The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

I n my latest post-Foreign Service incarnation as a retirement specialist, I have learned a fair amount about working as a WAE (“When Actually Employed”) and I would like to pass on some practical advice to others. The following pointers are based on my personal experience, so will be most relevant to retired FS officers who want to work in Washington. Where do I sign up? Despite creation of the WAE Global Registry in the Office of Retirement, the individual geographic and functional bureaus still maintain the rosters and therefore determine which annuitants will be hired as WAEs. There is no central place where vacancies are listed and competed, so you are dependent on your personal network of contacts to keep you informed. Practices vary from bureau to bureau, but you should be prepared to provide the Executive Office of your home bureau with your resum é , med- ical clearance, security clearance, financial disclosure statement and your most recent personnel action. (As you go through the retirement process, be sure to inform the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Office of Medical Services that you intend to continue working so they can anno- tate your records.) Your employment must be cleared by the Legal Adviser’s Office and approved by the bureau’s front office. You may be able to work in other bureaus through a transfer of labor agreement if your home bureau does not object. However, some bureaus do not condone this practice because of concerns over possible conflicts of interest. Once you have been approved, a process that can take sev- eral weeks, you must be sworn in as a civil servant. How much will I earn? Your terms of employment will spec- ify the rate at which you will be paid. After pursuing promotions year after year throughout their careers, some annuitants are dis- appointed to learn that they will be rehired at a lower grade level than when they retired. Again, the practice varies from bureau to bureau, but generally, if you retired as an FS-1, you may be hired as a GS-13; if you retired as a senior officer you could be hired at either the GS-14 or -15 level. At least one State Department office hires annuitants at the GS-18 level. Your base salary rate is lower, but your net earnings may actually be higher than they were before you retired because there are fewer deductions, notably none for retirement or TSP contributions. The cost of your health and life insurance cov- erage is deducted from your annuity payment. You will have income tax withheld from your earnings as well as contribu- tions to Social Security and Medicare. While we are speaking of your benefits and deductions, you should be aware that you do not earn annual or sick leave when working on a WAE basis. (You’re retired, remember?) You are paid “when actually employed” which, to the consternation of many retirees, means that, except in extraordinary circum- stances, you will not be paid for travel time if you are assigned abroad. If you live outside of Washington, you will not be paid to travel here for WAE employ- ment. You are eligible for danger pay, however, and that does not count against your salary-plus-annuity cap. What are the limits on WAE employ- ment? When working on a WAE basis, you must abide by certain limits on the amount you can earn and the number of hours (1,040 per appointment year) that you can work. The basic principle is that the combined total of your WAE earnings plus your annuity per calendar year cannot exceed the amount of your salary when you retired — a figure that is not adjusted for inflation. (However, your WAE salary and your annuity do both rise due to cost-of-living adjustments, which reduces the gap between that total and your salary upon retire- ment.) If you go over that amount, your annuity may be sus- pended. To confuse matters further, the limit on your salary plus annuity is computed on a calendar-year basis and the limit on the number of hours you can work is calculated according to your appointment year. Your appointment year starts the day you are sworn in as a civil servant and runs 12 months. However, the good news is that annuitants can request an audit of their earnings from the Retirement Accounts Division, to find out exactly how much they can earn without exceeding the limit. Just send your request via e-mail to RAD2@state.gov. What happens if I exceed the limit? Will I lose my pension? F O C U S 26 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 Practical Advice for Managing WAE Positions By Carolee Heileman Carolee Heileman retired in 2004 after a 35-year career in the Foreign Service. Her assignments in Rome, Barcelona and Paris were the envy of many of her colleagues, but she says her tours in Bamako, Ankara, Bogota, and even in Washington, were just as interesting and often more exciting. She currently works as a WAE employee in the Office of Retirement (HR/RET) develop- ing online sources of information on retirement issues. The combined total of your WAE earnings plus your annuity per calendar year cannot exceed the amount of your salary when you retired.