5 U.S.C. § 8331 : US Code - Section 8331: Definitions

Search 5 U.S.C. § 8331 : US Code - Section 8331: Definitions

For the purpose of this subchapter - 
(1) "employee" means - 
(A) an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title;
(B) the Architect of the Capitol, an employee of the
Architect of the Capitol, and an employee of the Botanic
Garden;
(C) a Congressional employee as defined by section 2107 of
this title (other than the Architect of the Capitol, an
employee of the Architect of the Capitol, and an employee of
the Botanic Garden), after he gives notice in writing to the
official by whom he is paid of his desire to become subject to
this subchapter;
(D) a temporary Congressional employee appointed at an annual
rate of pay, after he gives notice in writing to the official
by whom he is paid of his desire to become subject to this
subchapter;
(E) a United States Commissioner whose total pay for services
performed as Commissioner is not less than $3,000 in each of
the last 3 consecutive calendar years ending after December 31,
1954;
(F) an individual employed by a county committee established
under section 590h(b) of title 16;
(G) an individual first employed by the government of the
District of Columbia before October 1, 1987;
(H) an individual employed by Gallaudet College;
(I) an individual appointed to a position on the office staff
of a former President under section 1(b) of the Act of August
25, 1958 (72 Stat. 838);
(J) an alien (i) who was previously employed by the
Government, (ii) who is employed full time by a foreign
government for the purpose of protecting or furthering the
interests of the United States during an interruption of
diplomatic or consular relations, and (iii) for whose services
reimbursement is made to the foreign government by the United
States;
(K) an individual appointed to a position on the office staff
of a former President, or a former Vice President under section
4 of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended (78
Stat. 153), who immediately before the date of such appointment
was an employee as defined under any other subparagraph of this
paragraph; and
(L) an employee described in section 2105(c) who has made an
election under section 8347(q)(1) to remain covered under this
subchapter;
but does not include - 
(i) a justice or judge of the United States as defined by
section 451 of title 28;
(ii) an employee subject to another retirement system for
Government employees (besides any employee excluded by clause
(x), but including any employee who has made an election under
section 8347(q)(2) to remain covered by a retirement system
established for employees described in section 2105(c));
(iii) an employee or group of employees in or under an
Executive agency excluded by the Office of Personnel Management
under section 8347(g) of this title;
(iv) an individual or group of individuals employed by the
government of the District of Columbia excluded by the Office
under section 8347(h) of this title;
(v) an employee of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, or a court named by
section 610 of title 28, excluded by the Director of the
Administrative Office under section 8347(o) of this title;
(vi) a construction employee or other temporary, part-time,
or intermittent employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority;
(vii) an employee under the Office of the Architect of the
Capitol excluded by the Architect of the Capitol under section
8347(i) of this title;
(viii) an employee under the Library of Congress excluded by
the Librarian of Congress under section 8347(j) of this title;
(ix) a student-employee as defined by section 5351 of this
title;
(x) an employee subject to the Federal Employees' Retirement
System;
(xi) an employee under the Botanic Garden excluded by the
Director or Acting Director of the Botanic Garden under section
8347(l) of this title; or
(xii) a member of the Foreign Service (as described in
section 103(6) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980), appointed
after December 31, 1987.
Notwithstanding this paragraph, the employment of a teacher in
the recess period between two school years in a position other
than a teaching position in which he served immediately before
the recess period does not qualify the individual as an employee
for the purpose of this subchapter. For the purpose of the
preceding sentence, "teacher" and "teaching position" have the
meanings given them by section 901 of title 20;
(2) "Member" means a Member of Congress as defined by section
2106 of this title, after he gives notice in writing to the
official by whom he is paid of his desire to become subject to
this subchapter, but does not include any such Member of Congress
who is subject to the Federal Employees' Retirement System or who
makes an election under section 8401(20) of this title not to be
subject to such System;
(3) "basic pay" includes - 
(A) the amount a Member received from April 1, 1954, to
February 28, 1955, as expense allowance under section 601(b) of
the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 850), as
amended; and that amount from January 3, 1953, to March 31,
1954, if deposit is made therefor as provided by section 8334
of this title;
(B) additional pay provided by - 
(i) subsection (a) of section 60e-7 of title 2 and the
provisions of law referred to by that subsection; and
(ii) sections 60e-8, 60e-9, 60e-10, 60e-11, 60e-12, 60e-13,
and 60e-14 of title 2;
(C) premium pay under section 5545(c)(1) of this title;
(D) with respect to a law enforcement officer, premium pay
under section 5545(c)(2) of this title;
(E) availability pay - 
(i) received by a criminal investigator under section 5545a
of this title; or
(ii) received after September 11, 2001, by a Federal air
marshal of the Department of Transportation, subject to all
restrictions and earning limitations imposed on criminal
investigators under section 5545a;
(F) pay as provided in section 5545b(b)(2) and (c)(2);
(G) with respect to a customs officer (referred to in
subsection (e)(1) of section 5 of the Act of February 13,
1911), compensation for overtime inspectional services provided
for under subsection (a) of such section 5, but not to exceed
50 percent of any statutory maximum in overtime pay for customs
officers which is in effect for the year involved; and
(H) any amount received under section 5948 (relating to
physicians comparability allowances);
but does not include bonuses, allowances, overtime pay, military
pay, pay given in addition to the base pay of the position as
fixed by law or regulation except as provided by subparagraphs
(B) through (H) of this paragraph (!1) retroactive pay under
section 5344 of this title in the case of a retired or deceased
employee, uniform allowances under section 5901 of this title, or
lump-sum leave payments under subchapter VI of chapter 55 of this
title. For an employee paid on a fee basis, the maximum amount of
basic pay which may be used is $10,000;
(4) "average pay" means the largest annual rate resulting from
averaging an employee's or Member's rates of basic pay in effect
over any 3 consecutive years of creditable service or, in the
case of an annuity under subsection (d) or (e)(1) of section 8341
of this title based on service of less than 3 years, over the
total service, with each rate weighted by the time it was in
effect;
(5) "Fund" means the Civil Service Retirement and Disability
Fund;
[(6) Repealed. Pub. L. 96-499, title IV, Sec. 403(b), Dec. 5,
1980, 94 Stat. 2606;]
(7) "Government" means the Government of the United States, the
government of the District of Columbia, Gallaudet University,
and, in the case of an employee described in paragraph (1)(L), a
nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense
or the Coast Guard described in section 2105(c);
(8) "lump-sum credit" means the unrefunded amount consisting of
- 
(A) retirement deductions made from the basic pay of an
employee or Member;
(B) amounts deposited by an employee or Member covering
earlier service, including any amounts deposited under section
8334(j) of this title; and
(C) interest on the deductions and deposits at 4 percent a
year to December 31, 1947, and 3 percent a year thereafter
compounded annually to December 31, 1956, or, in the case of an
employee or Member separated or transferred to a position in
which he does not continue subject to this subchapter before he
has completed 5 years of civilian service, to the date of the
separation or transfer;
but does not include interest - 
(i) if the service covered thereby aggregates 1 year or less;
or
(ii) for the fractional part of a month in the total service;
(9) "annuitant" means a former employee or Member who, on the
basis of his service, meets all requirements of this subchapter
for title to annuity and files claim therefor;
(10) "survivor" means an individual entitled to annuity under
this subchapter based on the service of a deceased employee,
Member, or annuitant;
(11) "survivor annuitant" means a survivor who files claim for
annuity;
(12) "service" means employment creditable under section 8332
of this title;
(13) "military service" means honorable active service - 
(A) in the armed forces;
(B) in the Regular or Reserve Corps of the Public Health
Service after June 30, 1960; or
(C) as a commissioned officer of the Environmental Science
Services Administration after June 30, 1961;
but does not include service in the National Guard except when
ordered to active duty in the service of the United States or
full-time National Guard duty (as such term is defined in section
101(d) of title 10) if such service interrupts creditable
civilian service under this subchapter and is followed by
reemployment in accordance with chapter 43 of title 38 that
occurs on or after August 1, 1990;
(14) "Member service" means service as a Member and includes
the period from the date of the beginning of the term for which
elected or appointed to the date on which he takes office as a
Member;
(15) "price index" means the Consumer Price Index (all items -
United States city average) published monthly by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics;
(16) "base month" means the month for which the price index
showed a percent rise forming the basis for a cost-of-living
annuity increase;
(17) "normal-cost percentage" means the entry-age normal cost
computed by the Office of Personnel Management in accordance with
generally accepted actuarial practice and standards (using
dynamic assumptions) and expressed as a level percentage of
aggregate basic pay;
(18) "Fund balance" means the current net assets of the Fund
available for payment of benefits, as determined by the Office in
accordance with appropriate accounting standards, but does not
include any amount attributable to - 
(A) the Federal Employees' Retirement System; or
(B) contributions made under the Federal Employees'
Retirement Contribution Temporary Adjustment Act of 1983 by or
on behalf of any individual who became subject to the Federal
Employees' Retirement System;
(19) "unfunded liability" means the estimated excess of the
present value of all benefits payable from the Fund to employees
and Members, and former employees and Members, subject to this
subchapter, and to their survivors, over the sum of - 
(A) the present value of deductions to be withheld from the
future basic pay of employees and Members currently subject to
this subchapter and of future agency contributions to be made
in their behalf; plus
(B) the present value of Government payments to the Fund
under section 8348(f) of this title; plus
(C) the Fund balance as of the date the unfunded liability is
determined;
(20) "law enforcement officer" means an employee, the duties of
whose position are primarily the investigation, apprehension, or
detention of individuals suspected or convicted of offenses
against the criminal laws of the United States, including an
employee engaged in this activity who is transferred to a
supervisory or administrative position. For the purpose of this
paragraph, "detention" includes the duties of - 
(A) employees of the Bureau of Prisons and Federal Prison
Industries, Incorporated;
(B) employees of the Public Health Service assigned to the
field service of the Bureau of Prisons or of the Federal Prison
Industries, Incorporated;
(C) employees in the field service at Army or Navy
disciplinary barracks or at confinement and rehabilitation
facilities operated by any of the armed forces; and
(D) employees of the Department of Corrections of the
District of Columbia, its industries and utilities;
whose duties in connection with individuals in detention
suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of
the United States or of the District of Columbia or offenses
against the punitive articles of the Uniformed Code of Military
Justice (chapter 47 of title 10) require frequent (as determined
by the appropriate administrative authority with the concurrence
of the Office) direct contact with these individuals in their
detention, direction, supervision, inspection, training,
employment, care, transportation, or rehabilitation;
(21) "firefighter" means an employee, the duties of whose
position are primarily to perform work directly connected with
the control and extinguishment of fires or the maintenance and
use of firefighting apparatus and equipment, including an
employee engaged in this activity who is transferred to a
supervisory or administrative position;
(22) "bankruptcy judge" means an individual - 
(A) who is appointed under section 34 of the Bankruptcy Act
(11 U.S.C. 62) or under section 404(d) of the Act of November
6, 1978 (Public Law 95-598; 92 Stat. 2549), and - 
(i) who is serving as a United States bankruptcy judge on
March 31, 1984; or
(ii) whose service as a United States bankruptcy judge at
any time in the period beginning on October 1, 1979, and
ending on July 10, 1984, is terminated by reason of death or
disability; or
(B) who is appointed as a bankruptcy judge under section 152
of title 28;
(23) "former spouse" means a former spouse of an individual - 
(A) if such individual performed at least 18 months of
civilian service covered under this subchapter as an employee
or Member, and
(B) if the former spouse was married to such individual for
at least 9 months;
(24) "Indian court" means an Indian court as defined by section
201(3) of the Act entitled "An Act to prescribe penalties for
certain acts of violence or intimidation, and for other
purposes", approved April 11, 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1301(3); 82 Stat.
77);
(25) "magistrate judge" or "United States magistrate judge"
means an individual appointed under section 631 of title 28;
(26) "Court of Federal Claims judge" means a judge of the
United States Court of Federal Claims who is appointed under
chapter 7 of title 28 or who has served under section 167 of the
Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982;
(27) "Nuclear materials courier" - 
(A) means an employee of the Department of Energy, the duties
of whose position are primarily to transport, and provide armed
escort and protection during transit of, nuclear weapons,
nuclear weapon components, strategic quantities of special
nuclear materials or other materials related to national
security; and
(B) includes an employee who is transferred directly to a
supervisory or administrative position within the same
Department of Energy organization, after performing duties
referred to in subparagraph (A) for at least 3 years;
(28) "Government physician" has the meaning given that term
under section 5948; and
(29) (!2) "dynamic assumptions" means economic assumptions that
are used in determining actuarial costs and liabilities of a
retirement system and in anticipating the effects of long-term
future - 
(A) investment yields;
(B) increases in rates of basic pay; and
(C) rates of price inflation.
(29) (!2) the term "air traffic controller" or "controller"
means - 
(A) a controller within the meaning of section 2109(1); and
(B) a civilian employee of the Department of Transportation
or the Department of Defense who is the immediate supervisor of
a person described in section 2109(1)(B).