§3523 Authority to provide voluntary separation incentive payments

Summary

Agencies may offer a voluntary separation incentive payment to employees under a plan the agency creates under section 3522. The offer can target employees by unit, job series or level, location, skills or other job-related factors, specific time windows, or any mix of those. The payment is a one-time cash lump sum paid after the employee leaves. It equals the smaller of what the employee would get under section 5595(c) if eligible (without reducing for earlier payments) or an agency-set amount up to $25,000. It only applies when an employee leaves voluntarily by retirement or resignation under this part of the law. The payment cannot be used to calculate other government benefits or included when figuring severance pay under section 5595 for a different separation. The money must come from funds available to pay the employee’s basic pay.