Browsing: furloughs

Q. I am a CSRS employee with the Federal Aviation Administration and wanted to be clear about choosing an optimized “date of final separation” on my CSRS SF2801 (date in Block 2 of Section B). The date I’ve tentatively entered is May 3, which is the second Friday of Pay Period 10. My last scheduled day of work in that pay period is Thursday, May 2, with Friday and Saturday being regular days off. In that scenario, the federal retirement benefits calculator indicates my “annuity start date” is May 4. When could I reasonably expect my first annuity payment? I was under the…

Q. I am so totally lost in all of this early retirement and buyouts and furloughs. I have 33 years of service with the government and am 55 years old under CSRS. Not sure which to apply for or wait until our office gives us reduction-in-force notices if our office is going to reorganize, restructure. Would I be eligible for early buyout with full benefits come May? A. You really are lost! However, everything should be clearer when I tell you that you can retire anytime you want to. That’s because you have the age (55) and service (at least…

Q: I worked for a federal agency that has offered a VERA/VSIP. If employees in positions identified as part of the buyout choose not to leave voluntarily, is there a chance that these jobs would be identified for RIFs or furloughs? Is there any history of this in the federal government? My thinking is yes. Here’s why. If your position is part of a buyout, but you choose not to leave, it would seem that if the agency needs to make further reductions, the positions identified for the buyout would be the first to be identified for other solutions to…

Q: My small government agency lost almost 25 percent of its budget for FY11, and for FY12 it will be cut an additional 25 percent. From now until Sept. 30, they plan on reorganizing, offering VSIP and VERA, cutting back on all contractors and reduce contracts, etc. After all of this, they project that they will be $500,000 to $600,000 short for this year, and they are looking at furloughing everyone for one day each pay period for the last five pay periods of the fiscal year (total five furlough days). My question is, does an agency have the discretion…