In Will Federal Employee Buyouts Go to $40,000?, FedSmith noted that the version of the National Defense Authorization Act included a provision that would increase the maximum amount of buyouts for federal employees to $40,000. Currently, the maximum amount in most agencies is $25,000.
On June 18th, the Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act which still includes the buyout increase. The bill has now been sent back to the House for approval.
Section 1123 of the Senate version reads, in part, that the relevant portions of the United States Code are amended “by striking ‘‘$25,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$40,000….” This would apply to all federal employees and not just employees of the Department of Defense.
For those with a possible interest in a buyout, the proposal includes a provision to automatically raise the amount of a potential buyout each year based on the Consumer Price Index. In effect, the amount that a buyout would be raised would operate in a similar fashion for determining how an annual COLA is determined in the coming year for Social Security recipients and retirees of the federal government.
Whether the increase goes through now depends on whether the House approves the Senate changes in the bill.
