SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE
This
Act may be cited as the: Non-Foreign Area Retired
Employees Act of 2011
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS
(a) “covered Federal retiree” means—
(1)
a person who is separated from service by reason of retirement under chapter 83
or 84 of title 5, United States Code after January 1, 1994 and:
(2)
a person who, upon separation by reason of retirement was a general schedule
Federal employee [as defined under section 5921(4) of title 5] and:
(3)
a person whose duty station was in the State of Alaska, the State of Hawaii, or
the United States territories and possessions, including the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and:
(4)
a person who separated by reason of retirement without benefit of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act
(FEPCA) of 1990 and the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of
2009 (123 Stat. 2619-2627) in determining their high-3 years of base pay for
retirement calculation purposes.
(b) “ Survivor” means
(1) a person receiving
an annuity from a deceased “covered Federal retiree” defined in (a) above.
SEC. 3. ELECTION OF ADDITIONAL ANNU
(a) In General—It is
the sense of Congress that Federal employees who worked in the non-foreign
areas were not properly compensated in their annuity because these employees
were excluded from the benefits of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act
(FEPCA) of 1990 and the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of
2009. To rectify this inequity, Congress
is directing the Office of Personnel Management to recalculate the annuities of
a covered Federal retiree or their Survivor, as defined in Section 2. These Retirees and Survivors will forego
retroactive increases to their retirement benefits. The Office of Personnel Management will
notify all affected retirees or their survivors of this change within 90 days
of enactment providing them the election form to be covered under this Act.
(b)
Election.—
(1)
In General—a retiree or survivor must file an election with the Office of
Personnel Management to be covered under this section. The “covered Federal retiree” or “Survivor”
will describe on the election the duty station or duty stations in a non-foreign
area or non-foreign areas and the Federal agency that employed the “covered
Federal retiree” during their high three years earning period.
(2)
DEADLINE.—an election under this subsection must be filed not later than 12
months after passage of this legislation and notification of the retiree or
survivor.
(c) Re-Computation of
Annuity—
(1) The re-computation of annuity shall include an
appropriate applicable locality pay rate during the retirees’ high three years
earning period.
(2)
The recalculation of annuity will be based on the applicable retirement
requirements for calculating Federal annuity.
(3)
Covered Federal retirees and Survivors will
forego retroactive increases to their retirement benefits. That is, they will not seek back pay prior to
the effective date of this act.
SEC 4. DEPOSITS TO THE CIVIL
(a) RETIREE OR
(1) A covered Federal
Retiree or their Survivor shall pay into the Civil Service Retirement and
Disability Retirement Fund—
a. An amount that would have been deducted and
withheld from pay under section 8334 or 8422 of title 5, United States Code
during their high three years’ earnings period if the employee would have been
entitled to the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) of 1990 if not
for employment in a non-foreign area.
b.
Interest as prescribed under section 8334(e) of title 5, United States Code,
based on the amount
determined
above.
(2) The Office of Personnel Management has 90 days
from the date of the covered Federal retiree or survivor election to recalculate
the annuity and the retirement contribution amount and interest defined in
(a)(1) above . The Office of Personnel Management will notify
the covered Federal retiree or survivor of the recalculated annuity amount with
instructions for submitting the retirement contribution and interest
payments.
(3) The retiree or survivor will have one year
from the date of the Office of Personnel Management notification to pay their
contributions in one lump sum payment.
If the lump sum payment is not made in one year, the retiree or survivor
will forego the benefit of this Act and their election will be void by
operation of this law.
(4) The Office of Personnel Management will not
make any change in the annuity pay until the contribution is paid in full by
the retiree or survivor.
(b) AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS—Congress will
appropriate funds to the Office of Personnel Management for deposit in the
Civil Service Retirement and Disability Retirement Fund to meet the
requirements of this act.
SEC 5. EFFECTIVE DATES –
(a) This
Act shall take effect on the date of enactment. Providing the retiree or survivor meets the
criteria set forth in this amendment, eligibility for the increased annuity
amount would be effective three (3) months following the date of enactment.