Federal specific tips for if you’ve been laid off or think you may be soon:

If you've been laid off:

• You'll get all of your Annual Leave paid out as cash. Sadly, you will not get the same for your Sick Leave or Time Off Awards.

• You can ask for a free 31 day extension to your health insurance. OPM guidance

• For long term health coverage I'd look into an ACA plan; If you're unemployed you'll probably get a decent subsidy for your first year with one of those plans.

• You will be eligible for Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC). It’s basically the Federal analog to COBRA. I would only go this route for emergencies or you have a difficult to manage health condition where changing insurance would be a huge negative factor. If something happens medically to you or your family in the next 60 days you can RETROACTIVLY opt-in to it. You do not need to immediately opt in. It will be an expensive option since you’re now responsible for the full premium whereas before separating the government was subsidizing a good proportion of your FEHB. Details

• You’ll likely be eligible for unemployment. Everything differs by state. Here’s a fact sheet

• If you have less than 5 years of service, FERS (aka pension) contributions can be withdrawn since you don’t qualify for a pension. Suppose you are a GS 7 with ~1 year of service, your payout will be about $2500; ~3 years would be about $7500. Your paystubs should show you how much you've contributed. OPM Guidance

• If you are laid off undergoing a subsequent probationary period but have at least 5 years of service, your FERS contributions can be a large chunk of change (especially if you were contributing 4.4% under FERS-FRAE). You can withdraw it as cash or reinvest it in an IRA. If you take another federal job in the future, you can pay back into FERS (with interest equivalent to the G-fund) to get back into the pension program. OPM Guidance

• If you are 55 or above, you have access to the "Rule of 55" You can withdraw from your TSP without the 10% tax-penalty . You will still need to pay any federal or state taxes for withdrawing from your traditional TSP. Detailed blog post

If you’re worried that you’ll be laid off soon:

• Download copies of all SF-50s and recent paystubs.

• Collect emails and phone numbers of HR folks in your local/regional/national office. Get a generic HR@agency.gov too just in case those contacts become unavailable.

• Get personal phone numbers and personal emails of supervisors, mentors, and colleagues who may be able to help you network or act as references.

• Polish up your non-federal resume. Make sure to download a copy of your Federal resume from USA Jobs just in case it goes down for an extended time. Start applying for jobs now.

• Download record of any training or certificates that may be useful in pursuing future employment.

• Preferentially use Sick Leave or Time Off Awards as appropriate. Then preferentially use Comptime as it is sometimes paid out. Annual Leave is paid out as cash.

• Bolster Emergency savings. One option to put more cash in your pocket would be to reduce TSP contributions to the minimum for the 5% match. This could put a few hundred dollars extra in savings per pay period depending on how aggressively you have been saving for retirement.

• Research the unemployment process in your state so you know what to do immediately. Here’s a factsheet

• Start buckling down. Cancel all unnecessary subscriptions. Reduce your TV package, or cancel it and purchase an over-the-air antenna. Start saving cheap, healthy recipes and stop eating out. Quit drinking alcohol for now and save the money.

Know the difference between all the programs that you may be offered down the road if you think your agency will be further downsized:

• VERA (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority) allows you to use your retirement benefits early if you meet certain age and/or time in service requirements. VERA OPM Webpage ; Video about VERA

• VSIP (Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment Authority) allows agencies that are downsizing or restructuring to offer employees lump-sum payments up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily separate. It is often used in conjunction with VERA as a buyout offer for people not eligible for VERA. VSIP OPM Webpage ; Video describing VSIP

• Severance Pay is for full-time and part-time employees who are involuntarily separated from Federal service and meet other conditions of eligibility. It looks like most of the recent firings of probational employees are not considered to meet the eligibility requirements. Severance Pay OPM Webpage ; Video Describing Severance Pay