Q: With all of the angst and uncertainty in Civil Service (i.e., pay freeze, pay retention, prospect of having to contribute more into retirement fund, etc.), I decided the heck with it and submitted my retirement papers on July 28. I will be 62 on Nov. 3 and in December will have nine years of federal service. If my DoD agency should offer a buyout in the next two or three months like several other federal departments are starting to do, am I eligible to apply for it, or would I have to pull my papers and then resubmit them?
A: The Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment program is intended to get employees who hadn’t intended to leave to do so. Since you have submitted your retirement papers, you’ve signaled that you don’t need an incentive to do that. If you withdrew your retirement papers, it would be up to your agency to decide if your position is one it wants vacated badly enough to offer you one.
