Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 393 To provide for the more accurate computation of retirement benefits for certain firefighters employed by the Federal Government. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 21, 2021 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To provide for the more accurate computation of retirement benefits for certain firefighters employed by the Federal Government. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Firefighter 4 Pay Equity Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 (1) certain firefighters employed by the Federal 8 Government are required by law to work a regular 9 tour of duty consisting of 72 hours per week; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H393.IH H393 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 393 IH (2) 19 of those 72 hours per week are consid- 1 ered to be overtime hours for purposes of computing 2 pay; 3 (3) the pay computed for those 19 overtime 4 hours each week are not accurately accounted for 5 when computing such firefighters’ retirement bene- 6 fits; and 7 (4) those inaccurate computations have led to 8 reduced retirement benefits for Federal firefighters. 9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to correct 10 the manner in which retirement benefits for Federal fire- 11 fighters are computed so as to account for pay earned for 12 regularly scheduled overtime hours during a normal tour 13 of duty. 14 SEC. 3. COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY BASED ON CERTAIN 15 FIREFIGHTER SERVICE. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5545b of title 5, United 17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(e) For purposes of any determination of ‘average 20 pay’ under section 8331(4) or 8401(3), in the case of a 21 firefighter who is subject to subsection (b), the rate of 22 basic pay in effect for such firefighter for a year of cred- 23 itable service (or, in the case of an annuity under sub- 24 section (d) or (e)(1) of section 8341 or under chapter 84 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H393.IH H393 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 393 IH based on less than 3 years of creditable service, for any 1 other period of creditable service) shall, in addition to the 2 amount determined under subsection (b) for such year (or 3 other period), include an amount equal to one-half the 4 firefighter’s basic hourly rate (as computed under sub- 5 section (b)(1)(A)) for such year (or other period) times 6 the number of overtime hours included as part of such 7 firefighter’s regular tour of duty during such year (or 8 other period).’’. 9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sections 8331(4) 10 and 8401(3) of title 5, United States Code, are amended 11 by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘, sub- 12 ject to section 5545b(e);’’. 13 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 14 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 15 respect to any annuity, entitlement to which is based on 16 a separation from service occurring after the end of the 17 60-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of 18 this Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H393.IH H393 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS