Missed out on severance? Here it comes again

By SHERRY HALBROOK
The state is offering a second phase of the Voluntary Severance Plan (VSP). Employees leaving state service under Phase 2 must be off the payroll no later than January 20, 2010. The deadline for filing for retirement under the extension is December 22, 2009.

All but two of the provisions of the earlier VSP program also apply to Phase 2.

The severance payment continues to be $20,000. However, participating employees no longer will have the option of splitting the payment; the entire $20,000 will be paid at one time.

On the plus side, if you are offered the severance and accept it, but then change your mind before the date your “irrevocable letter of resignation” takes effect, you will be able to withdraw your letter of resignation, an option that was previously unavailable.

Employees still must wait for their agency to offer them the severance, and those who accept it will be banned from returning to state service for five years.

“We are very pleased that the state has created this additional opportunity,” said PEF President Ken Brynien.
“Gov. David Paterson asked PEF to help find ways to close the budget deficit, and we turned to you, our members, for ideas and information,” Brynien said. “Many of you said you would take the voluntary severance if it were available to you. We passed your information on to the governor’s office and now it is responding with a new opportunity. That shows a good-faith effort on all sides, and I thank both the governor and all of our members who have been coming forward to help.”

Brynien said the real test will be at the agency level, because some agencies chose not to offer the severance to any employees or only a few, earlier this year.

“I hope agencies will make the VSP more widely available now, than they did in the first offering,” Brynien said.

Apparently, that’s also the hope of Paterson and state Budget Director Robert Megna. In his November 18 letter to agency commissioners, Megna wrote, “It has come to our attention that thousands of employees expressed an interest in participating in the program. As you are aware, the state continues to face serious fiscal challenges. To address this situation, the governor has instructed agencies to aggressively offer severances to reduce the state work force and maximize savings which will assist in closing the 2010-2011 budget gap. Any additional personal service savings realized through this final extension will be credited to agencies’ 2010-2011 gap reduction targets.”
PEF has posted on its Web site at www.pef.org both Brynien’s announcement and Megna’s letter and his Phase 2 policy guidelines for the agencies.

PEF continues to collect the names of members who are interested in the VSP. If you are interested, but have not previously expressed that interest on the Web site, do so immediately.

Remember, however, all official communication about this program will come from agency management, and only your agency can offer you the severance opportunity. .