§8455 Recovery; Restoration of Earning Capacity

Summary

If a person on a disability retirement annuity gets better before turning 60, their annuity stops either when they return to a government job or 1 year after the Office says they have recovered—whichever comes first. If their ability to earn is restored to about the same level as the job they had before retiring, the annuity stops 180 days after the end of the calendar year when that earning level was reached. Earning is treated as restored if, in any calendar year, wages and self-employment income equal at least 80 percent of the pay rate of the job held right before retirement. If the annuity ends and the person is not rehired in a job covered by this law, they are treated, except for service credit, as involuntarily separated and may get an annuity under subchapter II of this chapter from the date the disability annuity stopped. If the annuity ended because earning capacity was restored but the person is not rehired and still has the disability, the annuity is put back at the rate under section 8452 effective the first day of the year after any calendar year when their income falls below 80 percent of the prior pay. If the annuity ended because the Office found recovery and the disability later comes back, the annuity is restored at the section 8452 rate from the date the Office finds the recurrence. Paragraphs (2) and (3) do not apply to someone receiving an annuity under subchapter II of this chapter.