The Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 5995) was reintroduced on October 19 by Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06), Don Bacon (R-NE-02), Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), and David Valadao (R-CA-22).

The Federal Retirement Fairness Act (FRFA) would allow eligible employees who converted from temporary to career positions to “buy back” time towards their retirement.

Prior to 1989, postal workers who began as non-career employees were able to make additional contributions to their retirement benefits to make up for time lost when they were not eligible for these benefits. This allowed eligible employees to retire on time and with full benefits. This also created parity between temporary and career employees, ensuring they had equal access to retirement benefits. Unfortunately, this authority expired and was never reinstituted.

“The APWU is in strong support of the Federal Retirement Fairness Act and applauds the bipartisan leadership on this critical issue,” said Mark Dimondstein, President, APWU. “This legislation would allow more than 100,000 postal workers who converted from temporary to career positions to retire on time with their full benefits. Regardless of an employee’s initial hiring status, all postal and federal employees should have access to the benefits they have earned for their dedicated work.”