{"id":26029,"date":"2023-09-07T18:09:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/07\/federal-retirement-processing-picks-back-up-in-august\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:10:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:10:50","slug":"federal-retirement-processing-picks-back-up-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2023\/09\/07\/federal-retirement-processing-picks-back-up-in-august\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal retirement processing picks back up in August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Office of Personnel Management received a small surge of retirement claims in July and August after applications had been falling steadily for months<\/a> since January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time it took the government to process retirements increased sharply in July to 85 days before falling back down to 74 days in August, according to data kept by OPM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the agency is sitting on an inventory of nearly 18,000 cases after it reduced its working caseload to new lows this year. About this time last year, there were 29,000 pending cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, despite efforts to dispatch focus teams to address backlogs, the agency is failing to hit its target time or inventory goals, leaving retirees to wonder whether their case will be one that ends up sitting in limbo for longer. Ideally, retirement applications are processed in 60 days or fewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t