How the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset cause substantial, and often, unfair reductions in Social Security benefits for CSRS retirees.
It is important to understand a little of the background of CSRS and FERS to realize how the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset cause substantial, and often, unfair reductions in Social Security benefits for CSRS retirees. The WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefit for workers who receive pensions from work not covered by Social Security – like those federal workers who retired under CSRS. The GPO reduces the entitlement to spousal or widows benefits of CSRS retirees, in many cases eliminating entitlement to these benefits.
The WEP and GPO only apply to government workers who receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security. If you are a federal employee who was hired since 1984, you may not be aware that employees hired before that year were covered under the Civil Service Retirement System and they were exempt from paying the Social Security (FICA) tax.
