CBPO SPECIAL RETIREMENT COVERAGE ABUSE

Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) have moderately different retirement benefits than most other feds.  It is because they are considered law enforcement personnel. Not long ago their HR office informed an employee, Stacey, that she was not eligible to receive CBPO enhanced Special Retirement Coverage (SRC), contrary to what it had previously indicated when she entered on duty in 2010. HR said it was because her duties as a CBPO were considered “secondary” and therefore not eligible.

The employee filed an MSPB appeal and the Board reversed the agency making Stacey once again eligible for the extra retirement money. What the Board said is important for all CBPO’s. To begin, it rejected HR’s idea that a CBPO must perform certain identified duties at least 50% of her work time to be eligible. It wrote,

…that, statutorily, to be entitled to CBPO SRC, an employee must hold a position in the GS-1895 series and the position’s duties must “include activities relating to the arrival and departure of persons, conveyances, and merchandise at ports of entry.” See 5 U.S.C. § 8401(36) (emphasis added). The Board further explained that it is undisputed the appellant holds a GS-1895 position and that her work includes intelligence analysis, examination, and law enforcement activities relating to arrivals and departures of persons, conveyances, and merchandise at ports of entry, including at least occasional inspectional work.

The Board went on to state that there is no requirement that a CBPO spend a certain percentage of their time doing anything.  Rather all that the law requires is that the officer, “perform duties directly connected with activities relating to arrival and departures of persons, conveyances, and merchandise at ports of entry.”

This is a win for all CBPO’s, especially in these times of political vengeance against feds. for details, check out Stacey Logan v. Homeland Security.