Federal employees who are retirement-eligible would be able to transition from full-time to part-time status, while continuing to earn additional retirement benefits, under a new proposed rule from the Office of Personnel Management.

The purpose of the federal government's "phased retirement" program, which OPM is implementing in accordance with provisions included in a transportation funding bill (H.R. 4348) signed by President Obama last summer, is to allow agencies to continue to benefit from the service of "experienced employees who might otherwise choose to retire," OPM explained in a summary of the proposed rule included in a June 5 Federal Register notice.

"These proposed regulations inform agencies and employees about who may elect phased retirement, what benefits are provided in phased retirement, how an annuity is computed during and after phased retirement, and how employees fully retire from phased retirement," OPM said.

An eligible federal employee who enters phased retirement, which requires the approval of an authorized agency official, will work half-time and will receive one half of what his or her annuity would have been had the individual retired completely from federal service. During phased retirement, OPM explained, the employee is considered a part-time employee, not a re-employed annuitant. For example, it said, the employee would continue to receive the same health insurance benefits as full-time employees under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

"The main purpose of phased retirement is to enhance mentoring and training of the employees who will be filling the positions of more experienced employees who are preparing for full retirement. It is intended to encourage experienced employees to remain, in at least a part-time capacity, while less experienced employees are preparing to assume the duties of the employees who are planning to retire," OPM said.

To this end, OPM said, the proposed rule calls for employees in the program to spend at least 20 percent of their working hours in mentoring activities. It is up to the employing agency to determine what types of mentoring activities satisfy this requirement, OPM said.

Comments on the proposed rule are due no later than Aug. 5.

In other public sector news:

• The Office of Personnel Management, along with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, issued a proposed rule last week that critics say could result in virtually any federal government position being classified as "sensitive" for national security reasons and therefore ineligible for full whistleblower protections.

• A group of administrative law judges is challenging the Labor Department's plan to furlough them, asserting before the Merit Systems Protection Board that the furloughs would disrupt DOL's adjudicatory functions and could be prevented by transferring funds within the department. 

• Connecticut state officials violated the First Amendment rights of state employees and their unions in 2003 by targeting approximately 2,800 union members for layoffs after the unions declined to grant specific pension and benefit concessions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled. 

• Members of United University Professions, the union representing 35,000 faculty and staff at the State University of New York, ratified a five-year contract with the state, becoming the last major state employee union to approve a new agreement.