Federal Firefighters Retirement Equity Act
Position:
Unlike other federal employees, federal firefighters receive retirement credit for only part of the pay they earn during their regular tour of duty. The Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act (H.R. 3186) would amend the flawed formula used to calculate federal firefighters’ retirement annuities so that it will be based on their full salary. NFFE-IAM strongly supports the Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act because federal firefighters deserve a fair retirement that is worthy of their service.
Background:
Under
current law, federal firefighters are the only
federal workers that receive partial retirement
credit for their regularly scheduled tour of
duty. Many federal firefighters are
required to work 19 hours of mandatory overtime
per week, or 38 hours per pay period, in
addition to their normally scheduled hours. The
result of this unique arrangement is that
federal firefighters receive only partial
credit for mandatory work hours in their
annuity calculations, effectively denying them
the pension credit they have earned.
For
example, a typical DoD firefighter works 106
hours of regular time and 38 hours of mandatory
overtime per pay period. At a pay rate of
$16.00 per hour, a firefighter’s salary at the
end of the pay period would be $2608.00.
However, only $2304.00 of that total is
credited toward his/her retirement annuity –
$304.00 less than what would be credited to any
other federal employee. Over a full career,
this really adds up.
To
correct this inequity, the Federal Firefighter
Pay Equity Act would end the unfair practice of
shortchanging federal firefighters’ retirement
by ensuring that the annuity formula is based
on the full value of pay compensation received
during their regular tour of
duty.
Why support the
Federal Firefighter Pay Equity
Act?
-
Federal firefighters have been unfairly shortchanged in their retirement benefits because of a flawed calculation method used to determine their pension.
-
Federal firefighters are required to work 38 hours of mandatory overtime per pay period, which are not fully reflected in their retirement annuity calculations.
-
H.R. 3186 would ensure that federal firefighters’ retirement pay fully reflect their service to this country.
-
Over 10,000 federal fighters serve our nation every day protecting our nation’s forests, defense installations, VA hospitals, and communities. They deserve a retirement plan that fully recognizes the extent of their service.