RETIRE 20-01, Updated Guidelines for Submitting Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act (FERCCA) Cases
Published: April 13, 2020
Effective: Pay Period 06, 2020
Summary
This bulletin provides updated guidance for the submission of Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act (FERCCA) cases to the National Finance Center (NFC).
Implementation
FERCCA provides relief for employees, former employees, annuitants, and their survivors with a retirement coverage error that existed after December 31, 1986. FERCCA cases should be handled in a manner very similar to routine retirement coverage code changes.
Payroll Processing Branch (PaPB)/FERCCA Group
The NFC PaPB is the starting point for processing all FERCCA cases, and the conduit through which other areas at NFC receive the necessary documentation. The requirements of all NFC areas involved in processing a FERCCA case must be included in the package submitted to PaPB. As of March 27, 2020, all FERCCA packages should be submitted via the ServiceNow self-service portal at for federated users or for non-federated users using Assignment group GESD_POD_PAPB_FERCCA. FERCCA cases will be logged into the Web-based Special Payroll Processing System (SPPS Web) within 3 business days of receiving the ServiceNow request. The PaPB FERCCA group will process the manual pay transaction and, upon completion, will forward the necessary documents to the respective areas of NFC as appropriate.
Each case will be reviewed by the PaPB FERCCA group for inclusion of all supporting documentation. Agency contacts shown on Form AD-343, Payroll Action Request, will be immediately notified if it has been determined that additional information or clarification is needed. If a response is not received from the Agency contact within 30 business days, the entire package will be returned to the Agency, and will need to be resubmitted in its entirety along with the missing documentation.
All FERCCA inquiries should be submitted via the ServiceNow self-service portal at for federated users or for non-federated users using Assignment group GESD_POD_PAPB_FERCCA. The FERCCA group will coordinate all activities related to FERCCA cases within NFC, as well as acknowledge receipt of all inquiries within 3 business days.
Agencies should continue submitting non-FERCCA related payroll requests through SPPS Web. These requests include settlement cases, retirement code corrections, within-range increases (WRI), etc.
A sample of a retirement system adjustment worksheet for prior-to-conversion deductions is included at the end of this bulletin.
History Corrections
Agencies will determine an employee’s FERCCA eligibility, submit current tax/retirement year corrections to the database via EmpowHR; the Web-based Entry, Processing, Inquiry, and Correction System (EPIC Web); or the appropriate Agency Front-End System Interface (FESI), and submit the request package in duplicate to the PaPB FERCCA group for manual processing. Agencies must verify actions submitted through the History Correction System before forwarding FERCCA cases to NFC. Agencies are also responsible for following up on cases and should respond to any requests for additional information. Agencies should not submit FERCCA documentation with an employee’s retirement package. See Submission of the FERCCA Package below for more information.
Submission of the FERCCA Package
Agencies should prepare an AD-343 with the applicable documentation. The request should include the entire timeframe requiring correction, including any pay period covered by a history correction package for active employees.
Form AD-343, Payroll Action Request
The AD-343 (and supporting documentation) should be submitted via the ServiceNow self-service portal at for federated users or for non-federated users using Assignment group GESD_POD_PAPB_FERCCA.
To ensure accurate processing:
- Block 13 must include the following:
- The statement “This is a FERCCA case.”
- Employee status indicated as active/separated/retired.
- The following adjustment information:
- The inclusive dates of each adjustment period. If more than one retirement code change is involved, specify inclusive dates for each change.
- The retirement plan information for each adjustment period. Include the employee’s previous/erroneous retirement plan and the employee’s corrected/elected retirement plan.
- Block 15 must include the accounting code(s) to be charged. NFC is unable to provide estimates for the overall budgetary costs of a FERCCA case to Agencies due to the varying adjustments across years. Please contact your internal budget section to discuss any accounting issues prior to submitting the request to NFC for manual adjustment. Failure to submit accounting information or provide the accounting information upon request from NFC renders the FERCCA package incomplete and could cause the case to be returned to the Agencies.
- Block 19 must be signed by an authorized person as indicated on the Table Management System (TMGT) Table 063, Department/Agency/Bureau, Contact Type 07. The AD-343 must also include the current email address of the designated point of contact. All AD-343s signed by someone not authorized will be returned.
Thrift Savings Plan Information
For FERCCA cases involving a correction from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), include the following:
- A statement indicating that the employee is CSRS and requesting removal of Agency contributions and residual earnings. (For example, the retirement code has been corrected from FERS to CSRS for Jane Doe 123-45-6789. Please remove Agency contributions and residual earnings from the employee’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account.)
- A statement indicating whether the employee elects to leave the contributions in the TSP account or requests a refund.
For FERCCA cases involving a correction from CSRS or CSRS Offset to FERS, include the following:
- The date that the employee converted to FERS.
- The date the employee would have been eligible to contribute to TSP and receive Agency contributions.
- If the employee was not paid by NFC at the time of the action, the base pay for each pay period.
- If the employee would like to make up employee contributions, the TSP percentages for each year the employee would like to contribute. Make-up contributions must be made through payroll deductions only.
For FERCCA cases involving a correction from CSRS or FERS to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), include the following:
- A statement indicating that the employee is FICA, and whether the employee elects to leave contributions in the TSP account or requests a refund.
- A request for NFC to remove Agency contributions and residual earnings.
Attachments
To complete the FERCCA package, the following documents must be password protected and attached to the ServiceNow request:
- The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) letter of the FERCCA eligibility.
- Pre-NFC conversion documentation or Payroll Provider other than NFC, if applicable
- Standard Form (SF) 2806, Individual Retirement Record/SF 3100, Individual Retirement Record (Federal Employees' Retirement System). If the form cannot be located, attach a copy of the applicable SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action(s), or corrected SF 50.
- Documentation of the employee’s income (including all available prior-to-conversion salary information, including Wage and Tax Statement and spreadsheets, broken out by tax year, summarizing salary data).
Resources
For more detailed information on FERCCA eligibility or other specific FERCCA related issues, refer to the OPM Web site.
Inquiries
For questions about NFC processing, authorized Servicing Personnel Office representatives should contact the NFC Contact Center at 1-855-NFC-4GOV (1-855-632-4468) or via the ServiceNow self-service portal at for federated users or for non-federated users.
Below is an example of a retirement system adjustment worksheet for prior-to-conversion deductions.
Below is an example of a blank and a completed supplement to Form AD-343.
