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…
Browsing: reduction-in-force
Q. I work as nurse for a Veterans Affairs Department hospital and am eligible to retire as I am going to be 62 in August 2012 and will have worked for five years. Can I use my annual leave (550 hours) to retire early? There is no reduction in force. Will I have to request that I take the annual leave from management and get approval from my supervisor? A. No, you cannot use your annual leave to retire early, either by trading it in or by taking every hour until you hit your proposed retirement date. There is no…
Q. My agency is offering a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. I am just a few months shy of meeting the 20-year requirement to qualify for the VERA. If further reductions are still needed and a reduction in force occurs, thereafter, would I be able to retire during the RIF without a reduction in annuity and with the supplement? (I am FERS and will be at my minimum retirement age of 56 with 20 years in July.) Also, is the FERS supplement being taken away by Congress? A. If you met the age and service requirements when the RIF occurred, you…
Q. I was just wondering if there is a list of people in civil service who are being offered a buyout but for some reason can’t take it. I have 40 years in service, and if they could qualify for my job, can we exchange their buyout for my job? I work for FISC out of Norfolk, Va., and I haven’t heard of any buyouts being offered through them yet. I was just wondering if someone needed another 6-10 years in service and was being offered a buyout because of downsizing or whatever, then maybe we could swap. If so,…
Q. I am a General Schedule Defense Department employee facing a reduction in force. If I accept a NAF position, can I keep contributing to FERS and the Thrift Savings Plan? A. No, you could not keep contributing to FERS.
Q. I have been working in FERS for 10 years. In 2004, I was upgraded from GS-6 to GS-7 due to best practices. In June 2006, I was put on priority placement and RIF to another base in Texas because of BRAC. I am currently a GS-7 position, and my workload has been reduced due to some changes of the process. Could management reduce me to a GS-5 or a GS-6? Do I have any rights to appeal, or is this all determined by management? Is this stated in the Office of Personnel Management? A. Just as your position could be…
Q. I work for a federal agency that has offered a VERA/VSIP. I have 31 years of civilian service under CSRS, and I’ll be 53 years old on July 12. Employees who accept the buyout offer are to be off the agency payroll by June 2012. I’ve applied for the offer, but I’ve only been enrolled in the health insurance program for 2½ years. I’ve also discovered that the estimated annuity calculated through Employee Benefits Information System is not accurate because it is based on working 40 hours a week for 31 years (I was part time for 17 years,…
Q. If my organization decides to downgrade the position I currently hold, what happens to my GS-14 Step 6 status? Will I lose my current pay and be adjusted to the new rate. If so, am I given any choice for reassignment such as during a reduction in force? A. It depends on the reason for the downgrade. To find the answer that fits your situation, go to www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/grade_retention.asp.
Q. Our organization is downsizing and planning a reduction in force of 10 out of 30 people. In our notification briefing, the agency said the RIF competitive area would include only those 10 employees and no one else. I am a veteran with more than 30 years of creditable service and will not be given the opportunity to bump anyone. The competitive area is so small that even my own subordinates in the same career field are not included in the RIF. Can the agency arbitrarily set up a small competitive area in a RIF to eliminate bumping? A. There…
Q: If you are eligible for a discontinued service retirement and you are part of a reduction-in-force, because you are on a priority placement program for a year, why can you not wait until the year is almost up to put in for your DSR? Also, I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System, but I have money that I paid into the Civil Service Retirement System. I am not under CSRS Offset because when I was transferred the choices were not explained to me; I was just told that I had to transfer. What happens to the money that…