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Post-Government Employment

Whether retiring or resigning from Government service, there are rules you need to be aware of to avoid both compromising your current job and causing you and your future employer difficulties navigating your new role.

The information on this page and within the PGE Related Links identifies statutes and regulations that restrict or otherwise affect activities of Department of the Air Force personnel after they leave Government service. This information is a summary of the rules and is not intended to be legal advice. Departing personnel should consult with their local ethics official(s) for advice concerning their specific situation. For the Secretariat and Headquarters Air and Space Forces, the Air Force Ethics Office (AFEO) in SAF/GCA is your servicing ethics advisors. Major Commands and below should contact their local Judge Advocate.

Post-Government Employment at a Glance

THE BASICS

Seeking Employment

  • You can look for a new job while on active duty or a government civilian employee.

  • Seeking employment is fact-based but generally means communicating specific interest in a job (e.g., submitting an application or resume and the steps that normally follow - interviewing, negotiating terms, salary, etc.).

  • If you are approached by a company and asked to discuss your future plans for post-government employment, you must affirmatively decline any discussion, not delay, in order to not cross the threshold of seeking employment.

  • Once you start seeking employment with a prospective employer, you may not take any official action that could affect the financial interest of that prospective employer.

  • To avoid conflicts of interest while conducting your job search, it may be necessary to formally disqualify yourself in writing from working on official matters involving a prospective employer.

Representation Bans - 18 USC § 207(a)

  • Lifetime/Permanent Restriction - You may never make representations to the Government on behalf of someone else regarding a particular matter involving specific parties that you worked on while in Government service.

  • Two-Year Restriction - For two years after leaving Government service, you may not make representations to the Government on behalf of someone else regarding a particular matter involving specific parties that you did not work on yourself but was pending under your official responsibility during your last year of service.

Representation Bans - 18 USC § 207(c)

  • One Year Cooling-Off Period - for all senior personnel, for one year after leaving a senior position, you may not represent anyone else, with the intent to influence, before your former agency (the DAF including both Air Force and Space Force), regarding any official action.

    • Senior personnel defined:

      • For military - general officers only

      • For civilian employees - personnel whose rate of pay is equal to or greater than 86.5 percent of the rate for level II of the Executive Schedule. That means it applies to civilian employees whose basic pay - without locality pay - is equal to or greater than $191,943 (number as of 2024).

    • This means you should not appear in any DAF spaces

    • Even “non-speaking” appearance could be seen as an effort to influence the agency.

    • This does not prohibit behind-the-scenes work to support others' contacts with the Government.

Procurement Integrity Act

  • No matter your title, if you are participating personally and substantially in an acquisition valued over $250,000, and receive a PGE contact from a representative of a bidder/offeror, you must report that contact to your supervisor and your ethics official and either reject the employment offer or recuse yourself.

  • If you fall into a covered position or have taken a covered action in relation to a company for a contract worth over $10 million, you are prohibited from accepting compensation from that company for one year from when you last held the position or took the covered action.

  • See the AFEO PGE Handbook, link below, for more information.

Working While on Terminal Leave

  • Military personnel may accept outside employment and begin working while on terminal leave. There are restrictions.

    • In most situations, you may not represent employers back to any agency in the Federal Government.

    • You may not work as a federal contractor until after your retirement/separation date.

      • For senior personnel, this is in addition to the one year cooling-off period discussed above.

For OGE Form 278 Filers

  • You must file a termination OGE Form 278e report no later than 30 days after termination and no earlier than 15 days before termination.

  • The last day of service is the day before your official retirement; not the day you start terminal leave.

  • The reporting period is 1 January through the last day of service. If you are retiring prior to August 2025 and have not filed your annual report, you may be able to file a combination annual/termination report.

  • If you file prior to termination and there are any changes between the filing and your retirement date, you must update your report.