§3582 — Title 5 Government Organization and Employees | U.S. Code

§3582 Rights of transferring employees

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart B— - Employment and Retention › Chapter CHAPTER 35— - RETENTION PREFERENCE, VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS, RESTORATION, AND REEMPLOYMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - REEMPLOYMENT AFTER SERVICE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION › § 3582

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Lets an employee who moves to an international organization with their agency chief’s OK keep federal benefits if the employee and agency keep paying the required amounts into the right funds. The employee can keep retirement coverage, life and health insurance, workers’ compensation, and their accumulated annual leave instead of cashing it out. Retirement time counts as service unless the same time is used to get a pension from the international organization. Insurance stays in force only if payments go into the Employees’ Life Insurance Fund and Employees’ Health Benefits Fund. Workers’ compensation treats the job as U.S. employment, but any payment from the international organization for the same injury reduces the federal benefit. For annual leave, the employee may keep the leave or take a lump-sum; if they take the lump-sum and return to federal work within 6 months, they must repay it. Kept leave is not lost after rehire, and taking or keeping leave does not stop a person from getting a lump-sum they are due. The employee can be rehired into their old job or a similar job with the same rank and pay within 30 days of asking if they left the international organization within 5 years (or a shorter or longer time the agency allowed) and they apply for reemployment within 90 days after leaving. The rules apply only for up to that 5-year period (or the period set by the agency), but retirement and insurance rules continue to apply after leaving while the person is exercising or could exercise the reemployment right. While the person works at the international organization, the home agency must keep making its retirement and insurance contributions from its funds as long as the employee keeps paying their share.

Title 5, §3582

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An employee serving under an appointment not limited to 1 year or less who transfers to an international organization with the consent of the head of his agency is entitled—

(1)to retain coverage, rights, and benefits under any system established by law for the retirement of employees, if necessary employee deductions and agency contributions in payment for the coverage, rights, and benefits for the period of employment with the international organization are currently deposited in the system’s fund or depository; and the period during which coverage, rights, and benefits are retained under this paragraph is deemed creditable service under the system, except that such service shall not be considered creditable service for the purpose of any retirement system for transferring personnel, if such service forms the basis, in whole or in part, for an annuity or pension under the retirement system of the international organization;

(2)to retain coverage, rights, and benefits under chapters 87 and 89 of this title, if necessary employee deductions and agency contributions in payment for the coverage, rights, and benefits for the period of employment with the international organization are currently deposited in the Employees’ Life Insurance Fund and the Employees’ Health Benefits Fund, as applicable, and the period during which coverage, rights, and benefits are retained under this paragraph is deemed service as an employee under chapters 87 and 89 of this title;

(3)to retain coverage, rights, and benefits under subchapter I of chapter 81 of this title, and for this purpose his employment with the international organization is deemed employment by the United States, but if he or his dependents receive from the international organization a payment, allowance, gratuity, payment under an insurance policy for which the premium is wholly paid by the international organization, or other benefit of any kind on account of the same injury or death, the amount thereof is credited against disability or death compensation, as the case may be, payable under subchapter I of chapter 81 of this title; and

(4)to elect to retain to his credit all accumulated and current accrued annual leave to which entitled at the time of transfer which would otherwise be liquidated by a lump-sum payment. On his request at any time before reemployment, he shall be paid for the annual leave retained. If he receives a lump-sum payment and is reemployed within 6 months after transfer, he shall refund to the agency the amount of the lump-sum payment. This paragraph does not operate to cause a forfeiture of retained annual leave following reemployment or to deprive an employee of a lump-sum payment to which he would otherwise be entitled.

(b)An employee entitled to the benefits of subsection (a) of this section is entitled to be reemployed within 30 days of his application for reemployment in his former position or a position of like seniority, status, and pay in the agency from which he transferred, if—

(1)he is separated from the international organization within 5 years, or any extension thereof, after entering on duty with the international organization or within such shorter period as may be named by the head of the agency at the time of consent to transfer; and

(2)he applies for reemployment not later than 90 days after the separation.

(c)This section applies only with respect to so much of a period of employment with an international organization as does not exceed 5 years, or any extension thereof, or such shorter period named by the head of the agency at the time of consent to transfer, except that for retirement and insurance purposes this section continues to apply during the period after separation from the international organization in which—

(1)an employee, except a Congressional employee, is properly exercising or could exercise the reemployment right established by subsection (b) of this section; or

(2)a Congressional employee is effecting or could effect a reemployment.

(d)During the employee’s period of service with the international organization, the agency from which the employee is transferred shall make contributions for retirement and insurance purposes from the appropriations or funds of that agency so long as contributions are made by the employee.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 2333 (less (c)).Aug. 28, 1958, Pub. L. 85–795 § 4 (less (c)), 72 Stat. 960. In subsection (a), the words “Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, Executive order, or regulation” are omitted as unnecessary. In paragraph (2), the words “an employee under chapter 87 of this title” are substituted for “an officer or employee of the United States”. In paragraph (4), the words “under no circumstances” are omitted as unnecessary. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–277 inserted concluding provisions and struck out former concluding provisions which read as follows: “On reemployment, he is entitled to the rate of basic pay to which he would be entitled had he remained in the civil service. On reemployment, the agency shall restore his sick leave account, by credit or charge, to its status at the time of transfer. The period of separation caused by his employment with the international organization and the period necessary to effect reemployment are deemed creditable service for all appropriate civil service employment purposes. On reemployment, he is entitled to be paid, under such

Regulations

as the President may prescribe and from appropriations or funds of the agency from which transferred, an amount equal to the difference between the pay, allowances, post differential, and other monetary benefits paid by the international organization and the pay, allowances, post differential, and other monetary benefits that would have been paid by the agency had he been detailed to the international organization under section 3343 of this title. Such a payment shall be made to an employee who is unable to exercise his reemployment right because of disability incurred while on transfer to an international organization under this subchapter and, in the case of any employee who dies while on such a transfer or during the period after separation from the international organization in which he is properly exercising or could exercise his reemployment right, in accordance with subchapter VIII of chapter 55 of this title. This subsection does not apply to a congressional employee nor may any payment provided for in the preceding two sentences of this subsection be based on a period of employment with an international organization occurring before the first day of the first pay period which begins after

December 29, 1969.” 1975—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94–183 substituted “after

December 29, 1969” for “on or after the date of enactment of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969” in last sentence. 1969—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–175, § 502(c), inserted provision at end of cl. (1) excepting from creditable service, for the purpose of any retirement system, an agency employee who transfers to an international organization, if such service forms the basis for an annuity or pension under the retirement system of the international organization, and, in cl. (2), inserted references to chapter 89 and Employees’ Health Benefits Fund. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–175, § 502(d), struck out “, except a Congressional employee,” in provisions preceding cl. (1), substituted “5 years or any extension thereof,” for “3 years” in cl. (1), and, in provisions following cl. (2), inserted provision dealing with pay differentials to be received by former agency employee on reemployment with agency after service with international organization. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 91–175, § 502(e), substituted “5 years, or any extension thereof,” for “3 years”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 91–175, § 502(f), made contributions for retirement and insurance purposes mandatory by the agency from which employee is transferred, during employee’s period of service with international organization, so long as contributions are made by employee.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1998 Amendment Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. B, title XXV, § 2504(b), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–837, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to transfers that take effect on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998].”

Executive Documents

Delegation of Authority Authority of President under subsec. (b) of this section delegated to Office of Personnel Management, and authority to define and specify pay, allowances, etc., to be paid by the agency, delegated to Secretary of State, see section 3 of Ex. Ord. No. 11552, Aug. 24, 1970, 35 F.R. 13569, set out as a note under section 3584 of this title.