Browsing: federal service

Q. I have been employed with the Department of Homeland Security in the Transportation Security Administration for just under five years. I am planning to leave federal service to obtain field experience in the private sector with ambitions to return to the federal system with the FBI. 1. Are there any specific impacts of leaving service before the five-year milestone? 2. Are there specific do’s and don’t’s when leaving with intent to return to service? 3. Will the time I have invested stay with me when I rejoin the system? 4. Do I need to resume service within a certain…

Q. I have more than 24 years’ federal service, am 65 and recently was offered a $20,000 buyout. When I received the printout for the buyout, it showed I had two exemptions not considered or computed for the federal tax and I was charged the full 25 percent federal tax, $5,000. The normal state tax with two exemptions, along with Social Security and Medicare, were taken out at the usual rate with two exemptions. Should my two exemptions have been figured into and deducted from the deduction? A. The 25 percent federal tax deduction is automatic and is taken from…

Q. I have more than 24 years’ federal service, am 65 and recently was offered a $20,000 buyout. When I received the printout for the buyout, it showed I had two exemptions not considered or computed for the federal tax and I was charged the full 25 percent federal tax, $5,000. The normal state tax with two exemptions, along with Social Security and Medicare, were taken out at the usual rate with two exemptions. Should my two exemptions have been figured into and deducted from the deduction? A. The 25 percent federal tax deduction is automatic and is taken from…

Q. I retired from federal service in September. While I was working in Europe, I earned home leave, and it has remained on my leave and earnings statement since I returned to the continental Unites States in 2004. Will I receive pay for it when I retire? A. As a rule, home leave may be taken only during service abroad or within a reasonable period after you return from service abroad and are expected to return to service abroad immediately or on completion of an assignment in the U.S. Since home leave is grated at the discretion of an agency,…

Q. I worked for the Department of Justice for 18 months, then transferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs. I have served three years of federal service. Am I entitled to begin receiving six hours of annual leave per pay period, or did my service time start over when I transferred? A. Yes. Your prior service time transferred with you.

Q. In 1985, after 16 years of federal service with the Department of Defense, I withdrew all my retirement contributions. I am now 64. How can I compute the amount of payback necessary to draw a pension, or is that possible? A. It would be possible only if you returned to work for the federal government.

Q: I know there is a military time buy back process so military time can apply toward civilian retirement. If I have federal time, can I apply that toward a military retirement if I join the military? Or does it only go one way? A: No, you can’t apply your federal civilian time toward a military retirement. It only goes one way.

Q: Mr. Jones answered a question on Dec. 2 (“Annual leave and returning to federal service”) pertaining to lump-sum payment for annual leave for one returning to federal service. The answer was: “As required by law, you will have to return every penny you received for annual leave that hasn’t expired between the time you retired, and the time you return to work.” Two questions: Can you provide citations to statute and/or regulations that require this result? And what does “hasn’t expired” mean? The leave year typically ends in early January. If you retire in July and return to work…