Civil Service Federal Employees Federal Employees Federal Employees

Retirement Group Life Health Benefits Retirement

System Insurance Program System

United States

Office of Personnel Management

Retirement and Insurance Service

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 98-113 Date: October 5, 1998 

Subject: Reporting Requirements for the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) Open

Season

In Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) 98-109, we said that we would publish the

requirements for agencies to report on the implementation and outcome of the FERS open

season in a separate BAL. The attachment to this letter provides those reporting requirements. 

In keeping with our goal to make the administration of the FERS open season as efficient as

possible, the Government-wide reporting requirements are minimal and focus on outcomes.

We have also included five optional questions, including several about the products and

services we provided to support the open season. We hope you will respond to these items

because the information requested will help us assess the effectiveness of our efforts.

We ask that all reports on the open season be consolidated at the Department or Independent

Agency level and submitted to the Associate Director for Retirement and Insurance by

February 28, 1999. The mailing address is:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Agency Services Division

P.O. Box 57

Washington, DC 20044

Reports also may be faxed to (202) 606-1108 or emailed to asd@opm.gov.

We have received a number of requests for current transfer information. We are contacting

benefits officers from the large agency group by phone to ask for overall transfer rates as of

the end of the last pay period ending in FY98.
Correction on Sick Leave Recording:

In BAL 98-109, the section on “Processing the Transfer Personnel Actions,” among other

things, required that the employee’s sick leave balance as of the day before the effective date of

transfer be entered in the remarks section of the SF-50 that documents the transfer to FERS. 

The BAL stated that the sick leave balance should be entered in years and months. This is

incorrect. As provided in standing instructions in Chapter 81 of the CSRS and FERS

Handbook for Personnel and Payroll Offices, the sick leave balance should be entered in 

hours, e.g., “804 hours of sick leave as of July 4, 1998.” We apologize for the confusion this

may have created.

Mary M. Sugar, Chief

Agency Services Division

Retirement and Insurance Service

Attachment
 Attachment to BAL98-113

Agency Reports on Results of FERS Open Season

Please respond to items 1-6. Responses to items 7-12 are optional. However, your responses

to these items will be helpful to us.

1. If you do not report to the Central Personnel Data File, complete the following:

Retirement Category Number Eligible to Elect

FERS

Number Who Elected FERS

Regular formula

Law enforcement/firefighter

Air traffic controller

Congressional employee

CSRS Offset-- Regular

formula

CSRS Offset--Law

enforcement/firefighter

CSRS Offset--Air traffic

controller

CSRS Offset--Congressional

employee

Other 

2. Were employees notified of the open season and of the availability of the Transfer

Handbook, the Transfer Model (or similar product), and the availability of assistance by 

June 15, 1998? 

9 Yes 9 No. They were notified by _________________.

3. How did you make the Transfer Handbook available to employees? (Check all that apply.)

9 Individual paper copies 9 LAN 9 Internet 9 Other (Please describe)
4. How did you make the FERS Transfer Model available to employees? (Check all that

apply.)

9 Intranet 9 Internet 9 Individual requests for estimates 9 Other (Please describe)

5. Did you use the sample employee letter in Benefits Administration Letter 98-110 (or a

similar letter) to make employees more aware of the interrelationship between Social Security

and civil service retirement benefits?

9 Yes 9 No

Questions 6-11 are optional.

6. Describe any other significant actions your agency took to disseminate information on the

open season to your eligible employees, such as briefings, employee letters, email, Internet,

LAN’s, WAN’s, etc.

7. Did you use contractor assistance to augment your own resources to do briefings,

counseling, or projections?

u Briefings 9 Yes 9 No

t Counseling 9 Yes 9 No

t Projections 9 Yes 9 No

8. Were the satellite broadcasts (or tapes of the broadcasts) that we presented a useful means of

communicating information to staff who were responsible for handling the open season and to

employees? 

9 Yes 9 No

9. Rate, on a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), the utility to your agency of the

t FERS Transfer Handbook_____

t FERS Transfer Model_____

t FERS Election Opportunities web site_____ 

t Satellite broadcasts and/or tapes of the broadcasts_____ 
 

10. Is there anything we did not do that really would have helped your agency and that should

be considered in any similar future activity?

11. For the ongoing FERS election opportunities that returning employees have, is there any

additional product that OPM should sponsor that would significantly help you carry out your

responsibilities?

Agency Name________________________________

Name and Title of Person Submitting Report ______________________

 

______________________

Date______________