5 U.S.C. § 5595 Severance Pay

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-21 (published on www.congress.gov on 11/13/2023)

(a) For the purpose of this section-

(1) "agency" means-

(A) an Executive agency;

(B) the Library of Congress;

(C) the Government Publishing Office;

(D) the government of the District of Columbia;

(E) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, and the courts named by section 610 of title 28; and

(F) the Office of the Architect of the Capitol; and

(2) "employee" means-

(A) an individual employed in or under an agency; and

(B) an individual employed by a county committee established under section 590h(b) of title 16;

but does not include-

(i) an employee (other than a member of the Senior Executive Service or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Service, or an employee whose pay is fixed under section 5376) whose rate of basic pay is fixed at a rate provided for one of the levels of the Executive Schedule or is in excess of the maximum rate for the Executive Schedule;

(ii) an employee serving under an appointment with a definite time limitation, except one so appointed for full-time employment without a break in service of more than 3 days following service under an appointment without time limitation;

(iii) an alien employee who occupies a position outside the several States, the District of Columbia, and the areas and installations in the Republic of Panama made available to the United States pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements (as described in section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979);

(iv) an employee who is subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 of this title or any other retirement statute or retirement system applicable to an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title or a member of a uniformed service and who, at the time of separation from the service, has fulfilled the requirements for immediate annuity under such a statute or system;

(v) an employee who, at the time of separation from the service, is receiving compensation under subchapter I of chapter 81 of this title, other than one receiving this compensation concurrently with pay or on account of the death of another individual;

(vi) an employee who, at the time of separation from the service, is entitled to receive benefits under section 609(b)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 or any other severance pay from the Government;

(vii) an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority;

(viii) an employee of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, who is employed on a temporary when actually employed basis;

(ix) an employee of the Government Publishing Office, who is employed on a temporary when actually employed basis; or

(x) such other employee as may be excluded by regulations of the President or such other officer or agency as he may designate.

(b) Under regulations prescribed by the President or such officer or agency as he may designate, an employee who-

(1) has been employed currently for a continuous period of at least 12 months; and

(2) is involuntarily separated from the service, not by removal for cause on charges of misconduct, delinquency, or inefficiency;

is entitled to be paid severance pay in regular pay periods by the agency from which separated. However, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts may prescribe regulations to effect the application and operation of this section to the agencies specified in subsection (a)(1)(E) of this section. The Architect of the Capitol may prescribe regulations to effect the application and operation of this section to the agency specified in subsection (a)(1)(F) of this section. The Director of the Government Publishing Office may prescribe regulations to effect the application and operation of this section to the agency specified in subsection (a)(1)(C) of this section.

(c) Severance pay consists of-

(1) a basic severance allowance computed on the basis of 1 week's basic pay at the rate received immediately before separation for each year of civilian service up to and including 10 years for which severance pay has not been received under this or any other authority and 2 weeks' basic pay at that rate for each year of civilian service beyond 10 years for which severance pay has not been received under this or any other authority; and

(2) an age adjustment allowance computed on the basis of 10 percent of the total basic severance allowance for each year by which the age of the recipient exceeds 40 years at the time of separation.

Total severance pay under this section may not exceed 1 year's pay at the rate received immediately before separation. For the purpose of this subsection, "basic pay" includes premium pay under section 5545(c)(1) of this title.