Reduction In Force Benefits GuideThis fact sheet summarizes benefits that are provided for employees who have been reached for reduction in force actions (RIF). Employees who have specific questions concerning their entitlement to benefits should contact the personnel office of their agency. Reduction In Force Procedures The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) RIF regulations are derived from the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 and are codified in Sections 3501-3503 of Title 5, United States Code. OPM implements the law through regulations published in Part 351 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR, Part 351), and instructions in OPM's Downsizing Handbook. CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE AND SPECIAL SELECTION PRIORITY Competitive service employees holding career or career-conditional appointments who have received a specific notice of separation by a RIF are eligible for placement assistance in finding other positions: In July, 1995, President Clinton directed that Federal Executive agencies provide career transition assistance to their surplus and displaced employees. As a result of that directive, OPM issued career transition assistance regulations in December, 1995, which suspended the former Interagency Placement Program (IPP), and replaced it with a new Interagency Career Placement Program. Under this program, all surplus and displaced employees who work in Executive Branch agencies are eligible to receive career transition assistance from their agencies. They also may receive special selection priority for positions in their agency within the local commuting area for which they apply and are found well-qualified. Eligibility begins when the employee receives either a specific RIF notice of separation, or a more general notice that the employee is likely to be separated through RIF, or for declining a directed reassignment to another commuting area. Employees are entitled to see a copy of their agency's Career Transition Assistance Plan detailing the services available, and the special selection priority for which they may be eligible. Once an employee receives a reduction in force separation notice, they also become eligible for interagency selection priority. This means that the employee can apply for a competitive service vacancy posted on the Federal Employment Information System (information on the System is listed on page 5), as long as it is in the same local commuting area, and the employee is found well-qualified, then he or she must be selected for that position. If there are two or more displaced employees who are well-qualified, the agency may choose among them. The eligibility for interagency special selection priority begins with the date the RIF notice is received, and extends one year from the date of separation. Unlike the former IPP, there are no registration procedures or centralized inventory from which referrals are made. The employee is responsible for identifying the positions for which interested, and applying directly to the agency for the vacancy. Reemployment Priority List (RPL). The RPL is primarily a post-RIF program administered by individual agencies that gives separated employees priority consideration over outside applicants for positions filled by their agency. Provided that the separated employee did not refuse a RIF offer of assignment to a position at the same grade, a separated career employee is placed on the RPL for 2 years, while a separated career-conditional or probationary employee is placed on the RPL for 1 year. Excepted service employees who are eligible for veterans' preference and who are separated by a RIF are eligible to have their names placed on a reemployment list that gives them future consideration for excepted positions filled by their former agency. Further information on the reemployment list for excepted employees is found in Part 302 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. Department of Defense (DoD), Priority Placement Program (PPP). DoD administers an internal agency Priority Placement Program for its displaced employees. As this is an internal DoD program, information regarding the PPP may be obtained through an employee's local civilian personnel office or the appropriate DoD PPP Zone Coordinator. OPM does not have information on this program. Repromotion Priority Agencies are authorized to provide in their internal placement plans those employees who are downgraded because of a RIF may receive priority consideration for promotion to positions up to their former grade level. Grade and Pay Retention An employee who is placed in a lower-graded position in his or her agency as the result of RIF procedures is entitled to retain the same grade for 2 years. The employee's retained grade is considered for most purposes (including pay and pay administration, retirement, life insurance, eligibility for training, promotions, and within-grade increases, but not for future RIF competition) as the grade of the position the employee holds after downgrading because of a RIF. (For example, an employee who holds a GS-12 position and is downgraded because of a RIF to a GS-9 position is still considered to be a GS-12 for most purposes.) An employee who is downgraded during a RIF is eligible for grade retention only after first completing at least 52 consecutive weeks at a higher grade than the position into which he or she is placed. An employee has a right to grade retention if he or she has received a specific RIF notice, and receives a written offer of a position that is offered at management's initiative. Following grade retention, an employee is eligible for indefinite pay retention. An employee who is downgraded because of a RIF, but who does not meet the 52-week eligibility for grade retention, is also eligible for indefinite pay retention. Pay retention applies when the pay rate of the position the employee held prior to the RIF exceeds the highest step of the lower-graded position held by the employee after the RIF. Under pay retention, the employee is placed in the lower grade with the pay set at an appropriate step or pay rate of the lower grade, or at no more than 150% of the maximum rate for the grade in which the employee is placed, whichever is lower. The employee then receives 50% of any adjustment (e.g., an annual comparability increase) in the maximum rate to which he or she was reduced until the rate of the employee's new grade equals or exceeds the employee's then current pay. Part 536 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, contains more information on grade and pay retention. Severance Pay An employee is eligible to receive severance pay after separation by a RIF, or by adverse action procedures after declining to transfer with his or her function, provided that the employee has not declined to accept a reasonable offer of a position within two actual grades of the employee's current grade level in the same commuting area. Also, the separated employee must have served at least 12 continuous months in an appointment without a time limitation (or in a time-limited appointment that follows an appointment without time limitation by not more than 3 days), and must not be eligible for an immediate annuity as a Federal employee or as a retired member of the armed forces. Severance pay is computed at the rate of one week's basic pay for each of the first 10 years of civilian service (no credit is allowed for service in the armed forces unless it interrupts otherwise creditable civilian service) plus two week's basic pay for each year of creditable service over 10 years. An age adjustment allowance of 10% is added for each year the employee is over 40 years of age. The total amount of severance pay, which can be paid to an employee, is limited to 1 year's salary (e.g., if an employee receives severance pay for a time, then returns to Federal employment and is separated again, the employee is entitled to further severance pay, but not to exceed a combined period of 1 year). Part 550 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, contains more information about severance pay. Unemployment Insurance The U.S. Department of Labor, through agreements with State governments, administers the unemployment insurance program for Federal employees. The States (including the District of Columbia) determine eligibility for benefits as well as the amounts paid to separated employees. The unemployment insurance program provides a weekly income for a limited period of time to separated Federal civilian workers who are eligible for benefits. An employee who wishes to file a claim for benefits should go to the appropriate State employment service office or unemployment insurance claims office to register for work and file a claim. The employee should take his or her social security card, official notice of separation or non-pay status (SF 50), and notice about unemployment insurance (SF 8). Information concerning unemployment insurance is available from the local office of the State employment service. Unused Leave Except for certain statutory limitations, all civilian employees covered by the annual leave laws or other authorized leave systems are, upon separation from the Federal service, entitled to receive a lump-sum payment for accumulated and current accrued annual leave. An employee may not receive payment for unused sick leave. However, an employee who is separated from the Federal government is entitled to have his or her sick leave recredited if the individual is reemployed in the Federal service. Also, unused sick leave is added to the total service of an employee who is eligible for annuity benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System. Retirement Federal employees first hired before January 1, 1984, who were eligible for retirement coverage, were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Employees first hired on or after January 1, 1984, were automatically covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Some employees transferred from CSRS to FERS during a one-time open season period. Refunds Employees who are separated from Federal employment before completing a minimum of 5 years of creditable civilian service have no title to annuity benefits under CSRS or FERS. An employee who has received a refund of retirement deductions under CSRS may, after reemployment, make a redeposit (consisting of the amount refunded to the employee plus interest) so that the period of service covered by the refund may be included in the computation of annuity benefits. However, while an employee who is covered by FERS may also receive a refund of retirement contributions, a FERS employee will not be eligible to receive annuity benefits based on service covered by the refund if the employee is reemployed in the Federal government. There is no provision in law which permits individuals to make a redeposit of FERS contributions that have been refunded. Deferred Annuity An employee who is separated from the Federal government after completing at least 5 years of creditable civilian service, but not before becoming eligible for an immediate annuity, is entitled to a deferred annuity at age 62 under both CSRS and FERS. (Under certain conditions, a FERS employee may be eligible for a deferred annuity before age 62). An employee who is eligible for a deferred annuity may elect to forego the deferred annuity and to receive a refund of his or her retirement contributions provided that the employee is not eligible to receive an annuity within 31 days after filing a refund application. Immediate Annuity An employee may retire under the following conditions and receive an immediate annuity. An employee serving under CSRS must have served in a position covered by the appropriate retirement system for at least 1 of the 2 last years preceding the separation on which the retirement is based. Eligibility under the Civil Service Retirement System:
Type of Retirement Minimum Age Minimum Service
(Years)
Optional . . . 62 5
60 20
55 30
Major RIF and Discontinued
Service Involuntary . . . Any Age* 25
50* 20
Disability . . . Any age* 5
* The annuity is reduced 1/6 of 1% for each full month (e.g., 2% for each year) the individual is under age 55.
Eligibility under the Federal Employees Retirement
System:
Type of Retirement Minimum Age Minimum Service
(Years)
Optional . . . 62 5
60 20
55* 10**
Major RIF and Discontinued
Service Involuntary . . . Any Age 25
50 20
Disability . . . Any age 1 1/2
* Increasing to age 57 for employees born between 1948 and 1970. ** The annuity is reduced by 5/12 of 1% for each month (e.g., 5% for each year) the individual is under age 62, unless the employee had 30 or more years of service. For assistance in determining retirement plan coverage and for specific information concerning benefits under CSRS and FERS, employees should contact their agency's retirement officer. Health Benefits Employees who retire on an immediate annuity may continue their enrollment in the Federal Employee's Health Benefits Program if the employee has been continuously enrolled or covered as a family member for the 5 years of service immediately preceding the commencing date of annuity payments, or for all service since the first opportunity to enroll. After retirement, the government continues to pay the same contribution that is paid for active employees. Employees who are separated or leave the Federal government and are not eligible for an immediate annuity may convert their health insurance to an individual coverage, for which the former employee pays the full cost. Specific answers to health benefits questions are available from the employee benefits specialist in the employing agency. Life Insurance Employees who retire on an immediate annuity are eligible to continue their basic life insurance under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance program if the employee has been insured for the basic coverage during the entire period the coverage was available, or for the last 5 years of service immediately preceding the commencing date of annuity payments. At retirement, employees can also elect a percentage of basic coverage they wish to retain after age 65. Any one or all three types of optional insurance can also be continued into retirement. Employees who are separated or leave the Federal Government and are not eligible for an immediate annuity may convert all or part of their life insurance to an individual policy without having to take a medical examination. The individual policy may be purchased from any eligible insurance company selected by the employee as a private transaction between the employee and the company. The employee pays the entire amount of the conversion policy. Specific questions on life insurance matters should be referred to the employee benefits specialist in the employing agency. FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM As part of the President's initiative on providing transition assistance, the OPM developed the Federal Employment Information System to assist employees in their job search efforts. The System is accessible from a number of user friendly mediums. INTERNET:The worldwide web site at www.usajobs.opm.gov provides access to the Federal Jobs Data base; full text job announcements; answers to frequently asked Federal employment questions via deliver of Employment Info Line fact sheets; and access to electronic and hard copy application forms. FEDERAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES BOARD:using a personal computer, call (912) 757-3100; or use Internet fjob.opm.gov for Telnet; or ftp.fjob.opm.gov for file Transfer Protocol. FJOB provides current worldwide Federal job opportunities, salaries and pay rates, general and specific employment information. Many of the jobs announced have full text job announcements that can be downloaded or viewed on-line. CAREER AMERICA CONNECTION: (912) 757-300, or TDD (912) 744-2299. This automated phone system provides information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on current employment opportunities (nationwide and worldwide), special programs for students, veterans, and people with disabilities, the President Management Intern Program, salaries and benefits, and application requests services. Complete vacancy announcements may be ordered by fax delivery during your phone call. For a listing of local CAC phone numbers use any of our other methods to request fact sheet "Federal Employment Information Sources," EI-42. EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION "TOUCH SCREEN" COMPUTER KIOSKS: Located in OPM offices and some Federal buildings in major cities throughout the nation. Complete vacancy announcements may be printed at time of use. For a listing of kiosk locations, use any of our other methods to request fact sheet "Federal Employment Information Sources," EI-42. FEDFAX: Using a touch-tone telephone or fax machine you may request a variety of employment-related topics and forms to be faxed to you. Job listings and vacancy announcements are not offered on FedFax. The fax service is available at the following locations: Atlanta (404) 331-5267; Denver (303) 969-7764; Detroit (313) 226-2593; San Francisco (415) 744-7002; Washington, DC (202) 606-2600. Additional information concerning entitlement to benefits can be obtained by contacting your servicing personnel office. Federal Employment Info Line, EI-31, "Reduction In Force," provides information on available outplacement assistance.
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