Civil Service 

Retirement 

System 

Federal Employees’ 

Group Life 

Insurance Program 

Federal Employees 

Health Benefits 

Program 

Federal Employees 

Retirement 

System 

Long Term 

Care Insurance 

Program 

United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Retirement and Insurance Service 

Benefits Administration Letter 

Number: 02-105 Date: September 25, 2002 

Subject: Reminder To Include APS On SF 2821 

We've become concerned recently that some agencies are neglecting to include Additional Pay 

Status (APS) pay in the final salary for life insurance. 

Please remember to include, when appropriate, APS pay in the final salary for life insurance 

purposes in Item #10 when completing SF 2821, Agency Certification of Life Insurance Status. 

If an employee has a type of APS pay that is included in basic pay on the date entered in Item #8, 

the pay must be included in Item #10. Both the personnel officer and the payroll officer must 

confirm whether APS pay is correctly applied before signing the SF 2821. 

The FEGLI Handbook (http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/handbook/index.htm) lists which types 

of premium, or APS, pay are included as part of basic pay for life insurance purposes, and which 

are not. Following are both current lists. You will be alerted if there is ever a change to either 

list. 

Included:

The following are included in annual basic pay for life insurance purposes: 

• Interim geographic adjustments and locality-based comparability payments as provided 

by Pub. L. 101-509 

• Premium pay for standby duty under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(1) 

• Premium pay for overtime inspectional service for customs officers as provided by Pub. 

L. 103-66 

• Premium pay for administratively uncontrollable overtime under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(2) for 

a law enforcement officer as defined under 5 U.S.C. 8331(20) and 5 CFR 831.902 and 

842.802 
2

Included (continued) 

• Night differential pay for wage employees 

• Environmental differential pay for employees exposed to danger or physical hardship 

• Tropical differential pay for citizen employees in Panama 

• Special pay adjustments for law enforcement officers 

• Availability pay for criminal investigators under 5 U.S.C. 5545a 

• Bonuses for Department of Veterans Affairs physicians and dentists under Pub. L. 96-

330 

• Straight-time pay for regular overtime hours for firefighters, as provided in 5 U.S.C. 

5545b and 5 CFR part 550, subpart M 

Not Included:

The following are not included in annual basic pay for life insurance purposes: 

• Foreign post differential for wage employees. Exception: those wage employees in Guam 

who were recruited from outside Guam and are paid a recruitment and retention incentive 

• Night differential pay and foreign or non-foreign post differential pay of General 

Schedule employees 

• Bonuses, allowances, overtime, holiday, and military pay not listed above as included 

• Premium pay authorized certain air traffic controllers under Pub. L. 97-276 

• Lump-sum payments for accrued leave 

• Supervisory differentials 

• Retention allowances 

• Physicians' comparability allowances. 

Please make sure APS service is correctly applied in all cases, as it is essential so that we can 

give the retiree the coverage to which he or she is entitled, and make sure premiums are correctly 

withheld. 

Sidney M. Conley 

Assistant Director 

 For Retirement Programs