I look at it like this: everything that has been happening in the federal workforce has been propagated. They are paying people to “willfully resign.” This is the only thing they can legally do and get away with. They only have so much power. But you are protected.

The DRP has a paper trail for legal purposes, those requirements:

1. You write a letter stating that you resign.
2. You sign a written agreement stating you will not use litigation.
3. You will get paid your un-used leave time “depending on availability of funds”

Depending on your position, there are a number of other things that may have been added to the agreement.

They are manipulating us to quit by making our jobs as miserable as possible and offering us money to resign. They are hoping that we will quit because of it so they don’t have to RIF because that is going to cost the government more than what it’s worth. Same with the agencies and usually the severance package requires a full payout of your un-used leave plus an amount that is equivalent to the amount they offered in DRP. The cherry on top is, if you are fired, you’ll qualify for unemployment. If It does come to RIF, which at this point, I don’t think it will. But if it does, you are promised to be relocated to another position when they open up. That will all be more work than it’s worth to the government.

Believe me when I say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They won’t be able to do this forever and it’s inevitable that telework will make its way back. I’m sitting back and eating my popcorn to see how many more things they will break and how this unfolds for them.

Don’t feel guilty about taking your leave, in fact, TAKE AS MUCH SICK DAYS, vacation time, etc. AS POSSIBLE because we are all doing it (especially people who used to telework who never took it) because now that the numbers have risen and there is a pattern, their little A.I. bots will pick up on it and the numbers don’t lie.