Retroactive Discontinued Service Retirement

The Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) requested a decision concerning whether one of its employees should be retroactively granted a discontinued service retirement. The record showed that the employee was notified that, due to a change in the location of his ASCS headquarters, he would be assigned to the new headquarters, which was outside the commuting area of his current worksite. The employee stated that procedure requires that he reside within the new area that he was to serve. However, the chief of the ASCS personnel division stated that there was no record of the employee signing a mobility agreement which would have permitted reassignment outside the commuting area of his current worksite. In addition, the employee's position description did not provide for such a geographic reassignment, and it was undisputed that he was not advised of his right to apply for discontinued service retirement. GAO believed that the initial question was whether an administrative error occurred that would permit a retroactive change in records. ASCS was clearly required to notify the employee of his right to elect a discontinued service retirement, especially in light of the fact that his position description did not provide for geographic reassignment outside the commuting area of his current worksite. GAO held that the employee was entitled to be separated because of the agency's failure to properly notify him of his right to elect discontinued service retirement. Accordingly, the employee's record should be retroactively changed to show that he was separated.