OPM explained that "the purpose of phased retirement is to allow the Federal Government to continue to benefit from the services of experienced employees who might otherwise choose to retire." These experienced, knowledgeable employees will be on hand to give the benefit of their wisdom to their replacements in a mentoring capacity, OPM said.

Meanwhile, it's not a bad gig for the close-to-the-beach house worker. The employee receives compensation commensurate with the half-time hours worked, and continues to build up pension benefits, again tied to the half-time employment. In the meantime, the employee will receive half their accrued benefits to supplement his or her salary, thus essentially guaranteeing them a full-time level salary with half as much time in the office.

One caveat: It may pay off to be a sycophant, because one's supervisor has the right to say "yea" or "nay" to the deal.

The rules now must withstand the test of a 60-day comment period. But anyone objecting may be seen as unpatriotic, since OPM wraps the rule in the flag thusly: "Phased retirement will encourage the most experienced Federal employees to extend their contributions to the Nation, and will operate as a tool to ensure continuity of operations and to facilitate knowledge management."

The full proposed rule, including various requirements that employees must meet to be eligible, can be found here.