“The offer letter (Attachment G) will be limited to the October 31, 2003 effective date.  Employees who submit an application (and do not withdraw) will retire on that date, provided that there was no maximum set or the maximum was not exceeded.  These employees will be provided this information through a VER Approval Notice (Attachment K).  At the same time, in instances where there are more applications than the published maximum, those employees will be sent a Retirement Request Status notice (Attachment L) informing them that they will be allowed to retire either January 31, 2004 or February 29, 2004.  We will set a new irrevocable date for these additional letters.”

1. No retirements allowed – This is something that management (or the employees) does not want to see.  In this scenario, all employees who submitted SOIs will be sent Attachment I, Disapproval Notice
2. No Maximums on allowable retirements – This is the most desirable scenario.  All SOI respondents will get Attachment G 1, with Attachment H 1.  Of that group, all who submit a retirement application will be approved.
3. October Max Jan/Feb No Max - There is a maximum established for October.  All SOI respondents in this scenario will get Attachment G 2, with Attachment H 2.  All who submit a retirement application, up to the October max, will be approved for VER and will be sent Attachment K, VER Approval Notice.  All applicants who are excess of the October max will be approved for VER in either January or February, and will be sent Attachment L 3, Retirement Request Status.
4. October Max Jan/Feb Max -There is a maximum established for October as well as January/February.  All SOI respondents in this scenario will get Attachment G 3, with Attachment H 2.  All who submit a retirement application, up to the October max, will be approved for VER and will be sent Attachment K, VER Approval Notice.  All applicants who are excess of the October max will be will be sent Attachment L 4, Retirement Request Status.
5. Zero October Jan/Feb No Max – In this scenario, no VERs are allowed in October, all will be allowed to retire in January/February.  All SOI respondents in this scenario will be sent Attachment L 1, Retirement Request Status.
6. Zero October Jan/Feb Max – In this scenario, no VERs are allowed in October.  There will be a maximum established for January/February.  All SOI respondents in this scenario will be sent Attachment L 2, Retirement Request Status.

However, for VER eligible applicants, all deposit or redeposit must be completed prior to processing the personnel action to separate the employee under VER.  If the process cannot be completed by the October 31, 2003 effective date, the employee will be granted an extension with the retirement date determined after receipt of a ‘paid in full’ statement from OPM.
 
 

The USPS has received approval from the OPM to offer voluntary early retirement (VER) to employees in positions covered under the National Agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and the APWU, AFL-CIO. This authority is subject to the limitations of the retirement statutes and OPM's regulations. The Voluntary Early Retirement Authority is one tool available to help support our workforce reshaping and repositioning strategies.

Given the declining volumes, assessing the workforce complement needs, and identifying the appropriate mix of skills becomes ever more critical. Many of you have voiced interest in having VER available as an option to help reshape the complement and meet your repositioning needs.

Operations and Human Resources play critical roles in properly implementing VER. Operations must focus on the complement and be prepared to identify in very specific terms those positions that are excess to their needs. They should also develop plans to address how the workforce complement should be reshaped to insure that the proper skills are available in each operation. Human Resources must focus on validating employee retirement eligibility data; i.e., verifying service history through the Retirement, Thrift, and Reduction-in-Force System. This will result in a significant workload for field Human Resources personnel. Additionally, field Human Resources will need to provide group retirement counseling sessions, and ultimately process retirement applications. Within the next week Employee Resource Management will be issuing guidance and a timeline to the Area Human Resources Manager(s) for implementing VER.

The first step in the VER process is to determine employee interest. This solicitation will begin by mid-July. Once interest is identified, workforce complements and operational needs will become critical in determining how many employees will be allowed to retire under VER. During a specific time period, eligible employees will be offered the opportunity to retire under VER. It is anticipated that the effective date of retirement applications filed under this offer will be based on operational needs, but no sooner than October 31, 2003.

We are relying on your functional leaders to provide information about how individual functional departments will be affected. Each vice president has been asked to name an organizational change coordinator who will be responsible for helping to communicate plans and to respond to individual questions. We will also be using a Web site on our Intranet, http://blue.usps.gov, titled "Organization Changes," to provide you with basic facts about what is happening, as well as provide links to other sites with relevant information.

To address our future complement challenges, we have also petitioned OPM for authority to make similar VER offers to members of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, as well as to individuals who are in initial-level supervisory positions. However, we are still awaiting a response from OPM on these requests. I will keep you advised of the status of these requests.

Patrick R. Donahoe
cc. Ms. M...
Mr. R...

475 L'Enfant Plaza SW,
Washington DC 20260-0080
www.usps.com

 
SUMMARY OF BENEFITS AND LEAVE PROVISIONS UNDER VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT AUTHORITY

RETIREMENT

Eligibility

You must be an employee in a competitive area where it is apparent that you occupy a position that is either excess to the mission of the Postal Service or is a potential placement opportunity for those employees whose positions are being excessed. 

- For employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and for employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the minimum age and service requirements are: 

> age 50 with 20 years of creditable service, or
> any age with 25 years of creditable service. 

- For both CSRS and FERS employees, at least five years of service must be creditable civilian service.

- CSRS employees must have been employed under CSRS for at least one year out of the last two years.

Annuity Commencement Date:

- CSRS/CSRS Offset Employees: An annuity begins the first day of the month following the effective date of retirement, unless the retirement is effective the first, second, or third day of the month.  Then the annuity is effective the day after separation or the day after the last day in pay status.

 - FERS Employees: An annuity is effective on the first day of the month after the effective date of retirement.

 - For CSRS or FERS annuitants, an interim annuity payment (equal to approximately 80 percent of the annuity) begins within eight to ten weeks of the separation date.

 Age-based Annuity Reduction: 

- CSRS/CSRS Offset Employees: If you are under age 55, your annuity will be computed like a voluntary optional retirement using calculations based on total creditable years and months of service.  Then, your annuity will be reduced at the rate of two percent for each year (or by 1/6th of one percent for each full month) that you are under age 55.  This reduction is permanent—your annuity is not recomputed when you reach age 55.

 - FERS Employees: There is no age-based reduction for VER in your annuity if you retire under the age of 55.  However, if you are a FERS employee with a frozen CSRS component, then a portion of your annuity is based on a benefit that you accrued under CSRS.  Therefore, that portion of your annuity is subject to the reduction mentioned above for CSRS/CSRS Offset employees.

HEALTH INSURANCE 

To be eligible to carry health insurance coverage into retirement, you must meet two criteria:

- You must be entitled to retire on an immediate annuity under a retirement system for civilian employees.

- You must have been continuously enrolled (or covered as a family member) in a Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) program plan for the five years of service immediately before the date your annuity begins or for the full period of service since your first opportunity to enroll (if less than five years).

Your insurance plan does not change and retirement is not an opportunity to elect a new plan.

Your premium payment will increase to the level paid by all other federal annuitants (and federal employees) rather than receiving the more favorable Postal Service employer health benefits contribution.  This means the same health plan may be approximately twice as expensive for an annuitant as it is for a postal employee.

As an annuitant, you would pay for health coverage through monthly withholding from your annuity, instead of paying through biweekly withholding from your paycheck (12 payments annually instead of 26 payments annually).  Of course, each payment is higher when you pay on a monthly basis.

Tax regulations do not permit you to receive the tax break you receive as an employee under the pretax payment of health insurance premiums provided by the Postal Service.

 If you are ineligible to continue existing health insurance coverage into retirements, two options are offered:

- conversion to an individual policy, or

- Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC).

LIFE INSURANCE 

To be eligible to carry life insurance coverage into retirement, you must meet the following criteria:

- You must be entitled to retire on an immediate annuity under a retirement system for civilian employees.

- You must also have been continuously enrolled in the FEGLI program for the five years of service immediately before the date annuity starts, or for the full period of service since your first opportunity to enroll (if less than five years).

- You must not have converted to an individual life insurance policy.

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN

Following retirement, you are not eligible to make additional contributions to or borrow money from your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account.  You may continue to reallocate money among the TSP funds.

If you retire, you will receive extensive information regarding your TSP withdrawal options and whether you may leave your money in TSP.  Withdrawal of funds may take at least two months following separation and after the receipt of properly completed forms by TSP.

There are no differences in TSP provisions for retirement under VER versus separation or optional retirement.  You will have the same withdrawal choices and tax consequences as any other separated or retired employee of the same separation or retirement date and age.

If you retire before the year that you reach age 55, then any amount that you withdraw from your TSP account before you reach age 59 ½ is subject to an early withdrawal penalty tax of ten percent.  However, this penalty tax does not apply to amounts received under certain withdrawal options, such as an annuity or rollover to an Individual Retirement Arrangements.

All employees eligible for VER are fully vested in their TSP contributions and the earnings on those contributions.

If you have an outstanding TSP loan, this would delay a TSP withdrawal because you cannot withdraw funds from your TSP account until you have repaid your loan in full or until your loan has been declared a taxable distribution.

FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS

If you are a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) participant, your participation ends as of the day after your retirement.  This means that from this date on:

- You do not owe any more FSA contributions.  (Of course, you still are required to make up any contributions you missed before your participation ended.

- You may request payment only for the expenses of eligible services or items received up to and including your retirement date.  Any services or items received after that date are not eligible for payment.

- Your deadline for submitting claims does not change – it is September 30 of the year following your year of FSA participation.

The Postal Service FSA is not available to you as an annuitant.  (Under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax rules, all employers may only make FSAs available to employees, not retirees).

SICK LEAVE

For CSRS employees, the years of service used to compute the annuity are a combination of creditable federal and postal service + unused sick leave hours converted to creditable service.  Sick leave is used in the annuity computation, but cannot be used to meet the service credit eligibility requirements for VER.

For FERS employees with a frozen CSRS component in the annuity, you receive credit in the CSRS portion of your annuity only for sick leave you had when you transferred to FERS (or what you have when you retire, if it is less). Sick leave earned since you transferred to FERS is not creditable for retirement purposes.

For FERS employees without a CSRS component, sick leave is not creditable for retirement purposes.

ANNUAL LEAVE

If you are a nonbargaining unit employee, you may be eligible for a lump sum payment for your earned and unused annual leave up to your annual leave carryover limit plus any annual leave earned and unused in the current year, as well as any unused donated leave.  Note:  Annual leave in excess of the carryover limit cannot be carried forward in the next leave year.

MORE INFORMATION

You may wish to consult the following web sites for more information:

- Retirement, health insurance, and life insurance: http://www.opm.gov
- Thrift Savings Plan: http://www.tsp.gov
- Social Security: http://www.ssa.gov
- Medicare: http://www.medicare.gov
- Basic salary increases: http://blue.usps.gov/hrisp/comp/basic_salinc.htm
- Salary schedules: http://blue.usps.gov/hrisp/comp/salsched.htm
 

July 11, 2003

MANAGERS, HUMAN RESOURCES (AREAS)
MANAGERS, HUMAN RESOURCES (DISTRICTS)
MANAGERS, PERSONNEL SERVICES (DISTRICTS)

SUBJECT:  Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) Offer for APWU-Represented Employees

This memorandum provides instructions and assistance in implementing the Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) offer being extended to employees who occupy positions covered under the National Agreement between the Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), AFL-CIO.  The Postal Service has received approval from the Office of Personnel Management under its Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to offer VER to this specific group of employees.  The purpose of this VER offer is to minimize the number of employees potentially affected by involuntary reassignments under the appropriate national agreement articles due to the reshaping and repositioning of our bargaining unit workforce.

The attached package includes:

• Guidelines for Processing Voluntary Early Retirement for APWU-Represented Employees (Attachment A).
• Implementation timeline for APWU VER (Attachment B).
• Information provided to potentially eligible employees (Attachments C, D, E, and F).
• Letter templates to be used for corresponding with employees during the VER offer (Attachments G, H, and I).
• Employee bulletin board notice that must be placed on all employee bulletin boards during the period July 15, 2003 through October 27, 2003 (Attachment J).

 We have also highlighted below other pertinent information concerning the VER offer and related actions underway to assist personnel offices.

 Some of the key dates associated with this VER offer are: 

• July 11, 2003 – Implementation instructions provided to Area and District Human Resources.
• July 15, 2003 – Statement of Interest (SOI) package mailed to potentially eligible employees.
• August 5, 2003 – End of SOI period.      
• September 27, 2003 to October 27, 2003 – VER window period.

 Employee Notification

 On July 15, 2003, employees who meet the eligibility requirements for this VER offer will be mailed a SOI package directly from a contractor.  The mailing will encompass approximately 58,000 potentially eligible APWU employees.  This package will include: 

• Generic cover letter (Attachment C) to explain the rationale for the VER offer, the basic eligibility requirements, and the purpose of the SOI.
• SOI form (Attachment D).
• Summary of Benefits and Leave Provisions under VER (Attachment E).
• VER frequently asked questions (Attachment F).

 It should be reemphasized that this VER offer is only available to those employees who occupy positions covered under the National Agreement between the Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO.  All other employees represented by the APWU under separate agreements and other bargaining unit and non-bargaining employees are not covered by this VER offer. 

List of Eligible Employees

 District human resources managers and managers, Personnel Services will receive a listing of all employees within their district that meet the eligibility requirements for the VER offer based on personnel records.  Mailing addresses for each eligible employee will be included on the listing.   A district summary report will also be provided identifying those eligible by job title, occupation code, grade level, and location.  Area human resources managers will receive a copy of each district summary and detailed reports for those districts under their jurisdiction.

 Retirement, Thrift, and Reduction in Force (RTR) Processing

 Verification of an eligible employee’s age and creditable service is critical to the success of this VER offer.  Retirement, Thrift, and Reduction (RTR) records must be established for all employees who submit SOI requests to ensure that the correct retirement plans and retirement computation dates are properly reflected in the payroll and complement management systems.

 Headquarters compensation recently released additional guidance concerning RTR processing through computer-based training modules and new error reports.  In support of the APWU VER offer and RTR processing in general, compensation will be providing additional RTR training over the next two months.

 Additional Information Available on Various Web Sites

 There are a variety of web sites available concerning VER and other pertinent information that may assist personnel offices in responding to employee inquiries or can be accessed directly by employees through the internet.  Some of these sites are identified on page 4 of Attachment E under “More Information.”  In addition, Headquarters’ Labor Relations is in the process of developing a web site with a link through usps.com that should be available by the end of July.  This site will provide VER information including frequently asked questions.

 The field can also access VER information on the intranet through the Organizational Change site located at http://blue.usps.gov/hrisp/ser/org_change.htm.

 Susan M. LaChance

Manager
Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition
Attachments

GUIDELINES FOR PROCESSING VOLUNTARY EARLY
RETIREMENT FOR APWU-REPRESENTED EMPLOYEES

I.            VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT (VER) 

        The Postal Service has received approval from the Office of Personnel Management under its Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to offer VER to career employees who occupy positions covered by the National Agreement between the U. S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), AFL-CIO.  Eligible employees identified in Section II who elect to take advantage of this VER offer will have a retirement effective date of October 31, 2003.  However based on USPS operational needs, the retirement effective date for employees in positions necessary to maintain service during the period

        November 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003, will be delayed and they will be given a management determined retirement effective date of either January 31, 2004 or

        February 29, 2004.

 II.          ELIGIBILITY/ANNUITY REQUIREMENTS

 A.          Age and Service Requirements

                 To be eligible to retire under this VER offer, the employee must meet one of the following age and service requirements:

                        Age is at least…                             and Creditable Service* is at least…

                 50 as of November 1, 2003                        20 or more years as of October 31, 2003                   

                        Any Age                                          25 or more years as of October 31, 2003

*Creditable service requirement must include at least five years of creditable civilian service (career or non-career).
 

B.              Covered Position Requirements

The employee occupies a position that has been either identified as excess to the mission of the Postal Service, or is a potential reassignment opportunity for those employees whose positions are being excessed.

1.           Excess Positions

Levels 4, 5, and 6 positions in the Clerk Craft located in Processing and Distribution Centers, Processing and Distribution Facilities, and International Service Centers, and other installations within a 50-mile radius of these facilities, are potentially excess to the mission of the Postal Service. 

2.           Potential Reassignment Opportunities

All other positions covered by the National Agreement between the U. S. Postal Service and the APWU that do not meet the requirements specified in Section II.B.1 above are considered potential reassignment opportunities for those employees who are excessed to the mission of the Postal Service.  Human resources in coordination with operations will determine whether a position that falls under this category can be used as a reassignment opportunity.

C.              Excluded Employees

The following categories of employees are excluded from this VER offer:

1.           Nonbargaining

                         All nonbargaining employees, including those in rate schedule codes E, F, J, S, and U.

2.           Bargaining Unit

All bargaining unit employees, except those career employees who occupy a position covered under the National Agreement between the U. S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO.

Because of errors in personnel records, some employees may receive a Statement of Interest (SOI) package in error, see Section IV.  Conversely, some employees may not have been identified as eligible due to a classification error.  Personnel offices must correct the erroneous employee data and make a determination whether the employee meets the eligibility requirements for this VER offer.  If the employee is found eligible, the personnel office should provide a copy of the materials provided to eligible employees (see Attachments C, D, E, and F).

III.            EMPLOYEE IDENTIFICATION

A.          Printout

        Career APWU employees covered by either CSRS or FERS (retirement plan codes 1, 5, 8 or A), who meet the eligibility criteria in Section II.A, have been identified based on current CMS data.  A listing of these eligible employees will be electronically transmitted to all district HR managers and managers, Personnel Services on July 11, 2003.  Area HR managers will receive summary reports and detailed listings for each district under their jurisdiction.

B.          Employee Notification

All employees identified on the printout referenced above will be mailed a SOI package on July 15, 2003, at their address of record, informing them of their eligibility for the VER offer.  The package will be comprised of Attachments C, D, E and F.  Approximately 58,000 APWU employees have been identified as potentially eligible for this VER offer. 

C.          Employee Bulletin Board Notice

Attachment J is an employee bulletin board notice that must be posted on all employee bulletin boards during the period July 15, 2003 through October 27, 2003, end of the VER window period.

IV.        VERIFYING ELIGIBILITY THROUGH THE RTR SYSTEM

                Eligible employees interested in taking advantage of the VER offer, must submit their SOI forms to Headquarters’ Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition (SER) no later than close of business August 5, 2003.  SER will verify that the employees occupy positions covered by the VER offer and group these employees into the following three categories (1) Excess Positions, as defined in Section II.B.1; (2) Potential Reassignment Opportunities, as defined in Section II.B.2; or (3) Ineligible, those employees who do not occupy positions covered by the VER offer. 

                Throughout the SOI period, July 15, 2003 through August 5, 2003, SER will electronically forward, on a weekly basis or more often as the volume dictates, the listings outlined above to each manager, Personnel Services with copies to Area and district HR managers.  The listings will specify the three categories identified above. Those employees identified on the Excess Positions listings must be given priority for RTR processing.

        Personnel offices are responsible for ensuring that employees meet the age and service requirements for this VER offer as specified in Section II.A of these guidelines.  Although our ultimate goal is to have all employee records in RTR as soon as possible, ONLY THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO SUBMIT A SOI FORM must have their retirement plan codes and retirement computation dates in CMS verified IMMEDIATELY through the RTR system (see SOP 2, Establishing an RTR Record).

        Errors in RCD must be corrected immediately in CMS and a determination made as to whether the employee still meets the creditable service requirement for this VER offer (see SOP 21, Correcting Retirement Computation Date (RCD) Errors (NOA 882).   Errors in retirement plan code must be reported to HQ (see SOP19, Correcting Retirement Plan Code Errors (NOA 008 and NOA 803).   Employees must be advised of any corrections made to their personnel records.

        Personnel offices are reminded that employees legally attain a given age on the day before their birthday. (See Compensation Letter 92-020)   Under this VER offer, employees must meet the eligibility requirements on or before October 31, 2003, therefore based on the ‘birthday rule’, employees whose 50^TH birthday falls on November 1, 2003, would be eligible for this VER offer.

 V.          PROCESSING VER REQUESTS

 A.          District Offices

After verification through RTR that an employee meets the eligibility requirements, personnel offices must coordinate with operations to determine if the employee’s position is excess to the mission of the Postal Service or can be used as a reassignment opportunity for those employees who are excessed to the mission of the Postal Service.

                Once a determination has been made by operations that the employee’s position meets one of the conditions specified above, the employee’s retirement effective date must be determined (i.e., October 31, 2003, January 31, 2004, or February 29, 2004).

B.     Responding to Employee SOI Requests

Personnel offices must advise employees, in writing, concerning the status of their SOI requests.

1.           VER Eligible Employees

        Once the retirement effective date (based on operational needs) has been determined, a VER offer/approval package should be prepared and mailed to eligible employees no sooner than Saturday, September 27, 2003.   The VER offer/approval package includes:

·         VER Offer/Approval Letter (Attachment G)

·         Acknowledgement of Irrevocability of Voluntary Early Retirement Decision

·         Annuity Estimate (based on the retirement effective date identified by operations)

·         RTR Service History Worksheet

·         Retirement Application (SF 2801 for CSRS employees or SF 3107 for FERS employees)

        Certain sections of the VER offer/approval letter must be completed prior to mailing.  It should be reemphasized that only the retirement effective date identified by operations should be included in the VER offer letter.

        2.           Ineligible Employees

Employees who do not meet the eligibility requirements in Section IIA or who have been identified as Category 3 employees, see Section V.A, must be notified using Attachment I, VER Disapproval Letter.  The appropriate box indicating the reason(s) for their ineligibility must be annotated prior to mailing.

C.     Group Retirement Counseling Sessions

Because of the potential interest in the VER offer, personnel offices must conduct a series of group retirement counseling sessions during the VER window period.  Eligible employees who are provided a VER offer/approval letter, regardless of the retirement effective date, should be notified of scheduled sessions at the time they are given their offer letter.  Employees should be encouraged to review the information provided in their SOI package prior to attending the counseling sessions and to bring their annuity estimates and RTR service history worksheets with them when attending the sessions.  These sessions should be structured along the lines of that provided in EL-502, CSRS Retirement Guide, and include information  for FERS employees, including the reduction and postponement options for MRA+10, FERS annuity supplement, etc.

                During these sessions, it should be emphasized that Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) employees who retire under this VER offer will have their annuities reduced by two percent (2%) for each year (or one-sixth of one percent for each full month) they are under the age of 55.  This reduction also applies to the frozen CSRS component for those employees who transferred to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).  There is no reduction to the FERS portion of the annuity for those who transferred, or to a FERS annuity without a frozen CSRS component, regardless of the employee’s age.

                        At a minimum, personnel offices should cover the eligibility requirements for the VER offer, creditable service including civilian and military service, reduction for early retirement, Social Security benefits including the impact of the Windfall Elimination and Public Pension Offset provisions, and the impact of Social Security benefits on CSRS Offset employees, health and life insurance, thrift savings plan, and the process for submitting retirement applications under the VER.              

                D.     Processing Retirement Applications

                        Upon receipt of a completed retirement application (SF 2801 for CSRS employees or SF 3107 for FERS employees) and the Acknowledgement of Irrevocability of Voluntary Early Retirement Decision (Attachment H), personnel offices should follow the instructions and processing steps outlined in SOP 42, Counseling for and Processing an Optional Retirement (NOA 302).  Since the employee’s eligibility has already been determined through the RTR system, personnel offices should begin with item 6 of SOP 42.  Keep in mind that certain materials and information may have already been provided to and/or received from the eligible employee, and that the employee’s retirement effective data has been predetermined.                               

E.     Processing Personnel Actions

 1.           Nature of Action (NOA) Code

Personnel offices must use NOA 303 – Retirement –Special Option, when processing personnel actions for employees who elect to take advantage of this VER offer.  Reminder, retirements for all excluded employees, see Section II.C, should not be processed using NOA 303.

 2.           Form 50 Remarks

The remarks to be included on the Form 50 when processing a NOA 303 under this VER offer will be provided under separate cover.
 

IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE FOR APWU VER 

Statement of Interest for Voluntary Early Retirement

If you occupy a position covered by the National Agreement between the U. S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, meet the eligibility requirements below and wish to indicate your interest in considering voluntary early retirement (VER), you should complete and return this form no later than the close of business August 5, 2003, in the enclosed self-addressed envelope to:

VER Statement of Interest

Selection Evaluation Recognition

475 L’Enfant Plaza, Room 9671

Washington DC 20260-4250

 I understand this statement of interest:

     ·           Is not a commitment to file for VER.

·         Is not an application for VER.

·         Will result in my personnel office validating my age and service for VER eligibility. 

·        Will generate a VER offer letter if I meet the eligibility requirements.  This offer will include an annuity estimate, a service history report, the Acknowledgement of Irrevocability form, and an application for VER.

 I believe I meet the following eligibility requirements for VER: 

• I am or will be age 50 or older as of November 1, 2003 with at least 20 years of creditable service as of October 31, 2003.  Note: Total service must include at least five years of creditable civilian career and non-career service.  Military service is also creditable once the five-year requirement has been met.

or 

• I have or will have at least 25 years of creditable service as of October 31, 2003.  Note: Total service must include at least five years creditable civilian career and non-career service.  Military service is also creditable once the five-year requirement has been met.

I am interested in VER and would like my eligibility to be validated.  I understand that this VER opportunity does not include any incentive payments (“buyout”).

Employee SSN:  _________________________

Employee Name:  ________________________

Signature:  _________________________

Date:  ___________________