New Rule Promises Full Pensions for Injured First Responders
Published Date: 7/22/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act helps federal first responders who get sick or hurt on the job keep their full retirement benefits like nothing changed. This means if they face a duty-related injury or illness, their retirement pay won’t drop. The new rules are open for public comments until September 21, 2026, and aim to make retirement fairer and simpler for these heroes.
Analyzed Economic Effects
11 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 2 costs, 5 mixed.
Keep Your Enhanced Retirement If Rehired
If you were serving in a covered position (law enforcement officer, firefighter, customs and border protection officer, air traffic controller, nuclear materials courier, or member of the Capitol or Supreme Court Police) and on or after December 9, 2024 you become permanently unable to do that covered job because of a duty-related injury or illness, then if you are reappointed under a qualifying reappointment you will be treated as if you remain in the covered position for retirement purposes (a "deemed covered" position). To qualify the reappointment must be to a CSRS or FERS position that is not otherwise enhanced, be with the same agency (or an agency that regularly appoints to related supervisory/administrative positions), and occur without a break in service of more than 3 days.
You Can Waive Deemed Coverage (Irrevocable)
If you qualify for deemed covered treatment when reappointed you may affirmatively elect to decline (waive) that deemed covered treatment; agencies must provide you the opportunity to waive and any waiver is irrevocable.
Higher Retirement Deductions Continue Until Separation
Unless you waive deemed coverage, your employee retirement deductions must continue at the same (higher) percentage that applied to your former covered position and your agency must continue the full normal contribution (FERS) or the CSRS agency contribution (7.5 percent) while you serve in the deemed covered position; once you reach the prior covered position's age/service mandatory separation point, deductions and agency contributions revert to the non-covered levels.
3-Day Break Rule; OWCP and Leave Treatment
To qualify for a qualifying reappointment you must be reappointed without a break in service of more than 3 days; time you receive Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) compensation or use leave (including leave without pay) does not count as a break in service. Excess leave without pay (more than 6 months in a calendar year) is not a break in service for reappointment purposes but that excess leave without pay remains non- creditable service for CSRS/FERS retirement calculations.
Deemed Coverage Does Not Grant Special Pay
Being treated as serving in a deemed covered position for retirement does not make you eligible for pay authorities tied to actually occupying a covered position (for example, special base rates, law enforcement availability pay (LEAP), Border Patrol overtime supplement); any pay you receive must meet the normal statutory pay eligibility rules and such pay may not be creditable as retirement basic pay in the same way as it would be for an actual covered position.
Agency Must Certify Duty-Related Injury
Your employing agency head (or designated representative) must certify four things for you to qualify: (1) the injury or illness was incurred while on duty, (2) it was a direct result of performing your duties, (3) it permanently renders you unable to provide useful and efficient service in the covered position, and (4) it would not preclude you from continuing in Federal service.
Act Applies Only to Injuries On/After Dec 9, 2024
The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act and these proposed regulations apply only to qualifying duty-related injuries or illnesses incurred on or after December 9, 2024; injuries or illnesses that occurred before December 9, 2024 are not covered by the Act.
Transfers, Subsequent Appointments, and Loss Rules
If you establish entitlement to deemed covered treatment you may transfer to another agency and keep deemed coverage only if there is no break in service over 3 days and the new appointment is also a qualifying reappointment; a break over 3 days or a transfer to an agency that does not regularly appoint to related secondary positions will terminate deemed coverage. If you later occupy an actual covered position, deemed coverage ends prospectively but prior deemed service remains creditable.
OPM Placement Assistance If Not Restorable
If your agency cannot place you in your former agency and you have restoration rights, OPM will provide placement assistance in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches; if your agency is abolished or restoration is impossible you may be eligible for Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) placement assistance.
Right to Appeal Agency Decisions to MSPB
If an agency takes a decision that affects your rights or interests under chapters 83 (CSRS) or 84 (FERS) related to the Act, the agency must notify you in writing and you have the right to appeal that decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
Estimated Size of Potentially Affected Population
OPM estimates about 220,000 federal employees currently occupy positions subject to enhanced retirement provisions, roughly 10,000 of those may become injured or ill while on duty, and about 215 employees are estimated to be unable to secure primary or secondary covered positions and thus likely to be subject to the First Responder Fair RETIRE Act treatment (representing less than one-tenth of one percent of employees in enhanced positions).
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Key Dates
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