posi tion desig nated by 

their employ ing agency head (or desig nee) as a law 

en force ment or firefighter posi tion. Employ ees in 

these posi tions pay an extra one-half percent salary 

de duc tion to the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(CSRS) because of the special desig na tion. 

Gen er ally, a law enforce ment offi cer is an 

em ployee whose primary duties are the inves ti gation, appre hen sion, or deten tion of indi vidu als suspected or convicted of offenses against Federal 

crimi nal laws. 

A firefighter is a person whose duties are primar ily 

to perform work directly connected with the control and extin guish ment of fires, or the maintenance and use of firefighter appa ra tus and 

equip ment. 

If you believe that you should be desig nated as a 

law enforce ment offi cer or firefighter for CSRS 

re tire ment, you have only 1 year in which to claim 

that your posi tion qualifies. You should contact 

your person nel office for this purpose. 

1 
these benefits. 

What is Law Enforce ment and 

Fire fighter Retire ment? 

The special retire ment provi sion for law enforcement offi cers and firefight ers is found in section 

8336(c) of title 5, United States Code. It is sometimes referred to as 6(c) retire ment. The 6(c) provision of the Civil Service Retire ment law allows a 

law enforce ment offi cer or firefighter to receive 

spe cial retire ment benefits after meeting the age 

and service require ments. This pamphlet describes 

Eli gi bil ity to Retire Volun tar ily 

You may retire volun tar ily at an early age with a 

spe cial annu ity compu ta tion if you meet the age 

and service require ments for 6(c) retire ment. To 

meet the age and service require ments, you must 

be at least age 50 at the time of retire ment, and 

have 20 years of law enforce ment and\or firefighter service. You must also have been under 

CSRS cover age for 1 out of the last 2 years before 

re tire ment. Neither military service nor sick leave 

can be used to meet the minimum service requirements. The minimum age and service require ments 

ap ply even if you retire invol un tar ily or due to disabil ity. You do not need to separate from a special 

6(c) covered posi tion at the time of your retirement. After you accu mu late 20 years of law 

en force ment and\or firefighter service, you can 

move to a regular posi tion and still receive the special retire ment compu ta tion. 

Man da tory Separa tion 

You will be subject to manda tory separa tion based 

on age if you are occu py ing a law enforce ment 

po si tion at age 57 or firefighter posi tion at age 55, 

and you have completed the neces sary 20 years of 

serv ice under the special 6(c) provi sions. If you 

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have not completed the 20 years, you will be separated at the end of the month in which you complete 20 years of law enforce ment or firefighter 

serv ice. You must be given a 60-day notice prior to 

man da tory separa tion. 

How is the Basic Law Enforce ment 

and Firefighter Annu ity Computed? 

Your basic annu ity as an employee eligi ble to 

re tire under the special provi sions for law enforcement offi cers and firefight ers is computed as follows: 

50 Percent of your high-3 aver age salary 

Plus 

2 percent of your high-3 aver age salary 

mul ti plied by years and whole months of 

serv ice exceed ing 20, plus unused sick leave. 

Your high-3 aver age salary is the highest 3 years 

of salary you earned in any consecu tive 3-year 

pe ri od (usually your last 3 years). Premium pay 

you receive as a firefighter or law enforce ment 

of fi cer under section 5545(c), or availabil ity pay 

un der section 5545(a), of title 5, United States 

Code, is included in your high-3 aver age salary. 

Your high-3 is then used in the 2-part formula 

above. 

For exam ple, after 25 years of service, your 6(c) 

com pu ta tion will pay 60 percent of your high-3 

av er age salary. This includes 50 percent of the 

high-3 for the 20 years of your law enforce ment 

and/or firefighter service, plus 10 percent for the 

re main ing 5 years of service multi plied by 2 percent of your high-3 aver age salary. By law, the 

maxi mum annu ity payable is 80 percent of the 

high-3 aver age salary, unless unused sick leave is 

used to produce a higher percent age. 

The total number of years and whole months of 

serv ice plus credit for unused sick leave is used in 

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com put ing your annu ity. However, the time represent ing days of unused sick leave is not counted 

to wards your high-3 aver age salary or for establish ing eligi bil ity for retire ment. Your unused sick 

leave is added to your service in the 2 percent portion of your annu ity compu ta tion. 

Un like most other Federal employ ees, there is no 

re duc tion in the basic annu ity for retire ment under 

age 55. However, your basic annu ity amount may 

be reduced to provide survi vor benefits, or if you 

have service for which you received a refund or 

that was not covered by retire ment deduc tions. 

Ex am ple: If your highest 3 years of earnings 

to tals $150,000 from July 1, 1995 to July l, l998, 

this is divided by 3 to provide a high-3 aver age 

sal ary of $50,000. 

Us ing the aver age salary of $50,000 and assum ing 

that you have worked for the Govern ment for 25 

years, are under the special cover age explained 

above (includ ing 20 years of law enforce ment/firefighter service), and have the equivalent of 1 year 

of unused sick leave, the compu ta tion before any 

ap pli ca ble reduc tions would be: 

$50,000 x 50% = $25,000 

$50,000 x 2% x 6* years = $6,000 

To tal = $31,000 

* includes 1 year of unused


sick leave 


There could then be a reduc tion for deposit service. This is usually tempo rary service during which 

you were not covered by retire ment. For peri ods of 

such service prior to Octo ber 1, 1982, your annu ity 

will be reduced by one tenth of the amount you 

would have paid if you had been covered by retirement, plus inter est to the date of retire ment. For 

serv ice after Octo ber 1, 1982, a deposit must be 

made, or the time cannot be used in comput ing 

your annu ity. In our exam ple, we will assume you 

have a deposit due of $1000 for service that 

oc curred before Octo ber 1, 1982. One tenth of that 

amount is $100 ($1,000 x 10 percent = $100). 

4 
If you are married, your annu ity will be reduced 

auto mati cally to provide the maximum survi vor 

an nu ity unless you and your spouse jointly agree to 

pro vide a lesser amount or none at all. Your 

an nu ity would be reduced by 21⁄2 percent of the 

first $3,600 in basic annu ity, and 10 percent of the 

re main der of your basic annu ity. (The same rules 

that govern reduc tions for insur able inter est and 

court ordered survi vor annu ity benefits in regular 

com pu ta tions apply to the special formula.) In the 

fol low ing exam ple, we have used the entire basic 

an nu ity, already reduced to $30,900 per year for 

un paid deposit service: 

Ba sic annual annu ity without 

sur vi vor benefit $30,900 

21⁄2 percent of the first $3,600 $90 

10 percent of amount over $3,600 

($30,9000 - $3,600 = $27,300) + $2,730 

An nu ity reduc tion to provide 

survi vor benefit: - $2,820 

Ba sic annual annu ity adjusted for 

sur vi vor benefit: $28,080 

Your basic annual annu ity of $28,080 would be 

$2,340 per month and provides a survi vor annu ity 

af ter your death of 55 percent of your basic annuity (before reduc tion to provide survi vor benefits), 

of $16,995 per year. 

If you owe a rede posit for a refund of retire ment 

con tri bu tions, see Re tire ment Facts 7 for details 

on an actu ar ial reduc tion or rede posit of the 

amount due. 

If you are a Civil Service Retire ment System Offset employee, you are covered by Civil Service 

Re tire ment and Social Secu rity at the same time. 

You will receive a full CSRS annu ity special compu ta tion, if you qualify as explained above. However, the CSRS Offset annu ity will be reduced if 

you become eligi ble to receive Social Secu rity 

bene fits, usually at age 62. See Re tire ment Facts 

13 on CSRS Offset Retire ment for details. 

5 
Ad di tional Infor ma tion 

You may obtain copies of the pamphlets listed 

be low from your person nel office, from OPM’s 

Website (http://www.opm.gov/asd), or from OPM 

ON LINE (OPM’s electronic bulle tin board) at 

(202) 606- 4800. To access OPM ONLINE, your 

com mu ni ca tions software should be set to the follow ing: 

Baud: Up to 28,800 

Par ity: None 

Data bits: 8 

Stop bit: 1 

The pamphlets in the Retire ment Facts Series, 

which provide more detailed infor ma tion about the 

Civil Service Retire ment System (CSRS), are: 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #1 - The Civil Service 

Re tire ment System (RI 83-1) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #2 - Military Service Credit 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-2) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #3 - Depos its and Rede pos its 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-3) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #4 - Disabil ity Retire ment 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-4) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #5 - Survi vor Benefits 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-5) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #6 - Early Retire ment 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-6) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #7 - Comput ing Retire ment 

Bene fits Under the Civil Service Retire ment 

Sys tem (RI 83-7) 

6 
•	 Re tire ment Facts #8 - Credit for Unused Sick 

Leave Under the Civil Service Retire ment System (RI 83-8) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #9 -R efunds Under the Civil 

Serv ice Retire ment System (RI 83-9) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #10 - Volun tary Contri bu tions 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-10) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #11 - Infor ma tion for Separating Civil Service Retire ment System Employ ees 

Who Are Not Eligi ble for an Imme di ate Annu ity 

(RI 83-13) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #12 - Infor ma tion About 

Re em ploy ment for Civil Service Retire ment 

Sys tem Annui tants (RI 83-18) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #13 - CSRS Offset Retire ment 

(RI 83-19) 

•	 Re tire ment Facts #14 - Law Enforce ment and 

Fire fighter Civil Service Retire ment System 

Re tire ment (RI 83-20) 

Pam phlets appli ca ble to employ ees in both the 

Civil Service Retire ment System and Federal 

Em ploy ees Retire ment System are: 

•	 Court- Ordered Benefits for Former Spouses 

(RI 84-1) 

•	 Work- Related Inju ries and Fatali ties — What 

You and Your Family Need to Know About 

Your Benefits (RI 84-2) 

•	 Life Events and Your Retire ment and Insur ance 

Bene fits (For Employ ees) (RI 84-3) 

•	 Think ing About Retire ment? (RI 83-11) 

7 
Pub li ca tions for employ ees who are under the Federal Employ ees Retire ment System (FERS) are: 

•	 FERS Brochure (An Overview of Your Benefits) - (RI 90-1) 

•	 FERS Facts #1 - Infor ma tion for Separat ing 

FERS Employ ees Who Are Not Eligi ble for an 

Im me di ate Annu ity (RI 90-11) 

•	 FERS Facts #2 - Infor ma tion About Reem ployment for FERS Annui tants (RI 90-18) 

For employ ees who are eligi ble to transfer to the 

FERS: 

•	 FERS Transfer Handbook (A Guide to Making 

Your Deci sion) (RI 90-3) 

Pam phlets on the Federal Employ ees Health and 

Life Insur ance Programs are: 

•	 Fed eral Employ ees Health Benefits Guide 

(RI 70-1) 

•	 Tem po rary Continua tion of Cover age (TCC) 

un der the Federal Employ ees Health Benefits 

Pro gram (RI 79-27) 

•	 Fed eral Employ ees Group Life Booklet 

(RI 76-21) 

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