Fork in the Road: A Comprehensive Guide to Deferred Resignation for Federal Employees
Fork in the Road: A Comprehensive Guide to Deferred Resignation for Federal Employees
By Micah Shilanski
These are important considerations for federal employees wondering if they should take the deferred resignation offer from OPM.
Bottom Line Up Front: President Trump has issued executive orders requiring federal employees who have been working remotely since the COVID outbreak in 2020 to return to their physical offices five days a week. There were quite a few orders, which we will address in this article, that went out in addition to this “Fork in the Road,” but right now, let’s tackle the most pressing and deadline-sensitive issues: returning to the office or submitting a voluntary, deferred letter of resignation.
The fork, if you will: choose to return to the office and embrace the four pillars of “reshaping the government” as outlined by the Trump Administration or submit your resignation by February 06, 2025, for a severance package – discussed here.
What if I Do Not Want to Return to My Physical Office as a Federal Employee?
For those federal employees who do not want to return to their physical office, they have been provided with a “Deferred Resignation Letter” that the administration will accept with a deadline to decide by February 06, 2025.At this time, under the order if you choose to submit your resignation letter, drafted and prepared for you on January 28, 2025, as a “Deferred Resignation Letter,” you accept a voluntary resignation with some severance.
Federal employees must understand their options before emotionally reacting. As federal employee benefits experts, we want to discuss these options and their pros and cons.
How Many Federal Employees Are Impacted by the “Fork in the Road” Trump Order?
An estimated 2 million civilian federal employees work for the government. The administration estimates that anywhere from 5% to 10% would accept the offer to resign rather than return to work and new policies.
Total FERS Employees: 2 million
Estimated Resignations caused by the “Fork in the Road” email:
Low Estimate (5%): 100,000 employees
High Estimate (10%): 200,000 employees.
Federal Employees have a unique, complicated, and enviable benefits package. We work with Federal Employees nationwide to help them get to and through retirement, and our goal is to ensure that Federal employees understand their options.
This Fork in the Road email that went to two million federal employees, giving them the option to return to work or resign, is no different. We want federal employees to make financial decisions that are carefully thought out and assess whether or not they make sense. If you are a federal employee, ask yourself, “What are you giving up by resigning?” before you make the decision.
Federal employees may lose their health insurance benefits—the best benefits they have—if they are not careful about what decisions they make when facing a fork in the road. Let’s explore some of the biggest questions federal employees ask our financial advisors after receiving the email about Deferred Resignations.