5 U.S.C. § 8411 — Creditable service

(a) Service^* is counted in full years and twelfth-parts of years. Any leftover fraction of a month is not counted. A break in service longer than 3 calendar days does not receive credit.

(b) Creditable service includes: (1) employment as an employee^* and service as a Member after December 31, 1986, including the time from the start of the elected or appointed term until the Member takes office^*; (2) service for which deductions and withholdings were made under section 204(a)(1) of the Federal Employees’ Retirement Contribution Temporary Adjustment Act of 1983, subject to subsection (f); (3) civilian service before January 1, 1989, other than service under (1) or (2), that would have counted under subchapter III of chapter 83 but for the listed 1986 amendments, without applying that subchapter’s deposit, redeposit, coverage, or written-notice requirements, subject to subsections (f) and (h); (4) qualifying service under the Foreign Service Pension System^*, except other service under this subsection and military service^*, if the employee or Member gives up credit under that system and pays the Fund^* what would have been deducted under section 8422(a), plus interest calculated under section 8334(e)(2) and (3); (5) qualifying service under the “Bank Plan,” except other service under this subsection, military service, and Federal Reserve Bank employment, if the employee gives up credit under that plan and makes the same kind of payment and interest payment, but this paragraph does not apply when subsection (g), or section 8332(n) for service involving chapter 83, applies; and (6) otherwise uncreditable service as an employee paid from nonappropriated funds of a Department of Defense or Coast Guard instrumentality described in section 2105(c), if the individual elects credit under Office regulations.

(c)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3), and (5), credit is allowed for (A) each period of military service before January 1, 1957; and (B) each period after December 31, 1956, and before the separation that gives the right to the annuity, if the employee or Member makes the deposit, including interest if any, required by section 8422(e). (2) Military service for which the employee or Member receives retired pay does not count unless that pay is based on (A) a service-connected disability incurred in combat with an enemy of the United States, or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war as defined by section 1101 of title 38; or (B) service under chapter 1223 of title 10, or former chapter 67 of title 10 before the Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act took effect. (3) A person who made a deposit under section 8334(j), or a similar earlier law, and did not receive a refund gets credit without the deposit otherwise required by paragraph (1)(B). On application to the Office, that person must receive a refund equal to the earlier deposit excluding interest minus the amount that paragraph (1)(B) would otherwise require. (4)(A) For a survivor^* annuity, if the employee or Member received retired pay based on military service and died before separation, the deceased person’s creditable service includes each period allowed under paragraph (1)(A), (1)(B), or paragraph (3). A deposit under section 8422(e)(5) is counted. (B) The survivor annuity is reduced by survivor benefits payable to a survivor other than a child under a retirement system for uniformed-service members, to the extent those benefits are based on that military service. (C) The Office of Personnel Management must issue regulations, including rules allowing a survivor to opt out and rules for cases involving a former spouse^*. (5) If, after January 1, 1997, a person gives up retired pay covered by a court^* order properly served on the Secretary under section 1408 of title 10, the underlying military service counts only if the person authorizes the Director^* to withhold from the annuity the amount that would have been withheld from that retired pay and paid to the former spouse. The withheld amount must be paid to the former spouse. Civil-service employment is not used to calculate that withholding or payment. The Director must issue regulations.

(d) Credit is allowed for unpaid leave granted while an employee performs military service or receives benefits under subchapter I of chapter 81. A returning employee or former employee is treated as being on such leave for the part of a separation during which the person received those benefits. Other unpaid leave counts only up to 6 months total in a calendar year.

(e) Approved unpaid leave to work full time as an officer or employee of an organization made up mainly of employees counts if, within 60 days after the leave begins, the employee arranges through the employing agency to pay the retirement deductions and agency contributions that would apply under sections 8422(a) and 8423(a) if the employee were being paid. If the election and all payments are not made, the leave does not count, despite subsection (d).

(f)(1) A person who received a refund of chapter 83 retirement deductions for service described in (b)(2) or (b)(3) gets credit only after depositing 1.3 percent of basic pay^* for that service, with interest. This is allowed only for a refund based on an application filed with the Office before the person first became subject to this chapter. (2) Service described in (b)(3) for which chapter 83 deductions were not made counts only after the same 1.3-percent deposit with interest. (3) Interest is calculated under section 8334(e)(2) and (3) and Office regulations. (4) For survivor annuities, the survivor may also make these deposits.

(g) An employee who was excluded from this subchapter because of coverage under a retirement system established under section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act, then transferred without a break to a presidentially appointed position requiring Senate confirmation and covered by this subchapter, is treated as though service creditable under the Federal Reserve system had been performed under this subchapter if the employee and employer deductions, contributions, or rights are transferred to the Fund.

(h) Volunteer or volunteer-leader service under the listed Economic Opportunity Act, Domestic Volunteer Service Act, or Peace Corps Act programs counts if performed before the separation supporting the annuity and the employee or Member makes the deposit, with interest if any, required by section 8422(f).

(i) For subsection (b)(5), “Bank Plan” means the benefit structure in which Board^* of Governors of the Federal Reserve System employees appointed on or after January 1, 1984, participate. It is part of the Retirement Plan for Employees of the Federal Reserve System established under section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act, including a redesignated or successor structure if the Board identifies it in writing for this chapter.

(i)(1) An individual who was an employee when this paragraph was enacted and who then had, or later acquired, at least 5 years of creditable civilian service under this section, excluding service credited under this subsection, may apply to the Office and receive congressional-employee credit for service before December 31, 1990, with the listed four congressional campaign committees. The employee must have at least 4 years and 6 months of committee service as of December 31, 1990, and must deposit 1.3 percent of the base pay for that service, with interest. (2) The Office must accept certification from the President of the Senate or designee, or the Speaker of the House or designee, about the service and compensation. (3) This credit is unavailable if the individual qualifies for credit for the same service under section 8332(m).

(k)(1) The Office must accept certification by the head of a United States nonappropriated-fund instrumentality about service of the type described in (b)(6) performed for that instrumentality. (2) Service credited under (b)(6) cannot also be credited under another retirement system for employees paid from nonappropriated funds.

(l)(1) Despite other provisions of this chapter, service rendered as a Member by an individual finally convicted of an offense described in paragraph (2) is not counted. The individual, or another person determined under section 8424(d) when applicable, is entitled to the part of the lump-sum credit^* attributable to that service. (2) The offense must be one described in section 8332(o)(2)(B), and every act or omission needed for the offense must occur while the individual is a Member, President, Vice President, or elected State or local official; must directly relate to official duties in that role; and must occur after this subsection was enacted. (3) After final conviction, the individual cannot participate in this retirement system while serving as a Member. (4) The Office must issue regulations. They must limit interest on the lump-sum payment in a way similar to section 8316(b), and may allow payments to the spouse or children of the convicted person, subject to paragraph (5), with an adjustment to the lump-sum payment. (5) Such regulations must ensure that payment authority is used only when necessary and appropriate after considering all circumstances, including the spouse’s or children’s financial needs, whether they participated in the offense, and steps needed to ensure the convicted person does not benefit. (6) “Finally convicted” and “final conviction” mean a conviction no longer appealable because the appeal time expired, or a conviction for which the appeals process is complete. “Member” has the meaning in section 2106 despite section 8401(20). “Child” has the meaning in section 8441.

The supplied text labels two separate provisions as subsection (i); both are retained here with their labels. The stray digits in the supplied text are ignored.