Lowdown on loans

Unfortunately, many employees are getting no information about the benefit from their agencies, or worse, are being misinformed. OPM has posted information about eligibility, tax issues and other subjects in a format on its Web site. "We have publicized this incentive over the last year and a half," said Michael J. Mahoney, a personnel staffing specialist in OPM's Office of Employment Policy. But the publicity has not been effective, and employees are getting mixed messages from their agencies. Some workers, particularly those in field offices outside the Beltway, are confused and frustrated about the repayment incentive. "I was told by a recruiter that the student repayment program was part of the incentives they were giving out to new hires," said one IRS special agent who works in the agency's Oakland, Calif. office. "I accepted the job-although the starting pay isn't too great-because I thought my federal student loan would be repaid after I graduated from college," he said, acknowledging that he may have misunderstood the recruiter. Another employee who works at the National Institutes of Health and owes nearly $60,000 in student loans said she has been asking her agency about the repayment benefit for the last two years, but has received little information. "I really need to know whether or not my agency plans to offer the benefit, so that I can plan my career accordingly," she said. "I would rather work for an agency [that] offers the incentive rather than remain with one that does not." The employee said her personnel officer has tried to track down information about her eligibility, but cannot get any reliable feedback. Mahoney, who has fielded several questions from employees foraging for answers about the student loan repayment benefit, said many agencies are reluctant to talk about the benefit before they have completed their implementation plans. "If no one knows or isn't willing to say anything about the benefit, it is because the agency hasn't had a plan approved," he said. "Once agencies do have something in place, it will get more publicity." OPM will soon have a better idea about how agencies are doing, because they are required to submit annual reports to OPM on their use of the benefit. Even before agencies have dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" in their plans, though, they should be able to provide basic information to employees. For example, human resources specialists surely should be able to explain to employees that the student loan benefit is a recruiting and retention tool for managers to offer to certain highly qualified employees without raising hopes that may later be dashed when the agency's implementation plan is finally complete. Employees should be able to find answers about the student loan repayment benefit from HR professionals at headquarters and in field offices without waiting months or years for agencies to complete their implementation plans. Agencies should take the initiative and educate employees about this new benefit and how it may (or may not) apply to them. They should post flyers, for example, or send e-mails, hold meetings and tell employees about the basic provisions of the program. But, most importantly, they should stop sending mixed messages.