Q. I am a retired civil servant with Defense Department. I served for more than 28 years. I retired in June 2012 under FERS with a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay. I am considering re-employment with DoD.
1. Will I be given credit for my 28 years of service?
2. Will I be able to contribute to FERS and the Thrift Savings Plan again?
3. Will I receive eight hours of annual leave again?
4. Will I be protected from a reduction in force because I am receiving an annuity?
5. Is it best to cancel my annuity if I return to work?
6. Will my pay be based on my last pay amount (GS-13/3), or will I start over at a Step 1?
7. I will repay my VSIP, but will I need to repay any of my annual leave?
A. 1. Yes, but that will only be relevant for leave accrual purposes (see 3).
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. No, you will be an “at will” employee and can be separated at any time.
5. If you were hired into a position that allowed you to receive both your annuity and the full salary of your new position, you wouldn’t want to cancel your annuity. If you weren’t hired into an exempt position like that, your salary would just be reduced by the amount of your annuity, Since you’d be receiving the same amount of money, you wouldn’t need to cancel your annuity.
6. That’s up to your new agency.
7. You will have to repay the VSIP and also any hours of annual leave for which you were paid that weren’t covered by the days you were off the rolls.
