SF 3107 Schedule A, B, and C Instructions for FERS Retirement

When Each Schedule Applies

The core SF 3107 form handles your civilian service record, marital status, survivor election, and insurance choices. But three conditional schedules — A, B, and C — attach to the main form when specific circumstances apply. Skipping a required schedule or submitting one that doesn't apply to you both cause processing delays, so understanding which ones your situation triggers is the first step.

Schedule A applies if you have active, honorable military service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Schedule B applies if you are receiving or have applied for military retired pay. Schedule C applies if you have received or applied for workers' compensation benefits from the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP). You might need all three, two, one, or none — they're independent of each other.

Schedule A: Active Military Service

Schedule A documents your active-duty service periods so OPM can determine whether that time counts toward your FERS annuity calculation. The key requirement is straightforward but often misunderstood: for post-1956 military service to count as creditable FERS service, you must pay a military service deposit to your employing agency before your separation date.

What to Attach

• DD-214 (Member Copy 4): This is the specific version that shows discharge character, dates of service, and rank. Other DD-214 copies may omit critical fields. If you served multiple periods, attach a DD-214 for each one.
• RI 20-97 (Estimated Earnings During Military Service): Request this from the military pay center at least six months before your planned retirement. OPM uses it to verify the deposit amount.
• Paid-in-full receipt: Your agency payroll office issues this after you complete the military deposit. Without it, OPM may not be able to credit that military service in the annuity calculation.

The Deposit Calculation

The deposit rate depends on when you served:

• Through December 31, 1998: 3.0% of basic military pay
• January 1–December 31, 1999: 3.25%
• January 1–December 31, 2000: 3.4%
• January 1, 2001 to present: 3.0%

Interest begins accruing on any unpaid balance three years after you first become covered under FERS. The longer you wait, the more expensive the deposit becomes — which is why many federal employees who are veterans prioritize paying this early in their civilian career.

What Happens If You Don't Pay

If you separate without completing the deposit, your military service is permanently excluded from your FERS annuity calculation. There is no post-separation payment option. For someone with four years of military service and a high-3 salary of $95,000, that exclusion could reduce their annual annuity by roughly $3,800 per year — every year for the rest of their life.

Schedule B: Military Retired Pay

Schedule B applies to a narrower group: federal employees who are also receiving (or have applied for) military retired pay. The general rule is that you cannot receive credit for military service toward both a military pension and a FERS annuity simultaneously.

The Waiver Requirement

To receive FERS credit for military service when you're also receiving military retired pay, you must waive the military retired pay. Submit the waiver request to the Military Retired Pay Operations Center at least 60 days before your FERS retirement date.

Exceptions to the Waiver

Two situations exempt you from the waiver requirement:

1. Service-connected disability retirement: If your military retired pay was awarded because of a service-connected disability, you can keep it and still receive FERS credit for that service.
2. Reserve retirement: Retired reservists who earned their military pension through reserve service (as opposed to active duty) have different rules. The specifics depend on whether the reserve service overlaps with your FERS-covered civilian employment.

If you're unsure whether your military retirement category requires a waiver, this is worth raising with your agency HR specialist during your pre-retirement counseling session.

Schedule C: Federal Employees' Compensation

Schedule C applies if you've received or applied for workers' compensation wage-loss benefits from OWCP for a work-related injury or illness sustained during your federal career. The core rule: you cannot collect OWCP wage-loss benefits and a FERS annuity at the same time.

Making the Election

You must elect whichever benefit is more advantageous. Compare the applicable benefit amounts and tax treatment for your circumstances before making the election.

If your circumstances change, coordinate any switch between OWCP benefits and a FERS annuity with both OWCP and OPM; do not assume the change happens automatically.

What to Document

Attach any OWCP case numbers, benefit payment records, and the status of your claim. If your claim is pending adjudication, note that explicitly — OPM needs to know whether you're currently receiving payments or have merely filed.

Bringing It All Together

The schedules are the part of SF 3107 where missing documentation most frequently stalls applications. The main form sections (A through F) involve data you likely know from memory — your name, your agency, your bank routing number. The schedules require assembling records from outside sources: military pay centers, agency payroll offices, OWCP claim files.

The FERS Retirement Application Guide includes a pre-filing document tracker that maps each schedule to the specific records you need, the office that holds each record, and the lead time required to obtain it — so you can work backward from your target retirement date and build the collection timeline.

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