By securing your documentation, verifying your records, and understanding your rights now, you position yourself to weather the storm. Image: SvetaZi/Shutterstock.com
By: Justin Schnitzer, Esq.The Supreme Court’s July 8 decision allowing federal agencies to resume mass layoffs has transformed what was a looming possibility into an immediate threat for thousands of federal employees. Agencies are moving quickly, and federal employees who haven’t verified their retention documentation may find themselves at a disadvantage when reduction-in-force (RIF) notices arrive.
As a federal employment attorney, I encourage every federal employee to take the following preparatory steps now. Proactive documentation is your best defense.
Understanding Your RIF Standing
RIFs operate with competitive areas and competitive levels that determine who stays and who goes. Your competitive area typically encompasses your local commuting area and organizational unit. Within that area, positions are grouped by competitive level based on grade, classification series, and duties.
When agencies must cut positions, they rank employees within each competitive level using four retention factors:
Tenure group: Career employees rank highest, then conditional, then term.
Veterans’ preference: 30% or more disabled veterans get top priority within groups.
Length of service: Total federal service time breaks ties.
Performance ratings: The average of your last three ratings adds points.
4 Critical Documents You Should Get Now
1. Your Complete eOPF Download
Your electronic Official Personnel Folder serves as the primary source for determining your retention standing. Download your complete eOPF, not just recent documents. Pay special attention to SF-50s documenting career tenure conversions, within-grade increases, and promotions. These forms prove your status and service time.
2. Service Computation Date Records
Service computation dates (SCDs) sometimes contain errors. Your retirement SCD might differ from your RIF SCD, especially if you have military service or previous federal employment. Verify that all creditable service appears correctly, including active military duty, certain types of leave without pay, and temporary or term appointments.
3. Veterans’ Preference Documentation
Veterans’ preference provides crucial protection during RIFs, but only if properly documented. Your DD-214 must be in your eOPF along with any VA disability determination letters if you claim 10-point preference.
4. Performance Ratings and Awards
Gather your three most recent performance appraisals within the past four years, along with any awards, quality step increases, and performance bonuses received during that period.
Corrections
If you find any errors in these documents, file corrections immediately through HR and follow up weekly until you receive confirmation of the correction. Document all communications about corrections, including dates, names, and promised completion times. Some employees have successfully used union grievances or EEO complaints to force timely corrections when HR proves unresponsive.
Understanding Bump and Retreat Rights
RIF regulations create “bump and retreat” rights that let higher-tenure employees displace others in certain circumstances. An employee facing separation might bump a lower-tenure employee in the same competitive area if qualified for their position. Retreat rights work similarly but involve moving to lower grades previously held.
For example, a GS-13 Program Manager with 15 years of service who is slated for separation might be able to “bump” a GS-13 Program Analyst with 10 years of service in the same office, provided they are qualified for the analyst role.
These rights operate within geographic and organizational boundaries that agencies define. Some agencies interpret these boundaries narrowly, limiting bump and retreat to single facilities. Others apply broader definitions encompassing entire regions. Request your agency’s specific competitive area definitions and study positions throughout your organization. You might qualify for positions outside your current career field based on education or prior experience.
5 Immediate Actions to Protect Your Bump and Retreat Options
Below are five things you can do right now to maximize your bump and retreat options:
- Obtain an organizational chart for your competitive area from HR. Identify positions at your grade or below that match your skills and experience.
- Review qualification standards across all relevant positions. Document duties you’ve performed that align with other roles, e.g., budget work done as a program analyst may qualify you as a budget analyst.
- Update your resume now, highlighting details of past roles, collateral duties, special projects, or acting positions to ensure you can quickly demonstrate qualifications.
- Provide HR with copies of specialized certifications or credentials.
- Request position descriptions for all potential positions at your grade and below. Verify your experience matches requirements, especially noting if you’ve performed 52 weeks of specialized experience at the next lower grade
Protecting Yourself Going Forward
Document everything related to your position and performance starting today. Save emails praising your work, keep copies of successful project outcomes, and maintain records of additional duties performed. This documentation proves invaluable if you must demonstrate your qualifications for other positions during bump and retreat.
Create digital and physical backups of all crucial documents. Store copies outside your government computer systems, as you may lose access immediately upon receiving an RIF notice. Include position descriptions for every grade you’ve held, training certificates, and academic transcripts. These documents help establish qualifications for positions during the RIF process.
Stay informed about your agency’s plans through official communications and union channels. Attend any town halls or information sessions about workforce restructuring. Join employee groups or forums where colleagues share RIF-related information.
By securing your documentation, verifying your records, and understanding your rights now, you position yourself to weather the storm. Good luck. I, and countless other federal employment attorneys, are rooting for you.
Attorney Justin Schnitzer (see, fedelaw.com) represents federal employees in cases of employment violations just as he would want to be represented, all with the aim of achieving decisive victories. His passion for employment law and the fight for fundamental fairness began when he served as a judicial intern for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He is admitted to the State Bar of Maryland.
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OPM Wants Supervisors to Produce a ‘Positive and Compliant’ Federal Workplace
See also,
Work Longer or Take the FERS Supplement Now: Which is Better?
Doubling Your TSP (C Fund vs G Fund)
How to Estimate a FERS Special Retirement Supplement (calculator!)
