System Overview

The Retirement Processing System (RETM) external procedure provides instructions for Agency personnel offices to track the processing of separated employees' Individual Retirement Records (IRR), including those involving applications for retirement benefits in the event of an employee's (1) retirement, (2) death, or (3) separation with a request for a refund of retirement contributions. RETM is an online data processing system of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

RETM provides personnel offices with the capability of adding, modifying, reporting, and querying an RETM tracking record and printing a paper version of the IRR, Standard Form (SF) 2806 (Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS))/SF 3100 (Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)).

Note: The IRR can be generated for employees at any time during employment.

For annuity-related separations, Agency personnel offices accept employees' applications. These applications along with other related documents (i.e., health and life insurance) are reviewed by the Agency personnel offices. (See the Processing Retirement Documents procedure manual located under the Retirement Processing publication category on the Publications page of the National Finance Center (NFC) Web site.) The Agency personnel offices then enter pertinent data into RETM to track the employee's applications before sending retirement package to the NFC. Additional data needed to track the processing of the application is entered into RETM by NFC personnel and systemically upon release of the case to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

In addition to forwarding application packages, it is essential that personnel offices enter the separation action (Nature of Action Code (NOAC)) and a Time and Attendance (T&A) report flagged final, prior to the payroll cycle in which an employee separates. Without these actions, the IRR will not generate systemically, causing processing delays.

Once all Agency actions are complete, NFC personnel will review the IRRs, applications, and related documents to ensure that the application packages are complete. The applications are then submitted, along with the official SF 2806/SF 3100, to OPM within 30 days of the employee's separation date.