22 U.S.C. § 3681: Retirement under special…

Summary

The Treasury must pay money from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to Panama’s Social Security to buy retirement credit for people who were moved or separated because of the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty and who later took jobs covered by Panama’s Social Security when work was transferred or they were placed in new jobs. To qualify, a person must have at least 5 years of credited civilian service under U.S. civil service rules, not be entitled to an immediate U.S. retirement annuity and choose not to take a deferred annuity, and choose to withdraw their entire lump-sum credit and transfer it to Panama’s system under the special treaty rules. The payment for any person cannot be more than that person’s full lump-sum credit. The President can set rules for how this works. The President (or a designee) must also buy a nontransferable deferred annuity for certain non‑U.S. citizen employees who worked for U.S. agencies in Panama on October 1, 1979 (and before) and who had periods of service there that were not covered by U.S. retirement systems. To get this annuity the person must be under a Federal retirement system on October 1, 1979 and have 5 or more years of service that count toward Federal retirement. The annuity will cover those earlier uncovered service periods back to October 1, 1979. The President sets the source and rules, and Congress must provide money in advance.

Title 22, §3681

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Purchase of retirement equity; individuals entitled to participate

(1)Subject to subsection (b) of this section, and under such regulations as the President may prescribe, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama, out of funds deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund under section 8334(a)(2) of title 5, such sums of money as may be necessary to aid in the purchase of a retirement equity in such System for each individual who—

(A)meets the requirements of paragraph (2) of this subsection;

(B)is separated from employment in the Panama Canal Company, the Canal Zone Government, or the Commission by reason of the implementation of any provision of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements; and

(C)becomes employed in a position covered by the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama through the transfer of a function or activity to the Republic of Panama from the United States or through a job placement assistance program.

(2)This subsection applies with respect to any individual only if the individual—

(A)has been credited with at least 5 years of civilian service under section 8332 of title 5, relating to creditable service for purposes of civil service retirement;

(B)is not eligible for an immediate retirement annuity under chapter 83 of title 5, relating to civil service retirement, and elects not to receive a deferred annuity under that chapter based on any portion of that service, and

(C)elects to withdraw from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund the individual’s entire lump-sum credit (as defined in section 8331(8) of title 5) and to transfer that amount to the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama pursuant to the special regime referred to in paragraph 3 of Article VIII of the Agreement in Implementation of Article III of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977.

(b)Limitation on amount paid to Social Security System of Republic of Panama

The amount paid to the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama with respect to any individual under subsection (a) of this section shall not exceed the individual’s entire lump-sum credit (as so defined).

(c)Purchase of nontransferable deferred annuity; employees entitled to participate

(1)Pursuant to paragraph 2(b) of Annex C to the Agreement in Implementation of Article IV of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, the President, or the President’s designee, shall purchase from a source determined by the President to be appropriate, in accordance with such regulations as the President or the President’s designee may prescribe, and to such extent or in such amounts as may be provided in advance in appropriation Acts, a nontransferable deferred annuity for the benefit of each employee of an agency or instrumentality of the Government of the United States in the Republic of Panama—

(A)who is not a citizen of the United States;

(B)who was employed on October 1, 1979, and during any period before that date by an agency or instrumentality of the Government of the United States at any permanent duty station in the Republic of Panama (including, with respect to employment before that date, the area then known as the Canal Zone);

(C)who, for any period of service with such agency or instrumentality before October 1, 1979, at any such permanent duty station was not covered, by reason of that service, by the United States Civil Service Retirement system or any other Federal retirement system providing benefits similar to those retirement benefits provided by the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama; and

(D)who, on October 1, 1979, is under a Federal retirement system and, on or before that date, has accrued in one or more agencies or instrumentalities of the United States a total of 5 years or more of service which—

(i)is creditable toward any Federal retirement system as in effect on October 1, 1979;

(ii)would have been creditable toward any such retirement system if the retirement system were in effect at the time of the service accrued by the employee; or

(iii)consists of any combination of service described in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph.

(2)The retirement annuity referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to any employee will cover retroactively, from October 1, 1979, all periods of service, described in subparagraph (D) of that paragraph, by that employee at any permanent duty station in the Republic of Panama (including the area known before that date as the Canal Zone) in agencies and instrumentalities of the Government of the United States during which that employee was not covered by the United States Civil Service Retirement System or any other Federal retirement system providing benefits similar to those retirement benefits provided by the Social Security System of the Republic of Panama.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1997—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 105–85 substituted “retroactively” for “retroactivity”.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions Functions vested in President by subsec. (a)(1) delegated to Director of Office of Personnel Management and function vested in President by subsec. (c)(1) of this section delegated to Secretary of Defense, see section 1–105 and 1–403 of Ex. Ord. No. 12215, May 27, 1980, 45 F.R. 36043, 36045, set out as a note under section 3601 of this title.

§3681 Retirement Under Special Treaty Provisions