A State Department whistleblower told The Daily Caller that lower-level department employees who fail to sign a formal separation agreement can face serious consequences.
As State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki disclosed Tuesday, the department couldn't find any record that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the separation agreement known as OF-109 upon leaving office in 2013, yet as far as the public knows, she wasn't reprimanded.
According to whistle-blower Richard Higbie, lower-level State Department employees who refuse to sign face ramifications such as the withholding of retirement benefits and potential agency investigations into why the employee didn't sign the form, reports TheDC.
Departing government officials are asked to sign the OF-109 form to verify that they have "surrendered to responsible officials all unclassified documents, and papers relating to the official business of the Government acquired by me while in the employ of the Department."
The Foreign Affairs Manual lists signing the OF-109 as a requirement that outgoing employees must complete before leaving the agency, but Psaki said Tuesday that she wasn't "aware of any penalty for not signing it. It's not a violation of any rule."
"It's not clear that this form is used as a part of a standard part of checkout across the federal government or even at the State Department," she continued. "We're looking into how standard this is across the federal government and certainly at the State Department."
However, this is simply not true, according to Higbie, who told TheDC that departing employees "don't have a choice" in the matter.
"They will not give you your retirement benefits if you don't sign the separation agreement," the 17-year agency veteran who works as a criminal investigator said.
"There's a big distinction between a secretary appointed for four years and specialist government employees or full-time department employees," he said. "If you don't sign the separation agreement, any pay that's coming to you, any retirement benefits or anything you put into 401ks, none of that's going to come to you if you don't sign the separation agreement."
Higbie said that the department can then "initiate investigations as to why you're not [signing the agreement].
"And further, if you don't sign that agreement not only can you not get your benefits they can then look at proceeding with a termination from you versus a separation from you because you didn't complete the required steps of separation," Higbie said.
