Ask Reg: Does intermittent employment count toward my retirement?

The following is a question submitted by a reader to Federal Times columnist Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service and the resident expert on federal employee retirement issues.

A Fed Times reader asks:

“I worked full time for the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2004 to 2012. I then resigned to work in the private sector. I was reinstated five months later as an intermittent employee from 2012 to 2019. I then was rehired back full time in 2019 to present. During my intermittent years, my SF50 still had FERS and FICA in box 30, and they were still deducting retirement from my paycheck.

Will the time while I was intermittent be counted toward my years of service for retirement? Or did I lose these seven years?”

Federal Times columnist Reg Jones, photographed at his home in Hamilton, Va., on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. (Mike Morones/Staff)

Reg’s response:

Because retirement deductions were taken from your pay while an intermittent employee, that time will count toward your total years when you retire.

Ask Reg: I canceled my FEHB plan. Why am I still paying deductions?

In a waiting game? Here's what to do.

By Reg Jones and Federal Times staff

Got a question for the Federal Times expert? Send inquiries to: fedexperts@federaltimes.com

About Reg Jones

Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service, is our resident expert on retirement and the federal government. From 1979 to '95, he served as an assistant director of the Office of Personnel Management handling recruiting and examining, white and blue collar pay, retirement, insurance and other issues. Opinions expressed are his own.