normal duty hours, and time off awards given in lieu of cash) are not paid and are thus lost if not used before retirement. Generally, an employee has the right to determine his/her "date of final separation" (i.e. the last day on the payroll; it does not have to be the final working day in a pay period); the following day is the employee's retirement date. The annuity does not begin until one full calendar month has passed since the employee's retirement. Thus, an employee retiring on June 30 will have his/her annuity begin on August 1 (as the employee will be retired beginning July 1 and for the entire month of July), but an employee retiring on July 1 will not have his/her annuity begin until September 1 (as the employee will be retired beginning July 2 but not for the entire month of July, only in the following month—August—will the employee be retired for an entire month). Per the Comptroller General, employees cannot be on "terminal leave" through the date of retirement (except in extenuating circumstances); this is often avoided by the employee being allowed to use up desired leave, but then coming into work on his/her final work day for outprocessing tasks (turn in of badge and computer equipment, etc.) Married employees will have their annuity reduced by a survivor benefit unless the spouse specifically in writing consents to receiving less than a full benefit; the reduction is based on the survivor benefit chosen. Employees are eligible for a COLA if they meet certain criteria. The most notable is retirement after age 62; most employees who retire before age 62 will not receive a COLA (on either their annuity or their special retirement supplement) until age 62 (however, certain categories of employees, mainly those who are required to retire early based on their occupation or who retire on disability, will receive a COLA before age 62). Because employee contributions are post-tax, a portion of any FERS annuity received is not taxable. However, the non-tax portion is relatively small (since the majority of the annuity contributions are paid by the government); and even though the non-tax portion would be paid back within a few months after retirement, tax law requires it to be spread out over a period of years depending on the annuitant's (and his/her spouse's) age (but in the event the annuitant dies before it is