This information is written for former Forest Service employees
who want to get firefighter/law enforcement (ff/le) retirement coverage for past Forest Service
positions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROVING YOUR PAST POSITION DESCRIPTIONS WERE
COVERED:
However, we don't live in a perfect world.
So, your OPF may not have included an SWE, or it may have an SWE that was
incomplete. If you
believe that your past positions descriptions could to be matched to a
covered position, you may request your former personnel office (or Helga Brown
in the WO) to send you a letter regarding coverage of those positions. There
is no timeliness issue in these cases.
Include in your request the following:
What do you do if your old PDs are not in your OPF and you did not keep copies?
If you are really lucky, your SF-50s will show that you were in a
standard
position description (not one written uniquely just for you) and if your luck
continues, I will have a copy of the standard PD. (The Forest Service uses more
"unique" PDs than "standard" PDs.) If I happen to have a copy
of your standard PD, then I can see if it can be matched to an already approved
position.
If you were in a unique PD (not a standard one) and you cannot send me a copy
of your PD, then we have nothing on which
to base
a ruling. In those cases, you will
have to submit a claim for an individual ruling for the
times in question.
This individual ruling is necessary when
If you want to request an individual ruling for law enforcement or
firefighter
coverage of past service you must submit your claim in
writing to Helga Brown,
HRM; USDA Forest Service; 1601 N Kent Street, Rm 600 RPC, Arlington, VA 22209.p>
Be sure to include in your request which positions need a coverage determination.
Prior to October 1989, there was no regulation on timeliness. During
1989 the Forest Service Washington Office sent many letters to all Forest Service
employees warning them that they only had until September 30,
1989 to
submit their past service claim to their servicing personnel
office.
If you did not get your request in before the 9/30/89
deadline, you need to
explain why your claim should be accepted late.
If you did get your request in
by the deadline, submit proof of your timely request.
EVIDENCE:
Include the following in your request:
In a perfect world, your former Forest Service personnel office would have
made sure that if any of your past time was in covered positions that an
up-to-date Summary of Work Experience (SWE) was included in your Official Personnel
Folder (OPF) when they mailed it to your new agency. An SWE shows which of
your past positions had been matched to a covered law enforcement/firefighter
position.
INDIVIDUAL RULINGS:
Former
employees may request an individual ruling to see if
their former work with
the Forest Service can be creditable under the special
retirement provisions for law
enforcement officers and firefighters.
This individual service credit
determination affects only the individual making the request.
It does not constitute a retroactive position
determination that would
convey coverage to all eligible persons holding the
same position of
record. For example Felzien,
Perske, and Pate were individual rulings.
If you haven't already read the information on important items
to keep in mind when deciding to pursue this claim, please do it now.
There are two important subjects to cover when submitting your
request for an individual ruling:
Current OPM regulations say that for service under CSRS,
only the 12 months prior to
receipt of the claim can be approved,
unless the employee can show that
circumstances beyond his or her
control prevented making the claim earlier.
For service after 1986 to
be credited under FERS, the employee has only 6
months after entering
a noncovered position to request that it be covered,
unless the
employee can show that he or she did not know the position was not
covered, or was prevented by circumstances beyond his/her control from
filing a claim earlier.
Your written request should list the dates for which you are claiming
past coverage.