§ 8336. Immediate retirement
(a)
An employee who is separated from the service after becoming 55 years of age and completing 30 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(b)
An employee who is separated from the service after becoming 60 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(c)
(1)
An employee who is separated from the service after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, nuclear materials courier, or customs and border protection officer, or any combination of such service totaling at least 20 years, is entitled to an annuity.
(d)
An employee who—
(1)
is separated from the service involuntarily, except by removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency; or
(2)
(A)
has been employed continuously, by the agency in which the employee is serving, for at least the 31-day period ending on the date on which such agency requests the determination referred to in subparagraph (D);
(C)
has not been duly notified that such employee is to be involuntarily separated for misconduct or unacceptable performance;
(D)
is separated from the service voluntarily during a period in which, as determined by the office [1] of Personnel Management (upon request of the agency) under regulations prescribed by the Office—
(i)
such agency (or, if applicable, the component in which the employee is serving) is undergoing substantial delayering, substantial reorganization, substantial reductions in force, substantial transfer of function, or other substantial workforce restructuring (or shaping);
(ii)
a significant percentage of employees servicing [2] in such agency (or component) are likely to be separated or subject to an immediate reduction in the rate of basic pay (without regard to subchapter VI of chapter 53, or comparable provisions); or
(E)
as determined by the agency under regulations prescribed by the Office, is within the scope of the offer of voluntary early retirement, which may be made on the basis of—
after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled to an annuity. For purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection, separation for failure to accept a directed reassignment to a position outside the commuting area of the employee concerned or to accompany a position outside of such area pursuant to a transfer of function shall not be considered to be a removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency. Notwithstanding the first sentence of this subsection, an employee described in paragraph (1) of this subsection is not entitled to an annuity under this subsection if the employee has declined a reasonable offer of another position in the employee’s agency for which the employee is qualified, which is not lower than 2 grades (or pay levels) below the employee’s grade (or pay level), and which is within the employee’s commuting area.
(e)
An employee who is voluntarily or involuntarily separated from the service, except by removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, after completing 25 years of service as an air traffic controller or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service as an air traffic controller, is entitled to an annuity.
(f)
An employee who is separated from the service after becoming 62 years of age and completing 5 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(g)
A Member who is separated from the service after becoming 62 years of age and completing 5 years of civilian service or after becoming 60 years of age and completing 10 years of Member service is entitled to an annuity. A Member who is separated from the service after becoming 55 years of age (but before becoming 60 years of age) and completing 30 years of service is entitled to a reduced annuity. A Member who is separated from the service, except by resignation or expulsion, after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and
(h)
(1)
A member of the Senior Executive Service who is removed from the Senior Executive Service for less than fully successful executive performance (as determined under subchapter
II of chapter
43 of this title) after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(2)
A member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service or the Senior Cryptologic Executive Service who is removed from such service for failure to be recertified as a senior executive or for less than fully successful executive performance after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(3)
A member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Service who is removed from such service for failure to be recertified as a senior executive or for less than fully successful executive performance after completing 25 years of service or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service is entitled to an annuity.
(i)
(1)
An employee of the Panama Canal Commission or of an Executive agency conducting operations in the Canal Zone or Republic of Panama who is separated from the service before January 1, 2000, who was employed by the Canal Zone Government or the Panama Canal Company at any time during the period beginning March 31, 1979, and ending September 30, 1979, and who has had continuous Panama Canal service, without a break in service of more than 3 days, from that time until separation, is entitled to an annuity if the employee is separated—
(2)
An employee of the Panama Canal Commission or of an Executive agency conducting operations in the Canal Zone or Republic of Panama who is separated from the service before January 1, 2000, who was employed, at a permanent duty station in the Canal Zone, by any Executive agency other than the Canal Zone Government or the Panama Canal Company at any time during the period beginning March 31, 1979, and ending September 30, 1979, and who has had continuous Panama Canal service, without a break in service of more than 3 days, from that time until separation, is entitled to an annuity if—
(3)
An employee of the Panama Canal Commission employed by that body after September 30, 1979, who is separated from the Panama Canal Commission before January 1, 2000, and who at the time of separation has a minimum of 11 years of continuous employment with the Commission (disregarding any break in service of 3 days or less) is entitled to an annuity if the employee is separated—
(j)
(1)
Except as provided in paragraph (3), an employee is entitled to an annuity if he—
(A)
(2)
Employment in a tribal organization may be considered for purposes of paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection only if—
(A)
the employee was employed by the tribal organization after January 4, 1975, and immediately before such employment he was an employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Indian Health Service, and
(B)
at the time of such employment such employee and the tribal organization were eligible to elect, and elected, to have the employee retain the coverage, rights, and benefits of this chapter under section 105(e)(2) of the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 450i
(a)(2); [3] 88 Stat. 2209).
(3)
(A)
The provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply with respect to any separation of any employee which occurs after the date 10 years after—
(B)
For purposes of applying this paragraph with respect to any employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior or of the Indian Health Service in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of the department involved may postpone the date otherwise applicable under subparagraph (A) if—
(ii)
the Secretary finds that such postponement is necessary for the continued effective operation of the agency.
The period of any postponement under this subparagraph shall not exceed 12 months and the total period of all postponements with respect to any employee shall not exceed 5 years.
(4)
For the purpose of this subsection—
(A)
“Bureau of Indian Affairs” means
(ii)
all other organizational units in the Department of the Interior directly and primarily related to providing services to Indians and in which positions are filled in accordance with the Indian preference laws.
(B)
“Indian preference laws” means section 12 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 472; 48 Stat. 986), or any other provision of law granting a preference to Indians in promotions or other Federal personnel actions.
(k)
A bankruptcy judge, United States magistrate judge, or Court of Federal Claims judge who is separated from service, except by removal, after becoming 62 years of age and completing 5 years of civilian service, or after becoming 60 years of age and completing 10 years of service as a bankruptcy judge, United States magistrate judge, or Court of Federal Claims judge, is entitled to an annuity.
(l)
A judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces who is separated from the service after becoming 62 years of age and completing 5 years of civilian service or after completing the term of service for which he was appointed as a judge of such court is entitled to an annuity. A judge who is separated from the service before becoming 60 years of age is entitled to a reduced annuity.
(m)
A member of the Capitol Police who is separated from the service after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service as a member of the Capitol Police as a law enforcement officer, or as a customs and border protection officer, or any combination of such service totaling at least 20 years, is entitled to an annuity.
(n)
A member of the Supreme Court Police who is separated from the service after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service as a member of the Supreme Court Police as a law enforcement officer, or as a customs and border protection officer, or any combination of such service totaling at least 20 years, is entitled to an annuity.
(o)
An annuity or reduced annuity authorized by this section is computed under section
8339 of this title.
(p)
(1)
The Secretary of Defense may, during fiscal years 2002 and 2003, carry out a program under which an employee of the Department of Defense may be separated from the service entitled to an immediate annuity under this subchapter if the employee—
(2)
(A)
For the purposes of paragraph (1), an employee referred to in that paragraph is eligible for an immediate annuity under this paragraph if the employee—
(B)
For the purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(i), a separation for failure to accept a directed reassignment to a position outside the commuting area of the employee concerned or to accompany a position outside of such area pursuant to a transfer of function may not be considered to be a removal for cause.
(3)
For the purposes of paragraph (1), an employee referred to in that paragraph is eligible for an immediate annuity under this paragraph if the employee satisfies all of the following conditions:
(A)
The employee is separated from the service voluntarily during a period in which the organization within the Department of Defense in which the employee is serving is undergoing a major organizational adjustment.
(B)
The employee has been employed continuously by the Department of Defense for more than 30 days before the date on which the head of the employee’s organization requests the determinations required under subparagraph (A).
(D)
The employee is not in receipt of a decision notice of involuntary separation for misconduct or unacceptable performance.
(4)
Under regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, the determinations of whether an employee meets—
(5)
A determination of which employees are within the scope of an offer of early retirement shall be made only on the basis of consistent and well-documented application of the relevant criteria.
[1] So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
[2] So in original. Probably should be “serving”.
[3] See References in Text note below.