Supplemental Retirement Match Update

07/13/2015

OHR recently briefed the union on the SEC's progress towards setting up supplemental retirement match accounts pursuant to the compensation agreement with the union. The agency is close to signing a contract with a vendor, and currently expects to have the accounts set up by September 30, the end of Fiscal Year 2015. The accounts will be cash accounts, but the SEC has now agreed to provide a "sweep" feature which will allow employees to shift the funds on a period basis into their TSP accounts, where they will have investment options. Pursuant to IRS rules, there is a waiting period before the funds may be swept into another account, and this information will be provided to employees when the accounts are set up.

The SEC signed the MOU requiring the original supplemental 1% match almost two years ago, in December of 2012. That contract required that the 1% retirement match be implemented by June 2013, retroactive to January 2013. During the summer of 2013, OHR reported to the union that it was experiencing delays in implementation, but repeatedly assured the union that the program would be implemented within a few weeks. In October 2013, OHR reported a new implementation schedule which anticipated implementation before the end of 2013. Unfortunately, however, rather than getting the job done, OHR's implementation delays continued through 2013, then 2014, and all the way through today.

In August 2014, the SEC signed a new compensation agreement with the union that increased the supplemental retirement match from 1% to 3% with implementation on October 5, 2014. Currently, the SEC owes its employees a retroactive retirement match of 1% for the period from January 2013 to the present, as well as a 3% supplemental retirement match going forward from October 5 until the date on which the new accounts are actually put in place. The accounts must be put in place by the end of 2015 to ensure that the SEC will not approach the single year limit for how much it can give in pretax money to employees without exceeding IRS limits.

When the accounts are put in place, the union will ensure that employees receive all the retroactive sums to which they are entitled due to OHR's delays. To ensure that you receive the full supplemental match, you must be sure that your current contribution to the TSP is at least 8% of your salary for 2015 if you are a FERS employee, or 3% of your salary if you are CSRS employee. If you are already contributing 8% or more (FERS) or 3% or more (CSRS), it is not necessary for you to do anything further to receive the supplemental match.