2022 COLA 5.9% for CSRS, Social Security Benefits; 4.9% for FERS
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ocial Security and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuity checks will increase by 5.9 percent in January, while Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuity checks will rise by 4.9 percent. This increase comes as a result of the 2022 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announced in October 2021. The COLA is calculated by comparing the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from year to year, based on the average of the third-quarter months of July, August and September. The September 2021 increase in the CPI-W was 6.19 percent, which, when added with the July and August numbers, averaged to a 5.9 percent increase over those three months compared with the three-month average in 2020. The CPI-W is based on data collected from 75 urban areas and roughly 23,000 retail and service establishments. Some of the goods tracked include food and beverage, housing, clothing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communication. This year saw
a major economic upturn as prices bounced back from a downturn in 2020. Many states experienced renewed economic activity as they began to reopen and resume business, spurred by a drop in COVID-19 cases and increase in vaccinations heading into summer 2021. The 2022 COLA is the largest increase in nearly 40 years. “Coming after years of low or no adjustments, this 5.9 percent COLA provides a buffer for seniors against recent inflation. With prices increasing significantly over the last year, the announcement highlights the value of tying the COLA directly to annual inflation by law. A statutory COLA provides reliable protection against loss of purchasing power,” NARFE National President Ken Thomas said after the announcement. It is important to note that the COLA for FERS retirees is unfairly reduced by 1 percentage point when the CPI-W increase is 3 percent or more, as in this year. As a result, FERS retirees will only receive a 4.9 percent increase in their federal annuities. FERS COLAs are also capped at 2 percent when consumer prices increase
between 2 and 3 percent. When the consumer price increase is under 2 percent, the FERS COLA matches the price index. NARFE supports the Equal COLA Act, H.R. 304, which would address this inequity by providing FERS retirees with the same annual adjustment as CSRS retirees. If Congress fails to act, FERS retirees will continue to see their annuities, earned through committed service to the American people, decrease in value year after year—exactly what COLAs are intended to prevent. Please contact your members of Congress by dialing 1-800456-8410 and selecting option 5, and ask for their support of H.R. 304. You can also send a message to your legislators through the Legislative Action Center on the NARFE website at www.narfe.org/advocacy. NARFE tracks the change in the CPI-W each month and lists updates on its website and in NARFE Magazine so members can stay in the know. Visit www. narfe.org/cola to see how the CPI-W is tracking towards your next COLA.
RECRUITING FROM P.7
effort that has happened in the federal government on these issues.” The event also heavily focused on how to use telework to the federal government’s advantage. While admittedly skeptical at first, Ahuja now sees telework as a recruitment tool. “We are hearing from our employees that they do not necessarily want to be in the office every day. For us to stay competitive, we need to lean into that a lot more.”
Ahuja went on to describe the current limitations in the law for telework and how OPM would “need to work through [it] to make it more expansive.” Connolly was the author of the Telework Enhancement Act, which was signed into law in 2010. He now sees that bill as something to build on as the federal government leans into telework.
program and said he is working with OPM on the details. Ahuja stated that “too many underserved communities have been underrepresented in the federal government.” She reminded the students that this summer, President Biden issued an executive order focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the federal government. She described this order as “the most expansive
—BY SETH ICKES, GRASSROOTS ASSISTANT
—BY JOHN ROBERT AYERS, POLICY AND PROGRAMS ASSISTANT NARFE MAGAZINE www.NARFE.org
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