KEY POINTS

FEDERAL FIRE FIGHTER RETIREMENT

• The federal government employs more than 10,000 fire fighters who protect military installations, nuclear facilities, VA hospitals, and other federal facilities.
   

• Federal fire fighters protecting installations vital to the federal government and to our national security deserve fair compensation and retirement benefits. Despite some progress in the 1990s, federal fire fighters have been unfairly shortchanged in their retirement benefits because of a flawed calculation method used to determine their pension.
   

• H.R. 3186 would ensure that a federal fire fighter’s retirement pay fully credits the pay a fire fighter earns during a regular tour of duty.
   

• Federal fire fighters generally work a 72-hour week and 144 hours during a two-week pay period. Over the course of the pay period, federal fire fighters work 106 regular hours and 38 mandatory overtime hours.
   

• Currently, a federal fire fighter receives retirement credit for only part of the pay they earn during their 144-hour regular tour of duty.
   

• Consider a federal fire fighter who earns an annual base pay of $42,000, or $15.24 per hour. In a two-week pay period, the fire fighter is paid $15.24/hour for 106 regular hours and $22.86/hour for the remaining 38 mandatory overtime hours. The fire fighter’s total salary for the two-week pay period is $2,484, but his or her retirement benefit is based on a salary of only $2,194.
   

• Under H.R. 3186, a fire fighter’s retirement would account for full pay earned during a regular tour of duty. Specifically, the bill would fully credit the pay earned during the 38 mandatory, scheduled hours worked in each pay period beyond the 106 regular hours.
   

• Recruiting and retaining an experienced, skilled federal fire fighter workforce is critical to protecting our nation’s military installations and other federal facilities. H.R. 3186 would ensure that fire fighter retirement pay reflects the pay earned during a fire fighter’s regular duty hours and bridges some of the gap between federal and municipal compensation packages offered to fire fighters.