OPM Reduces Retirement Backlog to Close Out 2014

The Office of Personnel Management has released its latest monthly retirement processing status report. The figures show that OPM was able to reduce the outstanding backlog by 17%.

The Office of Personnel Management has released its latest monthly retirement processing status report. The figures show that OPM was able to reduce the outstanding backlog by 17%.

A total of 4,077 new claims were received in December, but because OPM processed 6,447 it brought the total outstanding backlog of claims down from 14,039 to 11,669. That brings the total backlog to roughly in line with where OPM had expected it to be to close out 2014 (the inventory was projected to be at 11,342 by month end). The 6,447 claims that were processed in December were also right in line with OPM’s expectations for how many would be processed (6,500).

Will the backlog grow in January? Almost certainly according to the latest figures. OPM is expecting to receive 19,000 new claims at the end of the month, and it received 17,383 new claims in January 2014, so this is probably a fairly accurate prediction.

The most recent complete statistics are included below.

Month Projected Claims Received Projected Claims Processed Projected Inventory Claims Received Claims Processed Inventory % Processed in 60 days or less
Oct-13 8,400 11,500 19,142 7,484 11,027 14,176 n/a
Nov-13 8,400 11,500 16,042 5,672 5,714 14,134 n/a
Dec-13 8,400 11,500 12,942 4,952 6,449 12,637 n/a
Jan-14 19,000 8,700 23,242 17,383 8,724 21,296 n/a
Feb-14 9,800 9,400 23,642 12,025 9,767 23,554 n/a
Mar-14 6,400 10,400 19,642 6,831 11,812 18,573 n/a
Apr-14 6,500 9,300 16,842 8,047 10,002 16,618 n/a
May-14 6,800 9,000 14,642 8,431 10,498 14,551 76.6%
Jun-14 8,000 8,100 14,542 6,627 8,787 12,391 77.3%
Jul-14 8,000 8,100 14,442 9,101 7,872 13,620 77.9%
Aug-14 7,400 8,000 13,842 6,795 7,318 13,097 78.5%
Sep-14 7,300 8,000 13,142 6,350 6,680 12,767 78.8%
Oct-14 7,800 8,500 12,442 10,155 8,785 14,137 83.2%
Nov-14 7,600 7,800 12,242 5,746 5,844 14,039 83.4%
Dec-14 5,600 6,500 11,342 4,077 6,447 11,669 83.7%
Jan-15 19,000 8,700 21,642 not available not available not available not available
Feb-15 9,700 9,800 21,542 not available not available not available not available
Mar-15 6,400 11,000 16,942 not available not available not available not available
Apr-15 6,700 9,600 14,042 not available not available not available not available
May-15 7,100 9,100 12,042 not available not available not available not available
Jun-15 7,500 8,000 11,542 not available not available not available not available
Jul-15 8,000 8,100 11,442 not available not available not available not available
Aug-15 7,400 7,600 11,242 not available not available not available not available
Sep-15 7,300 7,500 11,042 not available not available not available not available

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.