Section 6-B1148. SEVERANCE PAY

 

1148.1In this section, the following terms have the meaning ascribed:

 

Basic pay - the rate of pay fixed by law or administrative action for the position held by an employee at the time of separation, excluding other additional pay.

 

Creditable service - all service in the employ of the District or Federal Government that is creditable for purposes of the employee’s retirement system.

 

Equivalent position - a position of like seniority, tenure, and pay other than a retained rate.

 

Severance pay - pay for a separated employee, computed on the basis of the employee’s basic pay, length of creditable service, and age, as follows:

 

(a)To a Career Service employee or an attorney in the Excepted Service or Legal Service who is involuntarily separated in accordance with Chapter 24 of these regulations; or

 

(b)To a Management Supervisory Service employee who is separated for non-disciplinary reasons under the provisions of Chapter 38 of these regulations.

 

Severance pay fund - the total severance pay to which an employee is entitled.

 

1148.2Except as provided in § 1148.3, this section applies to all of the following full-time or part-time employees with a scheduled tour of duty within each administrative workweek:

 

(a)Each employee serving in a career appointment (permanent or probational) in the Career Service who is involuntarily separated under the provisions of Chapter 24 of these regulations;

 

(b)Each employee serving in the Management Supervisory Service who is separated from service for non-disciplinary reasons under the provisions of Chapter 38 of these regulations; and

 

(c)Each person appointed to the Excepted and Legal Service as an attorney, other than as an attorney in the Senior Executive Attorney Service, who is involuntarily separated under the provisions of Chapter 24 of these regulations.

 

1148.3This section does not apply to any of the following:

 

(a)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 three (3) calendar days following service under an appointment without time limitation, if the employee has served one (1) year;

 

(b)An employee who, at the time of separation by reduction in force, is receiving disability compensation under title XXIII of the CMPA (D.C. Official Code § 1-623.01 et seq. (2001)), other than one receiving this compensation concurrently with pay or on account of the death of another individual;

 

(c)An employee who, at the time of separation by reduction in force, is entitled to receive other severance pay from the District government;

 

(d)A member of a board or commission who is compensated under the provisions of § 1108 of the CMPA (D.C. Official Code § 1-611.08 (2001)), or is compensated on an honorarium, stipend, fee, per diem, or any other paid basis;

 

(e)An employee in the Career Service or an attorney in the Excepted Service who is involuntarily separated from the service by removal for cause pursuant to Chapter 16 of these regulations, an employee in the Legal Service separated for disciplinary reasons in accordance with Chapter 36 of these regulations, or an employee in the Management Supervisory Service separated for disciplinary reasons pursuant to Chapter 38 of these regulations;

 

(f)An employee who, at the time of separation by reduction in force, is offered and declines to accept an equivalent position in any District agency, including an agency to which the employee with his or her function is transferred in a transfer of functions between agencies;

 

(g)A Management Supervisory Service employee who at the time of separation from service is offered and declines a retreat under § 954(a) of the CMPA (D.C. Official Code § 1-609.54(a) (2001)); or

 

(h)An employee who is offered an opportunity to transfer with his or her agency or part thereof when it is transferred to or merged with a District controlled corporation, when the statute effecting the transfer or merger includes provisions to assure that an employee who transfers will be regarded as continuing in the employ of the District for purposes of Health, Life Insurance, and Retirement benefits.

 

1148.4An employee to whom this section applies who has been employed currently for a continuous period of at least twelve (12) months, shall be entitled to severance pay as provided by this section.

 

1148.5Severance pay shall consist of all of the following:

 

(a)A basic severance allowance computed on the basis of one (1) week’s basic pay at the rate received immediately before involuntary separation for each year of creditable service up to and including ten (10) years for which severance pay has not been received under any District authority and two (2) weeks’ basic pay at that rate for each year of creditable service beyond ten (10) years for which severance pay has not been received under any District authority;

 

(b)Additional service credit for employees who qualify for veterans preference and District residency preference, in accordance with Chapter 24 of these regulations; and

 

(c)An age adjustment allowance computed on the basis of ten percent (10%) of the total basic severance allowance, as determined by § 1148.5(a) and (b), for each year by which the age of the employee exceeds forty (40) years at the time of involuntary separation.

 

1148.6In computing an employee’s total years of creditable service under § 1148.5(a) and (b), the agency shall do all of the following:

 

(a)Credit him or her with each full year and with twenty-five percent (25%) of a year for each three (3) months of service in excess of one (1) or more full year;

 

(b)Provide additional service credit of four (4) years for an employee who qualifies for veterans preference; and

 

(c)Provide additional service credit of three (3) years for an employee who qualifies for District residency preference.

 

1148.7In computing an employee’s years of age over forty (40) for the age adjustment allowance under § 1148.5(c), the agency shall credit him or her with twenty-five percent (25%) of a year for each three (3) months that his or her age exceeds forty (40).

 

1148.8The total severance pay received under § 1148.5 shall not exceed twenty-six (26) weeks’ pay at the rate received immediately before separation, and total severance pay shall be limited to not more than twenty-six (26) calendar weeks during the total years of service in the District government, except that severance pay totaling twenty-six (26) weeks or less received prior to October 21, 1998 shall not be counted for this purpose.

 

1148.9Upon an employee’s separation, the agency shall compute the severance pay fund, and shall pay him or her, at the same biweekly pay period intervals as if still employed, the same amount as his or her basic pay for the biweekly pay period immediately before separation until the severance pay fund is exhausted, except that the final payment shall consist only of that portion of the severance pay fund remaining.

 

1148.10If an employee retains entitlement to severance pay, due to the exception specified in § 1148.3(a), severance pay shall be computed on the rate of basic pay received immediately before the termination of the appointment without time limitation.

 

1148.11An employee shall be considered to be serving under an appointment with a definite time limitation under the following conditions:

 

(a)The employee accepts an initial appointment without time limitation in an agency that is scheduled by law or Mayor’s Order to be abolished within five (5) years of the date of his or her appointment; and

 

(b)The scheduled date of the agency’s abolishment has not been extended beyond five (5) years of the date of appointment at the time the employee is separated.

 

1148.12The basic pay received immediately before separation for an employee who is in a nonpay status at the time of separation shall be that basic pay he or she would have received had he or she been in a pay status at the time of separation.

 

1148.13The length-of-service requirement of § 1148.4 shall be deemed to be met if the employee on the date of separation has been on the rolls of one (1) or more District agencies under one (1) or more appointments without time limitation, or temporary appointments that precede or follow an appointment without time limitation, without any break in service of more than three (3) calendar days for at least the preceding twelve (12) calendar months.

 

1148.14An employee who is separated by an agency as a result of an injury incurred while in the performance of duty, and who is entitled to a continuation of pay or compensation pursuant to title XXIII of the CMPA (D.C. Official Code § 1-623.01 et seq. (2001)), shall be entitled, upon reemployment with the District government, to have the entire time, during which he or she was receiving compensation or continuation of pay, counted as continuous service for purposes of determining whether the employee has satisfied the twelve-months’ (12-months’) continuous service requirement.

 

1148.15An employee who is separated because of resignation shall be deemed to have been involuntarily separated for purposes of entitlement to severance pay, if he or she has not declined an offer of an equivalent position as specified in § 1148.3(f), (g), or (h), as applicable, when he or she resigns after receiving a specific notice in writing by the agency that the employee is to be involuntarily separated.

 

1148.16When, with or without a break in service of more than three (3) days, an employee who is entitled to severance pay accepts one (1) or more temporary appointments with any District government agency of one (1) year or less including any authorized temporary extensions thereof, the agency that separated the employee shall suspend the payment of the severance pay for the duration of the appointment and shall, at the termination of the appointment, continue the payment of the severance pay fund as prescribed by this section.

 

1148.17An employee’s service under one (1) or more temporary appointments as set forth in § 1148.16 shall not be creditable for purposes of computing severance pay that it interrupts.

 

1148.18If an employee is reemployed by the District government, in an appointment other than one under § 1148.16, before the end of the period covered by payments of severance pay, the payments shall be discontinued beginning with the date of reemployment and the service represented by the unexpired portion of the period shall be recredited to the employee for use in any later computations of severance pay.

 

1148.19If the employee under § 1148.16 becomes entitled to severance pay upon subsequent separation, the agency shall compute his or her severance pay fund at the time of the subsequent separation as the basis of all creditable service and current age and shall deduct from the number of weeks due the number of weeks the employee previously received severance pay.

 

1148.20If at the time of separation an employee is receiving a retained rate, that rate shall be his or her rate of basic pay to be used for purposes of computing severance pay.

 

1148.21The period for which severance pay is paid shall not be regarded as a period of District service or employment.

 

1148.22If the employee dies before the severance pay fund is exhausted, the remaining severance pay shall be paid in a lump sum to the survivor in accordance with § 1150.

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 52 DCR 934 (February 4, 2005).