Q. I am 56 with 34 years of federal service, and I have just learned that my position has been declared surplus. Due to my rank in my present position in the Wage Grade series, I do not see any way they can place me into an existing vacancy. If I’m offered a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay, will I be able to collect my full pension and the VSIP? A. Yes.
Browsing: DOWNSIZING
Q. I am a CSRS employee and was offered an early retirement by July 31 by Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. I will be 53 in November. If I take this offer to leave two years and four months early, am I losing — as opposed to waiting the two years and four months until age 55. They are giving $20,000 in two lumps — $10,000 in December 2012 and the other $10,000 in December 2013. A. If you retire before reaching age 55, your annuity will be permanently reduced by 2 percent for every year you are under age 55…
Q. I am a FERS employee. My organization offered a VSIP/VERA. I applied for the buyout but was denied because this offer was good for the first 100 technicians only. The memo did not state that it was for the first 100 technicians. Can this be true? A. Sure, it can be true. An agency can limit its offer to the level needed to reach its organizational objectives. That limit can be set ahead of time or imposed when the staffing reduction goals have been met.
Q. I am a FERS employee with 26 years, four months service. I am 51 years, two months old. My place of work is experiencing a restructure/reorganization and is offering VERA/VSIP. Will I be able to get the special retirement supplement when I am at the minimum retirement age? I have a Thrift Savings Plan account and was looking at a lump sum from that. A. Yes, you will be eligible to receive the special retirement supplement when you reach your MRA.
Q. My brother-in-law is retired military and has worked for the Air Force as a civil servant for approximately 25 years (FERS). He is 64. His job is offering a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, but he was told he could not get the VSIP because he receives a military retirement pension. My benefits specialist said this was not true — that VSIP has nothing to do with the military pension. Have you heard of this? If so, what regulation? A. What he was told is completely untrue. The fact that he is receiving military retired pay has no bearing on…
Q. I am 44 years old, and I am covered under FERS with a scheduled leave date of November 1985 but did not start working full time until August 1989. I recently enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan, as my wife’s insurance coverage was better than FEHB. If offered, would I be eligible for a VERA/VSIP without any penalty? A. Yes. Although you worked part time for several years, your service computation date shows that you were given full-time credit for those years of service. The only effect of having worked part time is that your annuity will…
In these days of tight budgets and pinched staffing ceilings, employees at some agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service, are weighing whether to accept offers of early outs or buyouts. There are two flexibilities agencies can use to reduce the disruption of downsizing: the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP). Most agencies have to get Office of Personnel Management approval to offer a VERA, the early-out authority. OPM will designate the geographic areas and occupations to be covered by a VERA. It also will set the time during which the early outs will be…
Q. If your agency or command does a survey for buyouts, does your immediate command and/or supervisors have a say as to which employees would get the buyouts, or could they have any influence in the matter ? And is there any way to track the possible potential of the buyouts to your command? A. Voluntary separation incentive payments aren’t like voluntary early retirement authority offers. When an agency needs to reduce its staffing level across the board or in specific activities, VERAs are used to shake the tree and see who falls out. Hopefully, it will be enough to avoid…
Q. I am a FERS employees who retired Dec. 31, 2011, accepting a VERA/VSIP. I had planned to retire at age 62. I am 61 and will be turning 62 in August with 16 years of federal service. How and how much was I penalized for accepting the early-out? A. Your annuity would have been reduced by 5/12 of 1 percent for every month you were under age 62.
Q. My agency was planning to conduct a reduction in force in November 2011. Prior to that, there was a mock RIF in which we pretty much determined where employees would bump/retreat to. Based on that information, I elected to apply for a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and was approved in September 2011, under optional retirement (30 years FERS with minimum retirement age). Retirement would be by March 31, 2012, for the VSIP. Two months later, in November, the RIF was canceled, and a second VSIP date established, where we could leave Aug. 31. Since the RIF was canceled, I…