(a) Severance pay accrues on a day-to-day basis following the recipient's separation from Federal employment. If severance pay begins in the middle of a pay period, 1 day of severance pay accrues for each workday or applicable holiday left in the pay period at the same rate at which basic pay would have accrued if the recipient were still employed. Thereafter, accrual is based on days from Monday through Friday, with each day worth one-fifth of 1 week's severance pay. Accrual ceases when the severance pay entitlement is suspended or terminated, as provided in §§550.710 and 550.711. If severance pay is suspended during a nonqualifying time-limited appointment as provided in §550.710, accrual will resume following separation from that appointment.

(b) Severance payments must be made at the same pay period intervals that salary payments would be made if the recipient were still employed. The amount of the severance payment is computed using the recipient's rate of basic pay in effect immediately before separation, with credit for each day of severance pay accrual during the pay period corresponding to the payment date. A severance payment is subject to appropriate deductions for income and Social Security taxes. Severance payments are the responsibility of the agency employing the recipient at the time of the involuntary separation that triggered the current entitlement to severance pay.

(c) When an individual receives severance pay as the result of an involuntary separation from a qualifying time-limited appointment, the severance payment is based on the rate of basic pay received at the time of that separation. Severance payments are the responsibility of the agency that employed the individual under the qualifying time-limited appointment.

(d) When an individual is in a nonpay status immediately before separation, the amount of the severance payment is determined using the basic pay that he or she would have received if he or she had been in a pay status at the time of separation.

(e) When an individual's severance pay fund is computed under §550.707(b) using an average rate of basic pay, that average rate is used to determine the amount of the severance payment. Exception: In the case of a seasonal employee, the agency may choose instead to use the employee's rate of basic pay at separation (as computed based on the employee's work schedule during the established seasonal work period) and then authorize severance payments only during that seasonal work period.

(f) In the case of individuals who become employed by a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard under the conditions described in 5 U.S.C. 5595(h)(4), payment of severance pay may be suspended consistent with the rules in 5 U.S.C. 5595(h) and any supplemental regulations issued by the Department of Defense.

(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, an agency may pay severance pay in a single lump sum if expressly authorized by law.

[64 FR 69177, Dec. 10, 1999]