{"id":27745,"date":"2023-11-03T14:20:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T14:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/03\/why-is-so-hard-to-get-a-phased-federal-retirement-approved\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:15:29","slug":"why-is-so-hard-to-get-a-phased-federal-retirement-approved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/your-career\/2023\/11\/03\/why-is-so-hard-to-get-a-phased-federal-retirement-approved\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is so hard to get a phased federal retirement approved?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cOur HR folks sent out an email to all employees with an overview about phased retirement. The actual process of applying is daunting: 5 or 6 different forms going to different places and agencies. First your supervisor has to agree and write a justification, then it gets sent to next-level management, which also has to sign off. Then it goes to a panel that consists of an SES\/a lawyer\/two other panel members. That being said it is a bit much to apply. However, my real issue is only 2 employees in all of my department have been accepted into the program. Really?? It\u2019s like they really don\u2019t want employees to pursue the benefit at all. Why offer it, if you are not going to approve people to use it? I would have loved to work part time 20 hours a week for a year to ease into retirement.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reg\u2019s Response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sorry that you\u2019ve had such a hard time. While phased retirement is an option provided by law, it\u2019s up to each agency (and within an agency to its sub-units) to decide if granting such a request is in their interest. Unfortunately, that authority has been of more interest to employees than it has been to managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\t