I Three outcomes
Under 5 CFR part 837, how long you stay decides everything.
| Service | What you get |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year | Deductions refunded, without interest |
| 1 year | Supplemental annuity, added on top |
| 5 years | Option to elect a redetermined annuity |
Two months of extra work is the difference between a refund and a permanent addition to your annuity for life. If you are approaching a year, find out your exact date before you give notice.
II The one-year line
A supplemental annuity is an additional amount payable on top of the annuity you already receive, based on the service performed during reemployment. It requires at least one year of actual continuous service on a full-time basis, or the part-time equivalent.
Two words in that sentence do the work. Actual means the time must have been served, not credited from elsewhere. Continuous means a break restarts the counting.
This is the outcome most reemployed annuitants end up with, because most do not stay five years. It is credit added, not the original calculation reopened.
III The five-year election
At five years of actual continuous service — or a combination of part-time and full-time equivalent to five years full-time — a second option opens: a redetermined annuity, computed afresh, replacing your existing one.
Three conditions attach:
- Pay during reemployment was subject to offset by the annuity allocable to that period
- Retirement deductions were withheld, or a deposit paid, for the entire period of continuous reemployment immediately preceding the most recent separation
- You elect the redetermined annuity in place of both your prior annuity and the supplemental annuity
A redetermined annuity replaces rather than supplements. That is usually favourable where reemployment was at a higher salary that lifts your high-3 — and not always otherwise. Ask OPM for both figures before electing. This is not a decision to estimate.
Note the second condition carefully. If deductions were not withheld for the whole period, the election may not be available to you at all — which makes the basis of your appointment something to establish on day one, not year five.
IV Which Outcome Am I In?
What Will My Service Earn?
V Your annuity while you work
In most cases the annuity continues and your salary is offset by the amount of annuity allocable to the period of reemployment. There are limited circumstances in which the annuity terminates instead, and separate rules for disability annuitants.
Where an annuity was terminated because of reemployment, it is reinstated effective the day immediately following separation — provided the right to it has not been terminated under another provision, and you are not entitled to an immediate or deferred annuity based on that separation.
A dual compensation waiver lets an agency employ an annuitant without the offset in defined circumstances. It changes what you are paid, not what credit you earn — and a waived appointment generally carries no additional retirement coverage and no RIF protection. If deductions are not being withheld, the five-year election may never become available to you.
So the question to ask before accepting anything: am I offset or waived, and are deductions being withheld? Those two answers determine which of the three outcomes is even reachable.
VI Playbook
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Offered a return after retiring | Ask whether it is offset or waived, and whether deductions are withheld. |
| Approaching 12 months | Get your exact date. Two months decides refund against lifetime credit. |
| Planning to stay years | Confirm deductions are withheld for the whole period, or the election closes. |
| Reached 5 years | Ask OPM for both figures before electing. It replaces, not adds. |
| Reemployment pays more than you retired on | Redetermination likely favours you. Still get the numbers. |
| Working part-time | The thresholds are full-time equivalents. Count accordingly. |
| Took a break in service | Continuous means continuous. Ask what restarted. |
| Never actually retired | Wrong page — reinstatement rules govern you instead. |
Before and during reemployment
- Establish whether your appointment is offset or under a dual compensation waiver.
- Confirm in writing whether retirement deductions are being withheld.
- Diary your one-year date from the day you start.
- Keep every SF-50 from the reemployment period.
- Track full-time equivalent service if you are part-time.
- Note any break in service and ask what it did to continuity.
- At five years, request both annuity figures from OPM before electing.
- Do not give notice near a threshold without checking the date first.
Questions
One of three things, decided entirely by how long you stay. At least one year of actual continuous full-time service, or the part-time equivalent, gives you title to a supplemental annuity added to what you already receive. Service equivalent to five years of actual full-time work gives you the option to elect a redetermined annuity computed afresh. Separate with title to neither and you are entitled to have the retirement deductions withheld during reemployment refunded, without interest.
An additional amount payable on top of your existing annuity, based on the service you performed during reemployment. It does not disturb the annuity you already have. It requires at least one year of actual continuous service on a full-time basis, or a part-time equivalent, and it is the outcome most reemployed annuitants end up with because most do not stay five years. Think of it as credit added rather than the calculation reopened.
A completely recomputed annuity that replaces your existing one, available where the reemployment amounts to five years of actual continuous service, or a combination of part-time and full-time service equivalent to five years full-time. Several conditions attach: the pay during reemployment must have been subject to offset by the annuity, retirement deductions must have been withheld or a deposit paid for the entire period of continuous reemployment immediately preceding the most recent separation, and you must elect the redetermined annuity in place of both your prior annuity and the supplemental annuity.
Because it replaces rather than supplements. A redetermined annuity is computed afresh on the whole record, which is usually favourable where the reemployment was at a higher salary that lifts the high-3, and can be unfavourable in other circumstances. It is an election you make rather than something applied automatically, precisely because it is not always the better outcome. Model both before choosing, and ask OPM for the figures rather than estimating them.
In most cases it continues, and your salary is offset by the amount of the annuity allocable to the period of reemployment. There are limited circumstances in which the annuity terminates instead, and separate rules for disability annuitants. Where an annuity was terminated because of reemployment, it is reinstated effective the day immediately following separation from reemployment, provided the right to annuity has not been terminated under another provision and you are not entitled to an immediate or deferred annuity based on that separation.
There is a dual compensation waiver route that allows an agency to employ an annuitant without the offset in defined circumstances, and it sits on its own authority rather than in these reemployment provisions. A waiver changes what you are paid, not what service credit you earn, and a waived appointment generally carries no additional retirement coverage and no reduction in force protection. Establish which basis you are being hired on before you accept, because the two produce very different outcomes.
You get your retirement deductions back without interest, and no additional annuity credit at all. That is the outcome the regulation provides for someone who separates without title to either a supplemental or a redetermined annuity. It is worth knowing in advance because the difference between eleven months and thirteen months is the difference between a refund and a permanent addition to your annuity for the rest of your life.
No. These provisions govern people who are drawing a federal annuity and return to federal employment. Someone who left federal service without retiring and wants to come back is dealing with reinstatement instead, which turns on career tenure, veterans' preference and a three-year window rather than on supplemental and redetermined annuities. The two situations are frequently confused because both are described as coming back.