The Federal Retirement Fairness Act

H.R. 5995

This bill, reintroduced in the House on February 24, 2025, would allow temporary postal and federal employees who are promoted to career positions the option of “buying back” the time that they worked as a noncareer employee to use toward their retirement.

Temporary postal employees are noncareer employees, such as PSEs, transitional employees, and casuals, who are unable to make contributions to their retirement benefits until they become USPS career employees.

Prior to 1989, postal workers were allowed to make retroactive “catch up” contributions to their retirement benefits, after they made career status, for all the time they worked as a temporary employee. Unfortunately, the authority to make retroactive payments expired on January 1, 1989.

Under the proposed “buy back,” eligible postal workers would make a deposit equal to the amount that would have been contributed to their retirement benefits, had they been career employees. The calculation is determined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

This legislation would help postal and federal employees better prepare for their retirement. It would affect more than 100,000 APWU members who have converted from temporary to career positions.