OPM moves to implement long-awaited retirement fix for federal first responders

The Office of Personnel Management is moving to fix a persistent issue for federal first responders who sustain on-the-job injuries. New proposed rules seek to implement the 2022 First Responders Fair RETIRE Act, which protects retirement benefits for those forced to transfer positions due to injury.

First responders in roles such as law enforcement, firefighting, and air traffic control participate in an accelerated retirement program. Participants pay higher contributions throughout their careers to retire after 20 years of service at age 50. Under previous rules, an injury that forced a move to a non-covered position meant the loss of this status and the benefits that came with it.

This proposal allows affected workers to maintain their accelerated timeline even after reassignment. It also creates a mechanism for individuals who leave the federal service entirely to recover the extra retirement contributions they made during their tenure in covered roles. These regulations cover personnel including federal police, firefighters, and nuclear material couriers.

The OPM proposal includes specific criteria for eligibility. The injury must be a direct result of performance of duty, and the employee must be medically determined to be permanently unable to perform their original job. The agency is accepting public comments on these rules until September 30, 2026.

While the 2022 law included a sense of Congress statement encouraging agencies to keep injured staff in the same geographic area and pay grade, OPM noted that its current regulatory authority is limited to the specific pension and retirement systems. The agency intends to connect these new rules to existing federal compensation laws regarding reemployment rights to better support long-term retention.