Federal employees who have ever had the following types of service at any point in their careers need to take action:
- temporary service (where you were not contributing to the CSRS or FERS retirement system),
- refunded service (you received a refund of previously contributed funds to the CSRS or FERS retirement system upon leaving federal service, and then returned to federal service), or
- military service (active service is creditable for CSRS and FERS, but a deposit is required).
The Certified Summary of Federal Service will line-item each piece of federal service that you have ever served, and alert you if any action needs to be taken (like a required deposit or payment).
This 2-page form is embedded in the larger retirement applications for the respective systems, but can be submitted as a standalone document at any point in an employee’s career:
- SF-2801-1 Certified Summary of Federal Service (CSRS) – pages 17-18
- SF-3107-1 Certified Summary of Federal Service (FERS) – pages 9-10
The earlier you discover that a piece of service needs your attention (read, “you owe something), the more time you have to take action!
