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1 CIVILIAN PERSONNEL NEWS VOL 09-07, 10 JULY 2009 TO SERVE YOU BETTER INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: --Civilian Personnel Management Course (CPMC) --NSPS Outprocessing Procedures --Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) --Claimant Query System for Injured Workers --Outprocessing Procedures for all Civilian Employees --Health Benefits Service Day --Retirement Procedures for Employees and Supervisors --Use or Lose Annual Leave for Civilian Employees --BEST Subscription Service & Newsletter Opportunity --Hard Copy Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) Shut Off For Air Force Civilians --Antiterrorism Awareness (Level I) Training (Mandatory) --My Biz --New Online Retirement Planning Courses Offered To Civilian Employees --Updating Civilian Career Brief --Voluntary Civilian Annual Leave Donations Requested WE REQUEST ALL CUSTOMERS CALL AHEAD AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT THE CIVILIAN PERSONNEL SECTION MAIN NUMBER IS If you have any new ideas for articles and you would like to see them in this newsletter, please send your ideas to AFPC SECURE WEBSITE UPDATE The hyperlink to Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) Secure website has changed again. If you have AFPC Secure bookmarked or placed in your favorites, be sure to update the link. It is now: To see just a few things you can do in this website check out the article in this newsletter named Accessing Your Record and Benefits - How to use the AFPC Secure Website and EBIS. BENEFITS QUESTIONS Just a reminder that questions concerning your retirement status and other benefits should be directed to the folks at BEST, CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING SEMINARS

2 CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING SEMINARS CLASSES HELD IN BLDG 350, SUITE 1113, CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TRAINING ROOM To register for training classes Name, Pay Band, Grade or Level, Duty Phone, SSAN, and Unit to You only need to take these classes once. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT IF THESE CLASSES DO NOT MEET A MINIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE SIGNING UP THEY DO GET CANCELLED CIVILIAN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT COURSE (CPMC) This class is required for civilian and military supervisors of civilians. In order to attend this class, participants must ensure hierarchy is updated to document they are a first or second level supervisor of a civilian employee. Third and fourth level supervisors may attend on a space available basis. The course provides background information and an understanding of applicable personnel laws and regulations needed for Position Management and Classification, Staffing/Affirmative Employment, Reduction in Force, Hours of Work and Pay, Leave and Absences, Awards program, Constructive Discipline and Adverse Actions, Performance Management, Injury Compensation training, Labor Management Relations, and Grievance and Appeals. Course date: July 09. NSPS OUTPROCESSING PROCEDURES In order to fulfill NSPS regulatory guidance, the NSPS Program Office and Civilian Personnel have implemented new outprocessing procedures for both active duty and civilian employees leaving the Peterson Complex. Active Duty All active duty members PCS-ing, retiring or separating will have three requirements added to their virtual MPF outprocessing checklist. Those who do not rate on any NSPS civilians will be cleared through our screening process without any action on the part of the member. Those showing up as rating officials will need to ensure that there is an approved performance plan in the PAA (My Biz, My Workplace) system and their employees have begun self assessments for a closeout or an early annual appraisal. Closeouts are completed when departures take place from 1 Oct through 30 June. After 1 July, it is appropriate to complete an early annual appraisal rather than a closeout. Once the employee has provided their self-assessment, the rating official will need to complete the required assessment and then make sure the hierarchy is updated to reflect the new rating official. As each requirement is fulfilled, the corresponding item on virtual MPF will be cleared. * Please note that closeout assessments are different from interim assessments. NSPS obligations must be completed prior to final clearance. Civilians Civilian employees will continue to inform the Civilian Personnel Section that they are leaving the Peterson Complex and upon this notification, will receive the Base Clearance Sheet and appropriate attachments. The NSPS Outprocessing Checklist will also accompany the outprocessing package. Employees will need to complete the form according to the personal obligations identified by the NSPS Program Office. The departing employee will bring all completed forms to the final outprocessing appointment. ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI) WORK INJURY CLAIMS GO ELECTRONIC It has been DoD s policy since July 2003 that supervisors utilize EDI when filing claims for federal employees who sustain either a work related injury or occupational disease. EDI is a web-based system supervisors use for filing federal workers compensation claims electronically. The benefits of using EDI to both the agency and the employee are: Increased Timeliness of Filing Faster Turnaround on Claim Numbers Decreased Errors on Paperwork Meets DoD SHARE Goals Automatic Reporting to Safety Offices

3 EDI allows supervisors to access the Notice of Traumatic Injury/Occupational Illness claim forms in an electronic form and once completed, submit those forms with just the click of a button. It has previously been the Civilian Personnel Section that inputs these claims electronically but in accordance with regulations supervisors will now be responsible for submitting all claims for traumatic injuries and occupational disease claims through EDI. To receive a copy of the training materials please contact your organization's servicing specialist. The supervisor s link for accessing EDI and inputting workers compensation claims can be found at: CLAIMANT QUERY SYSTEM FOR INJURED WORKERS On June 9, 2009 the Department of Labor (DOL) held their Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) Interagency meeting. One of the topics discussed was their deployment of the Claimant Query System (CQS). CQS allows an injured employee the ability to access information regarding their own claim such as: benefits payments, benefits tracking, medical bill status, case status history, accepted conditions, employing agency information, and CA-16 information. The information in CQS is not as extensive as the Automated Query System (AQS) which is used by the installations Injury Compensation Program Administrator but provides individual claimants the ability to view when the DOL/OWCP has issued a check in the case, provides the amount of the payment, annotates whether or not OWCP has received and logged in a CA-7, etc. In AQS, the payment history screen provides the ICPA with more detailed payment information such as the basis for the amount of the check issued - pay rate, compensation rate, health benefits deductions, etc. OUTPROCESSING PROCEDURES FOR ALL CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES SEPARATING FROM PETERSON AFB Whether retiring, transferring within the Air Force or to another agency, going on leave without pay or resigning, all civilian employees that are leaving the Peterson Complex are required to follow the same out processing procedures. In order to give yourself and our staff enough time to prepare for your leaving please contact Civilian Personnel least two weeks before your anticipated last duty day to schedule your initial appointment. Clearing procedures, paperwork and any other pertinent information will be discussed at that time. Please contact petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil to go over clearance procedures. HEALTH BENEFITS SERVICE DAY Are you a new employee and still within your 60 days of making your Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) election? Do you have questions about the new plan you just chose in open season? Or would you just like to ask a health insurance carrier what their plan has to offer? Well, think and look no further! On 4 August 2009, in the atrium of the Mission Support Building (Bldg 350) from the last FEHB Service Day before open season will be held. Please stop by if you are interested in talking with several different health insurance providers. RETIREMENT PROCEDURES FOR EMPLOYEES AND SUPERVISORS EMPLOYEE: 1. Set Your Retirement Date. If doing a voluntary retirement, this is the date of your choosing; however, it is important to keep in mind which retirement system you fall under in order to make sure you get paid correctly and in a timely manner.

4 FERS set your date at the end of a pay period or the end of the month. CSRS set your date prior to the 4 th of the month. 2. Contact the Benefits and Entitlements Team (BEST) approximately 90 days prior to your desired retirement date. Contact them at to: Get your retirement estimate Identify the forms you will need to submit in your retirement package Find out what option is best for you Have any questions answered 3. As Instructed by BEST, Mail the Retirement Package to BEST. BEST requests that all packages are sent at least 90 days prior because of the high volume of requests. The address to mail your package to is: HQ AFPC/DPSOC, 550 C Street West Ste 57, Randolph AFB TX SF-52. Coordinate with your supervisor to have an electronic SF-52 submitted to 21 FSS/FSMC (still shows as DPCE) via DPCDS your unit s civilian personnel liaison can give you guidance on this process. This should be submitted NLT 90 days prior to retirement date. 5. Contact Civilian Personnel to Make Out-processing Appointment. This should be done AFTER you have contacted BEST and approximately 30 days prior to your retirement date. POC is Leslie at or petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil *Note: Everything is now done between the employee, BEST, and the organization. The only Civilian Personnel Section involvement is processing the electronic SF-52 and out processing the employee. SUPERVISOR/ORGANIZATION: 1. Submit Electronic SF-52 to the Civilian Personnel Office. This should be sent approximately days prior to the retirement date. 2. Request Presidential Letter. ONLY if a person has 30+ years of service. This can include military time. The form must be submitted 60 days prior to the employee s retirement date. If it is received later than 60 days prior, there is a possibility the letter may not be received in time. Contact petersonstaffing@peterson.af.mil or fax to Obtain Retirement Certificate from Graphics. You will need to know the number of years the employee has worked. This does NOT include military service. Employee s organization will submit AF IMT 833 Multimedia Work Order to graphics. The form can either be faxed to or hand carried to building 418. If the employee is married, you can also use the same form to obtain a Certificate of Appreciation for the spouse. This must be done NLT 5 days prior to ceremony. USE OR LOSE ANNUAL LEAVE FOR CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES Civilian employees are reminded that generally the maximum amount of annual leave they may carry forward from one leave year to the next is 240 hours. Current law requires forfeiture of annual leave, in excess of the ceiling limitation, at the end of the leave year (02 Jan 10). The provisions for restoring forfeited leave are strictly enforced. For this reason, employees are encouraged to take appropriate action to prevent the forfeiture of their annual leave. If leave is forfeited, it may be possible to request restoration. The first requirement for restoration is that the leave must have been originally requested, approved, and scheduled in writing prior to the start of the third biweekly pay period before the end of the leave year. Thus, all use-or-lose annual leave for year 2009 must be requested, approved, and scheduled before 22 Nov 09, to be eligible for restoration should it be forfeited. Before forfeited annual leave may be restored there must also be a determination that either an exigency of major importance occurred or sickness of the employee caused the forfeiture. As soon as a supervisor learns that leave subject to forfeiture must be canceled due to an exigency, he or she must initiate 21 SW Form 298

5 (Request for Approval of Exigency) to the appropriate official requesting approval to cancel the scheduled leave. At a minimum, the request should include a description of the exigency, which shows that it is of such importance that the employee could not be excused from duty. If appropriate, an employee then initiates a written request for restoration within 30 calendar days after the end of the leave year. Leave restorations are coordinated with the Civilian Personnel Section to ensure that the conditions for restoration in governing directives are met, and that submitted documentation supports the requests. Restoration of forfeited annual leave is addressed in AFI , Absence and Leave, Chapter 2, Paragraph BEST SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE & NEWSLETTER OPPORTUNITY The AFPC Benefits team encourages all employees to sign up for their subscription service on their web page. Please go to the link to register. Select the link titled "Newsletter Subscription service". Follow the guidance listed on how to subscribe or unsubscribe. The current BEST Newsletter for April 2009 is also found on the link titled "Newsletters and Bulletins". Lastly, pay attention to the section titled "Spotlight" since that is where BEST will post current changes or information regarding benefits. HARD COPY LEAVE AND EARNINGS STATEMENTS (LESs) SHUT OFF FOR AIR FORCE CIVILIANS In accordance with the Department of Air Force policy, effective pay date May 15, 2009 hard copy Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) were turned off. LESs will continue to be available electronically on my Pay at Questions should be referred to AFAFO at arpc.afafo-workflow@arpc.denver.af.mil Air Force Accounting and Finance Office SAF/FMP (AFAFO) ANTITERRORISM AWARENESS (LEVEL 1) TRAINING (MANDATORY) All new civilian employees are required to attend this training. If you are prior military and have separated within the last year, you do not need to attend. Training is held the first and third Friday of the month (excluding Federal Holidays) at 10:00 AM in building 350, room 1047 on Peterson AFB. Please contact Earl at if you have questions about eligibility or course content. MY BIZ Randolph Air Force Base, Texas Air Force civilian employees who wish to update education information in their civilian personnel records have a new, easier way to do so: through the My Biz Web site. My Biz is the self-service module in the Defense Civilian Personnel Data System. Instead of faxing their transcripts and waiting for someone to update their record, employees can now do it themselves. The Air Force, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has been working to streamline and automate the manual processes of updating education, training and special qualifications (certifications and professional licenses) into a web-based self-service capability, said Kathryn from the Civilian Future Operations Branch at the Air Force Personnel Center. Now, in addition to updating work and home telephone numbers, addresses, handicap codes, ethnicity and national origin, and language, employees can update their education through My Biz and it is immediately reflected in their personnel record. In the future, My Biz will provide even more update capabilities. The goal is to provide faster and smarter service to employees by giving them the ability to go in and update their important career information themselves, so it can be immediately reflected in their personnel record.

6 Prior to this change, employees could update some personal information, but not education. They had to follow a process that included completing sections of an OF 612 and faxing copies of transcripts to the Air Force Manpower Agency who then put the information into the system. Now employees can update their own education information. They will only be required to provide personnel a transcript if personnel have a legal or regulatory requirement to verify the education entry, for example, based on the qualification standards, a position requires a degree or a specified number of course hours (this is often referred to as a positive education requirement). This procedural change will enable civilian employees to update their education information directly by assessing My Biz < For more information, visit AFPC s Ask web site and search for Education Updates or call the 24-hour Air Force Contact Center at (800) NEW ONLINE RETIREMENT PLANNING COURSES OFFERED TO CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas Three new online courses for federal civilian employees offer training in the benefit-related areas of retirement, financial planning, and new employee orientation. The training is available on the automated Employee Benefits Information System (EBIS) web program under eseminars and it will be a benefit to all Air Force-serviced civilian employees at all stages of their careers. To take the eseminars, civilian employees need access to EBIS via the Air Force Portal: or the Air Force Personnel Center Ask web site Once logged into EBIS, click on the eseminars icon at the top of the screen to see the list of courses available. Employees with questions about the eseminars or EBIS can also contact BEST, the 24-hour Air Force Contact Center, at (800) UPDATING CIVILIAN CAREER BRIEF Air Force employees who have been on board for at least 90 days should access AFPC Secure Website and log on, on the next page click on Civilian Career Brief. The career brief will give you information on your work history, training and education, awards, service computation date, etc. LICENSE, LANGUAGE AND OCC CERTIFICATION CODING Submit license, language, and occupational certification update requests using Optional Application for Federal Employment (OF 612). Please fax your request to AFPC/DPCL at DSN or Commercial (210) EDUCATION CODING You can now update your education level in My Biz please follow instructions in My Biz. You will still be required to submit your official transcripts via fax to AFPC/DPCL at DSN or Commercial (210) so they may be scanned into your official personnel file (OPF). TRAINING CODING All training claimed on your resume should be coded by AFPC. Employees should contact Randy, 21FSS/FSDE at for procedures for updating training that has occurred since your appointment action. AWARDS Rosemarie at 21FSS/FSMPS, updates all civilian awards. If you have any questions about awards that should be on your Career Brief, please contact her at:

7 EXPERIENCE CODING Depending on the nature of the changes you are requesting, there are specific steps you will need to follow. Complete OF 612 and bring to Civilian Personnel Office, please call ahead for instructions: Civilians Civilian employees will continue to inform the Civilian Personnel Section that they are leaving the Peterson Complex and upon this notification, will receive the Base Clearance Sheet and appropriate attachments. The NSPS Outprocessing Checklist will also accompany the outprocessing package. Employees will need to complete the form according to the personal obligations identified by the NSPS Program Office. The departing employee will bring all completed forms to the final outprocessing appointment. VOLUNTARY CIVILIAN ANNUAL LEAVE DONATIONS REQUESTED Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) - Donations Requested: Civilian annual leave donations are needed for current civil service employees. If you have questions about the program, who has requested donations, or would like to donate annual leave, please contact PetersonStaffing@peterson.af.mil.