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Severance pay

Federal severance pay calculator

This federal severance pay calculator estimates your severance the way OPM's worksheet does: one week of basic pay for each year of service through 10 years, two weeks for each year after, plus 2.5 percent for each full 3 months of age over 40, capped at 52 weeks of pay. It shows the weekly rate, the biweekly installment and how long the payments run.

The calculator

What the calculator shows

  • Your estimated total severance, gross, before taxes.
  • Your weekly rate of basic pay, the unit every other line is counted in.
  • Basic severance in weeks of pay, one week a year through 10 years and two weeks a year after.
  • The age adjustment, 2.5 percent of the basic amount for each full 3 months over 40.
  • The 52-week cap, and whether your estimate reaches it.
  • The biweekly installment and how many installments it takes, so you can see how long the payments run.

Your inputs

Prefilled with an example so the result is never empty. Change any number; the result updates as you type.

Educational estimate on the assumptions you entered

$42,159

gross severance, paid 14 biweekly installments of about $3,143

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Weekly rate of basic pay
$1,571.63 (annual / 2,087 x 40)
Basic severance
14.5 weeks of pay = $22,789
Age adjustment
85%: 34 full quarters over 40 x 2.5% = $19,370
One-year cap
$81,725 (not reached)
Who gets it
Involuntary separation, 12 months of continuous service, not eligible for an immediate annuity

Assumptions behind this estimate

  • You qualify. The calculator does not test eligibility; read the rules above and confirm with your agency.
  • A full-time 40-hour schedule, as OPM's worksheet presumes. Variable schedules use a 26-pay-period average under 5 CFR 550.707(b), which is not modeled.
  • No severance received before. Weeks paid after an earlier separation come off the 52-week limit.
  • The rate you type is the rate at separation, with no raises added. OPM's worksheet rounds the hourly rate to the cent; the difference is pennies a week.
  • Service and age count in full quarters, as OPM counts them; leftover months under 3 are dropped.
  • Gross amounts only. Income and Social Security taxes come out of each payment.

Educational estimate on the assumptions you entered, not a projection or a promise and not OPM's official computation. FFEBA is an education organization, not a financial advisor, and does not give personalized financial, tax or legal advice.

Inputs you will enter

  • Annual rate of basic payYour full-time annual rate in the position you hold when you separate, locality pay included. OPM's rate of basic pay also counts items such as a special rate supplement, law enforcement availability pay and administratively uncontrollable overtime. Do not add awards or bonuses.
  • Years of serviceFull years of creditable service. Civilian federal service and Postal Service time count. Military service counts only if it interrupted your civilian service and you came back on a restoration right; military time before your civilian career does not count (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13).
  • Extra monthsMonths past your last full year of service, 0 to 11. Only full 3-month blocks count, so 5 extra months adds one quarter.
  • Age at separationYour age in whole years on the day you separate.
  • Plus monthsMonths past your last birthday, 0 to 11. Again only full 3-month blocks count toward the age adjustment.

How we compute it

We follow OPM's severance pay estimation worksheet. The weekly rate is your annual rate divided by 2,087 hours and multiplied by 40 (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13). The basic severance allowance is one week of that pay for each full year of creditable service through 10 years and two weeks for each full year beyond 10, plus 25 percent of the applicable weekly amount for each full 3 months past your last full year (5 CFR 550.707, retrieved 2026-10-13).

The age adjustment is 2.5 percent of the basic allowance for each full 3 months of age over 40 (5 CFR 550.707, retrieved 2026-10-13). We add it to the basic allowance and compare the sum with 52 weeks of pay, the lifetime limit, and keep the smaller figure. The biweekly installment is two weeks of pay, because severance is paid at the same intervals your salary was, at the rate in effect immediately before you separated (5 CFR 550.709, retrieved 2026-10-13).

The rules on who qualifies matter as much as the formula. You must be involuntarily separated for a reason other than inefficiency, with at least 12 months of continuous service, and you must not be eligible for an immediate annuity at separation (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13). If you are eligible for an early out or a discontinued service retirement, there is no severance; the FERS pension estimator shows that path instead. Payments end if you accept another federal or D.C. government appointment, other than a nonqualifying time-limited one, which only suspends them (5 CFR 550.710 and 550.712, retrieved 2026-10-13).

52 weeksLifetime limit on severance pay5 CFR 550.707, retrieved 2026-10-13
2.5%Age adjustment for each full 3 months over 40OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13
12 monthsContinuous service needed to qualifyOPM, retrieved 2026-10-13
2,087 hoursDivisor OPM's worksheet uses to reach the hourly rateOPM, retrieved 2026-10-13

A worked example

An employee with an annual rate of basic pay of $83,480, 14 years and 5 months of service, is separated by reduction in force at 44 years and 8 months. The weekly rate is $83,480 / 2,087 x 40 = $1,600. Service credit is 10 weeks for the first 10 years, 4 x 2 = 8 weeks for the next 4, and one full quarter at the two-week rate, 0.5 weeks, for 18.5 weeks. Basic severance is 18.5 x $1,600 = $29,600.

Age 44 and 8 months is 18 full quarters over 40, so the age adjustment is 18 x 2.5% = 45% of $29,600, or $13,320. The total is $29,600 + $13,320 = $42,920, well under the cap of 52 x $1,600 = $83,200. Paid at $3,200 every two weeks, it takes 14 installments, the last one partial, or about 26.8 weeks of pay. This is an educational estimate on the assumptions shown.

What to do with your estimate

Read RIF, early outs and buyouts to see where severance sits beside the other exits, and run the VSIP buyout estimator if a buyout is on the table instead. Add the annual leave lump sum your agency pays at separation, and if you are close to retirement eligibility, check the FERS pension estimator first. More calculators are on the tools page.

FFEBA is an education organization. If you want someone to look at your own numbers, we can match you with a Federal Retirement Consultant (FRC), a professional trained on federal benefits. The FRC designation is listed with FINRA. The first review is free, nothing is booked until you choose a time, and you are never obligated to work with anyone we introduce. Get matched with an FRC.

Questions about this calculator

Who qualifies for federal severance pay?

You must be involuntarily separated for a reason other than unacceptable performance or conduct, have at least 12 months of continuous service, hold a qualifying appointment with a regular tour of duty, and not be eligible for an immediate annuity when you separate. Declining a reasonable offer of another position also ends eligibility (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13).

Can I get severance pay if I am eligible to retire?

Not if you are eligible for an immediate annuity on the day you separate. OPM says that includes a discontinued service retirement and an early voluntary retirement (VERA), and that you cannot become entitled to severance by delaying or declining a discontinued service retirement you qualify for (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13).

Is federal severance pay a lump sum?

No. It is paid at the same pay-period intervals as your salary, usually every two weeks, at the rate of basic pay in effect immediately before you separated, until the fund runs out. Income and Social Security taxes are withheld from each payment (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13).

What happens to my severance if I take another federal job?

A new federal or D.C. government appointment ends the payments. A nonqualifying time-limited appointment suspends them instead, and they resume without recomputation when it ends. The weeks already paid are recorded and subtracted if you become entitled again later (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13).

Can I get both severance pay and a buyout?

No. OPM explains that a voluntary separation incentive payment rests on a voluntary separation, and severance pay requires an involuntary one, so the same separation cannot qualify for both (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-13). Compare the two with the VSIP buyout estimator.

Is this the amount my agency will pay?

No. This is an educational estimate on the inputs you type, built on OPM's estimation worksheet, which OPM itself calls an approximation. Your agency's human resources office computes the official figure from your service record.

Reviewed by the FFEBA education team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Sources

  1. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, fact sheet: severance pay, retrieved 2026-10-13
  2. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, fact sheet: severance pay estimation worksheet, retrieved 2026-10-13
  3. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, severance pay frequently asked questions, retrieved 2026-10-13
  4. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 5 CFR part 550 subpart G (severance pay), retrieved 2026-10-13

Every government figure on this page carries its source and retrieval date. Worked examples are educational estimates on the assumptions shown, not a projection of any person's benefit. FFEBA is an education organization, not a financial advisor.

Keep reading

Read the rule behind the math.