The OPM retirement backlog was reduced by just over 2,500 claims in April 2023.
The Office of Personnel Management processed 10,839 retirement claims during the month while only 8,298 new claims came in which helped bring the OPM retirement backlog down from 22,925 at the end of March to 20,384 to finish April, a reduction of 2,541 claims (11%).
OPM processed 21% more claims in April than in March which helped reduce the total backlog.
The monthly average processing time was about the same as last month. It took OPM 70 days on average to process federal employees’ retirement claims; in March it took 69 days.
OPM’s stated goal for the backlog is 13,000, but this is a level that has not been achieved since 2015. At the end of October 2015, the OPM retirement backlog dropped to 12,642. It proceeded to go lower for the remainder of that year, but in January 2016 it jumped back up to 19,761, a whopping 71% increase, with the surge of federal employees retiring at the end of a calendar year.
How Has the OPM Retirement Backlog Fared in April?
So far in 2023, the median figure for the total backlog is 23,213; it has averaged 22,917 total claims.
The median figure for new claims received by OPM is 8,958 and the median figure for claims processed is 9,991.
The table below shows how the OPM retirement backlog has fared from April 2019 – April 2023. Relative to other years, April 2023 had an overall higher total claims backlog.
| Claims Received | Claims Processed | Total Backlog | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | 8,298 | 10,839 | 20,384 |
| April 2022 | 9,983 | 11,393 | 18,974 |
| April 2021 | 9,414 | 11,396 | 25,386 |
| April 2020 | 6,740 | 8,115 | 19,889 |
| April 2019 | 6,993 | 9,392 | 17,802 |
| Average | 8,286 | 10,227 | 20,487 |
Which Federal Agencies Have the Most Errors on Retirement Applications?
Errors on retirement applications are the most common culprit of delaying processing of federal employees’ retirement applications. Compared to last month, the percentages of cases with errors rose considerably among the agencies reported to have the most errors on retirement applications. The State Department, for instance, takes the top spot in both March and April. However, in March, it had an error rate of only 35%, but in April over half of the cases had errors.
According to OPM, these are the agencies that have the highest percentages of errors on non-disability retirement application packages:
| Agencies | % of Cases With Errors |
|---|---|
| Department of State | 53 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | 46 |
| Department of Interior | 41 |
| Department of Treasury | 38 |
| General Services Administration | 37 |
The same holds true for the agencies with the fewest reported errors in April. Last month, agencies with the fewest errors on retirement applications were in the single digits. This month, however, the top 5 have higher percentages of cases with errors.
These agencies collectively have the fewest retirement application errors according to data from OPM:
| Agency | % of Cases With Errors |
|---|---|
| United States Postal Service | 9 |
| Department of Energy | 11 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | 14 |
| Joint Payroll Office | 15 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 21 |
The governmentwide error rate was 24% as of the end of April 2023, also higher than the 18% reported in March 2023.
OPM Retirement Backlog Processing Status – April 2023
| Month | Claims Received | Claims Processed | Inventory (Steady state goal is 13,000) | Monthly Average Processing Time in Days | FYTD Average Processing Time in Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-21 | 8,006 | 10,711 | 26,105 | 95 | 95 |
| Nov-21 | 8,266 | 8,010 | 26,361 | 79 | 88 |
| Dec-21 | 7,569 | 7,200 | 26,730 | 92 | 89 |
| Jan-22 | 13,266 | 8,689 | 31,307 | 94 | 90 |
| Feb-22 | 12,241 | 8,124 | 35,424 | 89 | 90 |
| Mar-22 | 10,042 | 9,117 | 36,349 | 82 | 89 |
| Apr-22 | 9,983 | 11,393 | 34,939 | 80 | 87 |
| May-22 | 7,673 | 10,266 | 32,346 | 88 | 87 |
| Jun-22 | 6,032 | 7,935 | 30,443 | 90 | 88 |
| Jul-22 | 9,487 | 10,706 | 29,224 | 92 | 88 |
| Aug-22 | 8,032 | 8,019 | 29,237 | 87 | 88 |
| Sep-22 | 8,086 | 10,681 | 26,642 | 92 | 88 |
| Oct-22 | 6,423 | 7,838 | 25,227 | 89 | 89 |
| Nov-22 | 6,064 | 7,442 | 23,849 | 92 | 91 |
| Dec-22 | 5,490 | 7,743 | 21,596 | 85 | 89 |
| Jan-23 | 12,404 | 9,142 | 24,858 | 93 | 90 |
| Feb-23 | 9,562 | 10,920 | 23,500 | 65 | 84 |
| Mar-23 | 8,354 | 8,929 | 22,925 | 69 | 81 |
| *Apr-23 | 8,298 | 10,839 | 20,384 | 70 | 79 |
