Congress Passes LEO Provision for CBP Officers

Dear CBP Officer:

After decades of being denied an important benefit you deserve, I am extremely pleased to announce that legislation is being sent to the president that provides an enhanced retirement benefit to Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers. This legislation grants the higher law enforcement officer (LEO) retirement pension formula to all CBP Officers for years of service after July 1, 2008, as well as prospective early retirement. While NTEU aggressively pushed for full retroactivity, we decided to seize this opportunity to take advantage of a LEO provision that benefits every CBP Officer.

The president is expected to act on this provision, included in the 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, later this week. 

This represents a significant landmark for all CBP Officers, and one that NTEU and our members worked very long—and very hard—to achieve. For more than two decades, NTEU has worked to build awareness among the public and on Capitol Hill of the inequity of denying LEO status to the highly-trained CBP Officers who risk their lives every day to protect our ports of entry. And for the past 18 months, we worked with members of the House and Senate to ensure that any LEO retirement provision benefits all CBP Officers, regardless of whether you work two more years or 20 more years. As a result of these efforts, CBP pensions will increase by thousands of dollars more in compounded benefits each year.

Here are details of the NTEU-supported LEO provision:

• Premium and overtime pay coverage is not affected. Half of yearly overtime pay will continue to be included in calculating the CBP Officers' high-three salary.

• All current CBP Officers who elect the new coverage will have their contribution to retirement increased by .5 percent and will receive a more generous LEO pension from July 2008 forward. Officers will have an option to opt out of the LEO coverage.

• Mandatory LEO retirement age of 57 years would be waived for all current CBP Officers. Those hired after July 2008 would be subject to mandatory retirement at 57 years.

• The current Federal Employees Retirement System and Civil Service Retirement System’s age and service requirements would apply for those who meet those requirements before serving 20 years post July 2008. Officers will be eligible to retire after 20 years of post-July 2008 service at age 50 or 25 years of post-July 2008 service at any age.

To help members understand exactly how this benefit affects them, NTEU will be reaching out over the coming weeks and months with important updates and information. NTEU members will know exactly what happens next, how they will benefit from the new LEO retirement coverage and what they have to do to take advantage of it.

Implementing regulations will need to be written, which may impact individual retirement questions, but we will work to provide answers as soon as information is available.

I want to thank NTEU members for your support over the years in this hard-won fight and for your commitment to the vital CBP mission.

Colleen M. Kelley
NTEU National President