Service Computation Date (SCD)

The service Computation Date (SCD) determines an employee’s eligibility for a specific benefit or entitlement. There are four types of SCDs: Leave, Retirement, Thrift Savings Plan, and Reduction-In-Force (RIF).

• The Leave SCD determines whether the employee will earn four, six, or eight hours of annual leave each pay period, and is reflected in block #31 of the Standard Form (SF) 50.
• The Retirement SCD is used to determine the total amount of Federal service that is used to determine retirement eligibility. An employee’s retirement SCD is often the date of his/her first Federal appointment that was covered under the CSRS, CSRS-Offset, or FERS. The retirement SCD may be adjusted forward (less total time) to account for time that is not creditable for retirement or adjusted backwards (more total time) to account for such things as military service and service credit payments for previously non-creditable time.
  • Time not creditable for retirement (and may affect the Retirement SCD):
    • Excess leave without pay (LWOP);
    • Federal service requiring a deposit that has not been paid;
    • Temporary service performed after 1989 (FERS only); and
    • Breaks in Federal service in excess of three days.
• The TSP service computation date is used for vesting purposes and is required only for an employee covered by the FERS retirement system. All Federal Civilian service time is included in this SCD, but the date may not reflect a value earlier than 1 January 1984.
• The RIF SCD is one of four factors used to determine an employee’s retention standing and final placement on a retention register for RIF purposes. The RIF SCD includes all creditable military and civilian service and is adjusted with additional credit (up to a maximum of 20 years) for the employee’s performance ratings. The “adjusted” RIF-SCD is reflected on the retention register and is included in the RIF notice provided to an impacted employee.