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…
Browsing: buyout
Q. Can a former federal employee, who availed himself of a buyout, hire on at the Federal Reserve Bank on a term-appointment basis? Can he do this less than five years after the buyout and, specifically, without paying back the buyout? A. Here’s what OPM has to say on the subject: “An employee who receives a VSIP and later accepts employment for compensation with the Government of the United States within 5 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…
Q. Does leave without pay status affect the possibility for buyout? Does LWOP status affect retirement calculations? A. Buyouts are targeted at positions or units where an agency wants to encourage employees to leave. If one were offered to you, the fact that you are on LWOP wouldn’t affect your ability to accept it. LWOP only affects your retirement calculation if it exceeds six months in any calendar year. No credit is given for LWOP in excess of six months.
Q. As a career postal carrier, I understand that I am not immune to the “no layoff” clause of the national agreement since I have less than six years of service, nor am I eligible for early retirement. Would the Postal Service consider offering voluntary layoff buyouts for someone in my situation? Have they ever offered such buyouts in the past? A. There is no provision in law that would permit the payment of buyouts for that purpose.
Q. I am 56 years old and have been a FERS federal employee of the U.S. District Courts for almost seven years. I was offered a $25,000 buyout along with four others in my department. I submitted my letter of intent. Today I was told that they’d made a mistake, that even though the agency head had offered me the amount of $25,000 and the paperwork had been approved, it’s now been decided that I can be offered only just under $10,000, the amount equal to or lesser than my severance pay. They said GAO won’t let them give me $25,000. This doesn’t seem right to…
Q. In the event of a future buyout or within the next three months or so (February 2012): I am 58 years of age and will have 29 years and five months of service. My sick leave will be a little more than 200 hours. Will it be worth taking the buyout, or will my monthly annuity be reduced for the loss of the seven months shy of 30 years of service and if so, what will be my loss (1/6 percent of a percent for each month or 1 percent in total)? A. Let’s get one thing straight. Your…
Q. I am a CSRS employee, 62 years old, with 34-plus years of service. How do I figure out the amount of the VERA incentive that I will be offered? A. First let me clear up a misunderstanding. No financial incentives are included in a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) offer. If you are instead referring to the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) program, then it all depends. That’s because your agency has the option of offering the lesser of: 1. An amount equal to the amount of severance pay you would be entitled to receive, as computed under 5…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 25 years of service (including military service) and 54 years old. I was told that our agency may be offering a buyout and wanted to know if I would be eligible to apply for it. I was going to apply for early retirement because of the health and age of my parents, but was told to hold off applying for it because of the rumored buyout. A. If you are offered a buyout, you are free to accept it and take early retirement. If you aren’t offered a buyout, but instead only offered…
Q: I am 62 and I was a USDA-ARS employee who took a buyout in July and retired. I’m a qualified Wildland Firefighter with a Red Card. If I were to join a crew, paid for by a state entity with pay coming from FEMA, headed to fight fire or work on flooding and hurricane duty for about two weeks, is that against OPM guidelines? I’m finding it hard to get an answer. They are asking for letters explaining payment of work. Hard to explain, since there are no contracts that I know of, only requests for crews who go…
Q: Our organization announced it was approved for a VERA/VSIP. I applied for the VERA and was told that the agency would not offer the buyout with the VERA, due to funding constraints. I was under the impression that if the VERA/VSIP was offered, a buyout automatically came with the VERA. Am I mistaken? A: Yes, you are mistaken. The Voluntary Early Retirement Authority is a broad-based tool that allows those who have the years and service to qualify for early retirement to do so. The Voluntary Separation Incentives Payments program is more narrowly focused. It’s designed to encourage employees…