Federal agency credit for term clerkships?

[Anonymous]

I clerked on fed courts for two years after law school, worked at a firm for five years, and am starting a job at a federal agency that has relatively few lawyers (compared to DOJ or financial regulators) and even fewer who clerked. I filled out the form to try to get the two years of credit for my clerkships, for pension and vacation calculation purposes, and the HR staffer said she never heard of that happening. She thinks I can’t because the clerkships were temporary positions. I only thought to request it because the judge I clerked for told me that some of his former clerks had gotten the credit. Interested in whether anyone here has done that.

[Anonymous]

HR is wrong I think especially if his other clerks were able to as that means he likely puts his clerks under the leave. You should be able to carry over your sick leave and also get credits towards vacation accrual.

I was a law clerk, then a career attorney, then had kids and didn’t work, then was a political appointee. I was able to get my time served and sick leave transferred over. It meant I hit the three test mark for vacation accrual a few months after I started from my first job.

This is a big deal so you need to persist on this

[Anonymous]

*under the leave act

[Anonymous]

*three year mark

[Anonymous]

https://www.mdd.uscourts.gov/sites/mdd/files/LawClerkLeave.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HR is wrong I think especially if his other clerks were able to as that means he likely puts his clerks under the leave. You should be able to carry over your sick leave and also get credits towards vacation accrual.

I was a law clerk, then a career attorney, then had kids and didn’t work, then was a political appointee. I was able to get my time served and sick leave transferred over. It meant I hit the three test mark for vacation accrual a few months after I started from my first job.

This is a big deal so you need to persist on this

Agree it is a big deal. Not just for vacation purposes. If you stay at your agency to retirement, the clerkships mean an extra 2.2 percent of your high-three salary in your pension. And you’d also have more seniority if your agency every had RIFs.

I was in a similar situation, but with three years of clerkships. It took my agency 3.5 years to get the necessary documents from the two different courts, but eventually I got the credit. I “checked in” with HR every six months just to keep the fire lit.

[Anonymous]

Were they paid? My federal internships (3!) were unpaid so they don’t count towards my years of service. I actually thought mine should count more because they were unpaid and it was a burden to have to live in DC unpaid for 3 summers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were they paid? My federal internships (3!) were unpaid so they don’t count towards my years of service. I actually thought mine should count more because they were unpaid and it was a burden to have to live in DC unpaid for 3 summers.

Federal term clerkships are paid. When I clerked, we started as GS 11 equivalents and each year moved up a level.

[Anonymous]

My husband clerked for three years, went private, and then went federal. He received credit for the clerkship plus for leave accumulation purposes, they counted his experience at the firm so he started at six hours.

[Anonymous]

I am a former clerk now at a federal financial regulatory agency. I was told by HR that term clerkships are not creditable service under FERS for retirement purposes. It might be different if you were a "career" clerk for a period of time.

[Anonymous]

The SEC counted my 1 yr federal clerkship. Keep pushing til they get it right. It’s worth the fuss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a former clerk now at a federal financial regulatory agency. I was told by HR that term clerkships are not creditable service under FERS for retirement purposes. It might be different if you were a "career" clerk for a period of time.

Maybe your judge didn’t put you under the leave act. Some don’t. Most do. Sounds like op’s judge does

[Anonymous]

I believe it depends on whether you were contributing to FERS during your clerkship. My spouse gets credit for leave purposes but not sure about for pension

[Anonymous]

My clerkship was under the Leave Act but the judge only let us use leave in emergencies or when sick. It worked out because we all got a nice payout at the end of our clerkships.

[Anonymous]

I was given "credit" for the hours of leave per pay period but not for other benefits, which makes sense bc as a law clerk I wasn't eligible for retirement benefits. So that would mean you would accrue 6 hours of leave a pay period after only 1 year at your new position (for the first 3 years, it is only 4 hours of leave a pay period, which is a little over 2 weeks).