Q. I have 25 years of Defense Department service and am 62 years old. I have FERS retirement. In 1996, the government facility that I was employed by closed and I was given eight weeks of severance pay. If I accept a Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay offer of $25,000, will I have to pay back my severance pay?
Browsing: DOWNSIZING
Q. If I retire at age 54 with 31 years of service under FERS, am I subject to the age penalty? Would I be subject to the same penalty if I were to retire at age 56 with 33 years of service. My minimum retirement age is 56.
Q. If I have repaid my military service deposit but then resign from federal service, can I request a refund of the military service deposit? Also, if my agency is offering Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay, does the military service deposit count toward the VSIP buyout?
Q. I am a GS-15 in the Department of the Air Force in San Antonio. My parent office in D.C. is relocating all field representatives (there are nine of us) back to the National Capital Region. I am 57½ years old and have more than 13 years of service. I know I am always eligible for MRA + 10 retirement, but do I have other options? If I can retire and not lose the 5 percent per year, I would seriously consider this. There is also a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority window still open to me, I believe.
Q. Whom do I talk to about resigning, and how long does it take to get your lump-sum payment from accrued leave after resigning?
Q. I am a former federal employee. I have been separated from my agency for 40 days. I received my clearance upon separation. At the time of my separation, I had 346 hours of unused annual leave. I have tried to get paid for my annual leave, but I am being given the run around by my agency’s Pay, Benefit, and Retirement Division. What are my options, and whom do I contact to get my money?
Q. I’m 51 years old with 26 years of service and would like to retire because of health conditions. I’ve heard some activities are getting offered Voluntary Early Retirement Authority but haven’t heard anything from my own activity. How can I get offered a VERA? Can I apply for it somewhere? Is there a list of activities that are currently offering VERA?
Q. Due to reaching my mandatory removal date while on an Active Guard Reserve tour, I did not have the necessary active-duty time of 20 years to earn a full Army retirement. I was eligible for Army Separation Pay, which I received in 1998. Upon reaching age 60 in 2008, I began to pay back the separation pay so that I would be eligible for Army retirement pay. I have been an Army Civil Service employee since March 2004 and my organization has offered a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay. Am I eligible for it?
Q. I am a postmaster under FERS. I have 30 years of service and will be 53 years and 11 months old when I receive separation notice in September. All my research suggests I will be able to retire under discontinued service retirement. It seems illogical the Postal Service would offer a VERA eight months before that. It seems to suggest that an obscure fact will be revealed then that will disqualify myself and others from DSR. How could I protect myself in that event?
Q. On Aug. 23, I was reduced in force into a position for which qualifications were waived, and it was a change to a lower grade. I have been unable to perform the duties of the new job because I do not have the basic qualifications and experience. Can I be involuntarily separated because I am unable to perform my new duties? I am a 68-year-old FERS employee with 34 years at the Defense Department.