NLRB Reviewing Applications for Opportunity for Voluntary Early Retirement and Separation for Select Agency Positions

WASHINGTON, DC — On August 7, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Agency”) announced that it was offering voluntary early retirement and voluntary separation to employees holding eligible positions in the Agency under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) programs.  The window period for the submission of applications for the VERA and VSIP programs ended on August 21, 2018.  Applying for the VERA and VSIP opportunities was entirely voluntary.  As of the close of the application period, 38 Agency employees holding positions within the Agency eligible for VERA and VSIP submitted applications to participate in the opportunity for voluntary early retirement and separation.  

VERA changes the normal retirement eligibility to allow employees the opportunity to voluntarily retire earlier, with an immediate annuity, with 20 years of service at age 50, or at 25 years of service regardless of age. VSIP provides a financial incentive for employees to voluntarily separate by optional retirement, voluntary early retirement, or resignation. The NLRB offered VERA and VSIP opportunities only to employees in eligible job categories.  The VERA and VSIP program offering was part of an initiative to address staffing imbalances and to reposition the Agency to better carry out its mission.  

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employers and employees from unfair labor practices, and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. The Office of the General Counsel is independent from the Board and is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of unfair labor practice cases, for the conducting of secret ballot elections to determine whether employees desire union representation, for the overall supervision of field offices around the country, and for the general oversight of the Agency’s administrative, financial, personnel and human capital operations.