Q. I would like to know if the prohibition from working for a personnel services contract also applies to all other type of contracts (nonpersonnel services contract) after receiving a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay?
A. Here’s the rule: An employee who receives a VSIP and later accepts employment for compensation with the government of the U.S. within five years of the date of the separation on which the VSIP is based, including work under a personal services contract or other direct contract, must repay the entire amount of the VSIP to the agency that paid it — before the individual’s first day of re-employment. Only the agency for whom you’d be working would know if you’d have to make the repayment before starting to work for them.