Q. Will I be required to repay my Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay if I accepted a position with a company which works on federal contracts? My thought is “no.” I would be working for a private company. But I know the government does not always follow my thought process.
A. Here are the rules, according to the Office of Personnel Management: “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 of the VSIP to the agency that paid it – before the individual’s first day of re-employment.”