Sponsors (73)
The bill raises retirement fairness and safety for federal firefighters by increasing pensionable pay and limiting recurring hours, but does so at a meaningful fiscal and administrative cost that will burden taxpayers, agencies, and potentially strain short-term operational capacity.
Federal firefighters (and other covered federal fire personnel) will see their pensionable pay increased because retirement calculations will include all regularly scheduled hours and half the value of regular overtime, likely raising retirement annuities for affected workers.
Federal firefighters will have a legally capped recurring workweek (average no more than 60 hours), which should reduce chronic fatigue and improve on-the-job safety and health outcomes.
Aligning pay/workweek definitions with other public-sector firefighters and clarifying what counts as a regular workweek should improve recruitment and retention and make staffing federal fire stations easier.
Taxpayers and federal retirement systems will face higher long-term pension costs because more pay (scheduled hours and part of overtime) becomes pensionable, increasing funded liabilities and employer contributions.
The change raises federal personnel costs and creates implementation complexity — agencies and OPM will need to recalculate benefits, handle transitional disputes, and may require budget offsets that reduce funds for other programs.
Capping the recurring workweek at an average of 60 hours could reduce scheduling flexibility for fire departments and require more hires or different overtime arrangements, increasing near-term labor costs for employers and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires regularly scheduled overtime that is part of a federal firefighter’s tour of duty to be included in basic pay for retirement calculations, caps average workweek at 60 hours, and directs OPM regs.
Requires regularly scheduled overtime that is part of a federal firefighter’s normal tour of duty to be included in the firefighter’s basic pay when computing retirement benefits, adds matching edits to the civil service (CSRS) and federal employees retirement (FERS) definitions, and directs OPM to issue implementing regulations within one year that set a maximum average regular workweek for firefighters at no more than 60 hours. The change applies only to annuities based on separations occurring after the 60-day period following enactment, and no dollar amounts or appropriations are specified in the text as presented.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Gerald E. Connolly · Last progress January 28, 2025