the federal government switched from csrs to fers on january 1, 1987.
when did the federal government switch from csrs to fers?
january 1 , 1987
most new federal employees hired on or after january 1, 1987, are automatically covered under fers. those newly hired and certain employees rehired between january 1, 1984, and december 31, 1986, were automatically converted to coverage under fers on january 1, 1987; the portion of time under the old system is referred to as "csrs offset" and only that portion falls under the csrs rules. rehired federal employees who worked prior to december 31, 1983, and had 5 years of civilian service by december 31, 1986, can choose between remaining in csrs or electing fers within six months of rehire, but should the employee elect to switch from csrs to fers coverage, the election is irrevocable. employees of nonappropriated fund instrumentalities of the departments of defense and homeland security participate in a separate retirement system, except when retaining previous coverage under a different retirement system following a transfer.
federal employees retirement system
with changes in the determining retirement coverage of federal employees under fers or csrs, those employees who are later rehired that were previously covered under csrs will retain their csrs coverage if they meet certain service rules. in general, if rehired employees have 5 years of civilian service as of december 31, 1986, they will retain csrs coverage. however, if the break in service is greater than 365 days, the employee is also covered under social security and will be deemed csrs offset. overall benefits paid to csrs or csrs offset employees will remain equitable based on the number of years of creditable service and csrs formula upon retirement. csrs and csrs offset employees with a break in service more than 3 days are also eligible to elect coverage under fers within the first 6 months of rehire.
civil service retirement system