5 U.S.C. § 8401 : US Code - Section 8401: Definitions

Search 5 U.S.C. § 8401 : US Code - Section 8401: Definitions

For the purpose of this chapter - 
(1) the term "account" means an account established and
maintained under section 8439(a) of this title;
(2) the term "annuitant" means a former employee or Member who,
on the basis of that individual's service, meets all requirements
for title to an annuity under subchapter II or V of this chapter
and files claim therefor;
(3) the term "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 service or, in the
case of an annuity under this chapter based on service of less
than 3 years, over the total service, with each rate weighted by
the period it was in effect;
(4) the term "basic pay" has the meaning given such term by
section 8331(3);
(5) the term "Board" means the Federal Retirement Thrift
Investment Board established by section 8472(a) of this title;
(6) the term "Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund" or
"Fund" means the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund
under section 8348;
(7) the term "court" means any court of any State, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and any Indian court;
(8) the term "Director" means the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management;
(9) the term "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;
(10) the term "earnings", when used with respect to the Thrift
Savings Fund, means the amount of the gain realized or yield
received from the investment of sums in such Fund;
(11) the term "employee" means - 
(A) an individual referred to in subparagraph (A), (E), (F),
(H), (I), (J), or (K) of section 8331(1) of this title;
(B) a Congressional employee as defined in section 2107 of
this title, including a temporary Congressional employee and an
employee of the Congressional Budget Office; and
(C) an employee described in section 2105(c) who has made an
election under section 8461(n)(1) to remain covered under this
chapter;
whose civilian service after December 31, 1983, is employment for
the purposes of title II of the Social Security Act and chapter
21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except that such term
does not include - 
(i) any individual referred to in - 
(I) clause (i), (vi), or (ix) of paragraph (1) of section
8331;
(II) clause (ii) of such paragraph; or
(III) the undesignated material after the last clause of
such paragraph;
(ii) any individual excluded under section 8402(c) of this
title;
(iii) a member of the Foreign Service described in section
103(6) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980; or
(iv) an employee who has made an election under section
8461(n)(2) to remain covered by a retirement system established
for employees described in section 2105(c);
(12) the term "former spouse" means a former spouse of an
individual - 
(A) if such individual performed at least 18 months of
civilian service creditable under section 8411 as an employee
or Member; and
(B) if the former spouse was married to such individual for
at least 9 months;
(13) the term "Executive Director" means the Executive Director
appointed under section 8474(a);
(14) the term "firefighter" means - 
(A) an employee, the duties of whose position - 
(i) are primarily to perform work directly connected with
the control and extinguishment of fires; and
(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that employment
opportunities should be limited to young and physically
vigorous individuals, as determined by the Director
considering the recommendations of the employing agency; and
(B) an employee who is transferred directly to a supervisory
or administrative position after performing duties described in
subparagraph (A) for at least 3 years;
(15) the term "Government" means the Federal Government,
Gallaudet College, and, in the case of an employee described in
paragraph (11)(C), a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the
Department of Defense or the Coast Guard described in section
2105(c);
(16) the term "Indian court" has the meaning given such term by
section 8331(24);
(17) the term "law enforcement officer" means - 
(A) an employee, the duties of whose position - 
(i) are primarily - 
(I) the investigation, apprehension, or detention of
individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the
criminal laws of the United States, or
(II) the protection of officials of the United States
against threats to personal safety; and
(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that employment
opportunities should be limited to young and physically
vigorous individuals, as determined by the Director
considering the recommendations of the employing agency;
(B) an employee of the Department of the Interior or the
Department of the Treasury (excluding any employee under
subparagraph (A)) who occupies a position that, but for the
enactment of the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of
1986, would be subject to the District of Columbia Police and
Firefighters' Retirement System, as determined by the Secretary
of the Interior or the Secretary of the Treasury, as
appropriate;
(C) an employee who is transferred directly to a supervisory
or administrative position after performing duties described in
subparagraph (A) and (B) for at least 3 years; and
(D) an employee - 
(i) of the Bureau of Prisons or Federal Prison Industries,
Incorporated;
(ii) of the Public Health Service assigned to the field
service of the Bureau of Prisons or of the Federal Prison
Industries, Incorporated; or
(iii) in the field service at Army or Navy disciplinary
barracks or at any other confinement and rehabilitation
facility operated by any of the armed forces;
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 Uniform Code of Military
Justice (chapter 47 of title 10) require frequent direct
contact with these individuals in their detention and are
sufficiently rigorous that employment opportunities should be
limited to young and physically vigorous individuals, as
determined by the head of the employing agency;
(18) the term "loss", as used with respect to the Thrift
Savings Fund, includes the amount of any loss resulting from the
investment of sums in such Fund, or from the breach of any
responsibility, duty, or obligation under section 8477.(!1)
(19) the term "lump-sum credit" means the unrefunded amount
consisting of - 
(A) retirement deductions made from the basic pay of an
employee or Member under section 8422(a) of this title (or
under section 204 of the Federal Employees' Retirement
Contribution Temporary Adjustment Act of 1983);
(B) amounts deposited by an employee or Member under section
8422(e);
(C) amounts deposited by an employee, Member, or survivor
under section 8411(f); and
(D) interest on the deductions and deposits which, for any
calendar year, shall be equal to the overall average yield to
the Fund during the preceding fiscal year from all obligations
purchased by the Secretary of the Treasury during such fiscal
year under section 8348(c), (d), and (e), as determined by the
Secretary (compounded annually);
but does not include interest - 
(i) if the service covered thereby aggregates 1 year or less;
or
(ii) for a fractional part of a month in the total service;
(20) the term "Member" has the same meaning as provided in
section 2106, except that such term does not include an
individual who irrevocably elects, by written notice to the
official by whom such individual is paid, not to participate in
the Federal Employees' Retirement System, and who (in the case of
an individual who is a Member of the House of Representatives,
including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress)
serves as a Member prior to the date of the enactment of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2004;
(21) the term "net earnings" means the excess of earnings over
losses;
(22) the term "net losses" means the excess of losses over
earnings;
(23) the term "normal-cost percentage" means the entry-age
normal cost of the provisions of the System which relate to the
Fund, computed by the Office in accordance with generally
accepted actuarial practice and standards (using dynamic
assumptions) and expressed as a level percentage of aggregate
basic pay;
(24) the term "Office" means the Office of Personnel
Management;
(25) the term "price index" has the same meaning as provided in
section 8331(15);
(26) the term "service" means service which is creditable under
section 8411;
(27) the term "supplemental liability" means the estimated
excess of - 
(A) the actuarial present value of all future benefits
payable from the Fund under this chapter based on the service
of current or former employees or Members, over
(B) the sum of - 
(i) the actuarial present value of deductions to be
withheld from the future basic pay of employees and Members
currently subject to this chapter pursuant to section 8422;
(ii) the actuarial present value of the future
contributions to be made pursuant to section 8423(a) with
respect to employees and Members currently subject to this
chapter;
(iii) the Fund balance as of the date the supplemental
liability is determined, to the extent that such balance is
attributable - 
(I) to the System, or
(II) to contributions made under the Federal Employees'
Retirement Contribution Temporary Adjustment Act of 1983 by
or on behalf of an individual who became subject to the
System; and
(iv) any other appropriate amount, as determined by the
Office in accordance with generally accepted actuarial
practices and principles;
(28) the term "survivor" means an individual entitled to an
annuity under subchapter IV of this chapter;
(29) the term "System" means the Federal Employees' Retirement
System described in section 8402(a);
(30) the term "military technician (dual status)" means an
employee described in section 10216 of title 10;
(31) the term "military service" means honorable active service
- 
(A) in the armed forces;
(B) in the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service
after June 30, 1960; or
(C) in the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, or a predecessor entity in
function, 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;
(32) the term "nonforfeitable account balance" means any
amounts in an account, established and maintained under
subchapter III, which are nonforfeitable (as determined under
section 8432(g));
(33) "Nuclear materials courier" has the meaning given that
term in section 8331(27);
(34) the term "Government physician" has the meaning given such
term under section 5948; and
(35) 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).