Your first 90 days in a civilian job

A civilian job starts with paperwork due in three business days and benefit windows that close on their own. What you settle with your manager in the first week shapes the next 90 days.

If you're starting your first civilian job, the first week comes with paperwork on a legal clock. Your I-9 documents are due by your third business day. Your W-4 decides how much federal tax comes out of your first paycheck. Your employer's health plan sets its own sign-up window, and your enrollment packet gives it.

Staying matters too. In federal jobs, where the government measures it, veterans are retained at a lower rate than non-veteran new hires: in fiscal 2024, OPM's new-hire retention rate was 73.79% for veterans and 77.60% for non-veterans.

The deadlines below are set by law or by your plan. The meeting agenda and the plan near the end are a starting point you can change.

Week one: the paperwork and its deadlines

Form I-9. Every new hire in the U.S. completes one. You fill in Section 1 no later than your first day of work for pay, and you can do it any time after you accept the offer. Then you have 3 business days to show your documents while your employer completes Section 2. USCIS's example: start on Monday, and the deadline is Thursday.

You choose which documents to show, and your employer can't tell you which ones to bring. You show one document from List A, or one from List B plus one from List C. A military ID card is on List B, so you pair it with a List C document such as a Social Security card. A DD-214 isn't on any list, so the I-9 can't require it. Your Social Security number is optional on Section 1 unless your employer uses E-Verify, and those employers must open an E-Verify case by the third business day.

Form W-4. Complete it when you start. If you don't turn one in, your employer withholds as if you'd checked Single or Married filing separately, with no adjustments. For a mid-year start, the form points you to the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator. The W-4 covers federal income tax only. Your state may have its own withholding form, so check with your employer or your state's tax agency.

Veteran self-identification. At a federal contractor, your onboarding packet may ask whether you're a protected veteran. Contractors with 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more must invite you to say so once before an offer and once after the offer and before you start, and must tell you that answering is voluntary and confidential. A rule that took effect September 21, 2026, ended the separate requirement to ask about disability status, the form known as CC-305.

Health insurance and retirement: the windows that close

Use your enrollment packet to find the sign-up window for a private employer's health plan. What the law sets is a ceiling on the wait. Under 29 CFR 2590.715-2708, once you're otherwise eligible, a group health plan can't apply a waiting period of more than 90 days, and every calendar day counts, weekends and holidays included.

That isn't the same as coverage by day 91. A plan can first require a bona fide orientation period of up to one month, and the 90 days can start after it ends. In the rule's own example, someone who starts October 16 and finishes a one-month orientation on November 15 must have coverage by February 14, day 122 counting from the start date. Your plan's documents state when your coverage actually begins.

Special enrollment permits mid-year entry after certain events. Loss of other coverage gives you at least 30 days to request enrollment, or 60 after losing Medicaid or CHIP. Marriage, birth and adoption also qualify. For loss of coverage or marriage, coverage starts no later than the first of the month after your request; for birth, adoption or placement for adoption, no later than the event date. Confirm with your plan whether losing TRICARE or TAMP qualifies before relying on it. See health insurance after the military.

A 401(k) plan can make you wait until you're 21 and have a year of service before you join. Your own contributions are always 100% yours. Your employer's money can take up to 3 years to vest all at once, or up to 6 years in 20% steps starting in year 2, and if you leave sooner you keep only the vested part. Within 90 days of joining, the plan must give you a summary plan description with these rules.

Some plans sign you up automatically. If yours is what the IRS calls an eligible automatic contribution arrangement, you can take those contributions back out within the window your plan sets, 30 to 90 days from the first deduction. You'd owe income tax but not the extra 10% early-withdrawal tax, and you'd give up the match tied to that money.

A TSP balance of $200 or more can stay after separation. Nonfederal civilian pay can't fund your uniformed-services account; federal civilian employment has a separate TSP account. Guard and Reserve drill-pay contributions remain possible and count toward the limit below. You may continue loan repayments after separation. Follow the record keeper's notice to begin direct payments or repay by its deadline, or the balance and accrued interest can become a loan offset.

The TSP and a new 401(k) share one yearly limit. For 2026, you can defer $24,500 in total across those plans, plus $8,000 more at 50 or older, or $11,250 instead at ages 60 to 63. Military TSP contributions count, except traditional contributions from tax-exempt combat-zone pay; those follow the annual additions limit instead. Roth contributions still count. If you exceed the shared deferral limit, ask for the excess back by April 15 of the next year.

What works differently at a civilian employer

The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require paid vacation, sick days or holidays. Other rules can apply, including federal contract requirements; check your employer's policy and the rules for your job. BLS's March 2026 survey found 11 vacation days after one year, 16 after five and 20 after twenty among private-industry workers with paid vacation; fixed sick-leave plans averaged 7 days.

Job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act comes later. You qualify only after 12 months and 1,250 hours with the employer, at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Time away from that employer for military service counts toward both.

Overtime depends on whether your job is exempt. If it's non-exempt, you get time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. Your job title doesn't decide which you are. The Labor Department lists $684 a week, or $35,568 a year, as the standard salary level for the main exemptions.

For a private company's probation period, check its policy and applicable employment rules. Under federal law, a private employer can generally let you go for any reason that isn't a prohibited one, such as discrimination, including over your veteran status, unless a contract says otherwise.

If your new job is federal

Federal probation lasts one year for most new competitive-service employees, under the civil service rules now in 5 CFR part 11. In the excepted service it's a trial period: one year with veterans' preference, two years without, though Schedule C, E, Policy/Career and G appointments have none. Military service isn't among the kinds of earlier service the rule counts, so it doesn't shorten probation. Guard or Reserve duty performed during probation counts in full when you return, and no probation ends in less than a year of calendar time.

Probation also no longer ends on its own. Your agency must certify, within the 30 days before it ends, that keeping you advances the public interest, and the rule puts the burden on you to show why. Without that certification, your appointment ends on the last day. Since September 2, 2026, an official your agency names must also meet with you at least 60 days before the end to discuss your performance and conduct, based partly on your supervisor's input. On a one-year probation, that's around month 10.

You have 60 days from your entry-on-duty date to choose an FEHB health plan. It isn't retroactive. If you don't choose, another opportunity comes at Open Season or through an FEHB qualifying life event. FEDVIP dental and vision and FEGLI optional life insurance also give you 60 days. FEGLI Basic starts on your first day in pay and duty status unless you waive it before your first pay period ends. If you're under FERS and were hired on or after October 1, 2020, 5% of your basic pay goes into the TSP automatically, and your agency adds 1% plus a match.

You earn 4 hours of annual leave each two-week pay period with less than 3 years of service, 6 hours from 3 to 15 years and 8 after that. If you're not a military retiree, your honorable active-duty time counts toward those years, so three or more years of active service should start you at 6 hours; HR confirms it. For retirees, any discretionary credit must be approved before your first day.

OPM expects agencies to notify new employees with prior honorable active duty, within 90 days of their start, of their eligibility to make a military service deposit. If you haven't heard, ask HR. Under FERS it's usually 3% of military basic pay, but 3.25% for 1999 service and 3.40% for 2000. Paying lets those years count toward retirement. The deposit starts with a two-year interest-free period, and OPM says interest accrues at the end of the third year. If you draw military retired pay, those years generally can't count unless you waive that pay and make the deposit.

What the retention numbers show

For federal agencies, OPM publishes a new-hire retention rate that follows each hiring class for two years, so the 2024 rate follows people hired in fiscal 2022. In fiscal 2024, it was 73.79% for veterans and 77.60% for non-veterans. A year earlier, it was 67.54% and 72.92%. The gap narrowed from 5.4 points to 3.8.

Agencies differ: in the 2024 table, the rate for veterans was 54.66% at the Social Security Administration, 69.58% at VA and 74.74% at the Defense Department (DOW in the table).

For private-sector jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' survey of how long workers stay with an employer doesn't break its results out by veteran status, so it offers no comparison.

In VA's 2023 survey of veterans who took the Transition Assistance Program, over 28% of those with jobs were actively looking for a new one. Veterans ranked adapting to civilian workplace cultures and norms among the hardest parts of the change. The survey measures job-seeking, not quitting, and about 6% of those asked answered it.

What to ask your manager in week one

If a meeting with your manager isn't on the calendar for your first week, ask for one. The Labor Department's guide for employers says veterans tend to leave sooner when a workplace doesn't meet their needs. It lists what matters to many: clearly stated expectations, a known path for advancement, a mentor on arrival (preferably a veteran), and clear, open communication.

VA's guide for its own supervisors recommends a 30-minute check-in every week in a new hire's first month, every two weeks in the second, and a one-hour meeting at 90 days for early feedback on performance. That's VA's practice, not a rule for other employers.

Example (fictional): a former infantry specialist starting as a warehouse associate asks who checks counts, how to report damage and what good work looks like in the first month.

Here's an agenda for that first meeting:

• What does good work look like at 30, 60 and 90 days, and how will it be measured?
• How often will we meet, and how do you want updates?
• When are reviews done, and what's on them?
• Is there a probation period? When does it end, and what's reviewed?
• When is my benefits sign-up deadline, and when does coverage start?
• Is my position exempt or non-exempt?
• Who should I meet first, and is there a mentor or a veteran employee group?
• If you're in the Guard or Reserve, share your drill dates as notice; you don't need permission.

If your employer advertises a HIRE Vets Medallion, ask about its veteran group: for large employers, the Labor Department's award requires one, along with keeping at least 75% of veteran hires for 12 months.

A 30/60/90 plan built on real dates

Here's a simple plan: one page you and your manager agree on, covering what you'll learn in the first month, take on in the second and own by the end of the third. You write the content; the deadlines inside it come from the rules.

By day 30, learn. Meet the people your work depends on, learn the systems, and agree on two or three measures for your first quarter. VA's supervisor guide sets goals in the first month and pairs a new veteran hire with an onsite sponsor for the first 30 days. At a federal agency, ask when your performance plan is coming.

By day 60, contribute. Take on one recurring piece of work and fix one problem you've noticed. If you're in VA's Veteran Readiness and Employment program, 60 continuous days in the job your plan trained you for, or a closely related one, is when VA can declare you rehabilitated.

By day 90, own it. Bring your results, with numbers, to a 90-day conversation. OPM expects a federal agency to have sent its military-deposit notice by now (if not, ask HR), and a 401(k) plan owes you its summary plan description within 90 days of your joining it. Health coverage can still be up to about a month away if your plan started the 90-day wait after an orientation period; your plan's documents give the date.

Disability ratings, drill weekends and VA benefits

A disability rating. If you have a VA or military disability rating, the EEOC says you're probably covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies to private, state and local employers with 15 or more employees. You don't have to disclose a medical condition. You can ask for an accommodation at any time, including after you start, and you don't have to say "reasonable accommodation."

In a Job Accommodation Network survey of employers that contacted it, 61% said the accommodation cost nothing, and one-time costs had a median of $300. An EEOC discrimination charge must be filed within 180 days, or 300 where a state or local law also applies. At a federal agency, you generally must contact an EEO counselor within 45 days.

Drill weekends. USERRA bars an employer from denying you hiring, retention or promotion because of your past or present military service, Guard and Reserve included. You give notice before you leave for duty; you don't need permission. If a conflict can't be worked out, ESGR's ombudsmen offer informal mediation at 800-336-4590, option 1. Our Guard and Reserve guide covers the rest.

Individual Unemployability. IU pays at the 100% rate to veterans who can't hold a steady job that supports them because of a service-connected disability; odd jobs don't count. VA checks IU recipients' wages against Social Security records. If it sends you a notice, you have 65 days to verify your employment on VA Form 21-4140.

One example, start to finish

Example (fictional) Andre Mitchell is 31. He left active duty in the Navy in August 2026 as a logistics specialist first class after ten years and joined the Navy Reserve, with drill one weekend a month. On Monday, November 2, 2026, he starts as an inventory control supervisor at a private distribution company. He filled in his I-9 Section 1 online the week before. On day one he shows his Navy Reserve ID card, a List B document, with his Social Security card from List C, well ahead of the Thursday, November 5 deadline.

He put $7,000 into the TSP from taxable Navy pay in 2026, so his 401(k) can take at most $17,500 more this year: the $24,500 limit minus what's already in. Anything he puts into the TSP from drill pay comes out of the same $17,500. His enrollment packet shows a 90-day waiting period that starts on his first day, with no orientation period. Counting every calendar day from November 2, his coverage starts January 31, 2027.

On Wednesday he meets his manager for 45 minutes with the agenda above. The company's 90-day probation ends Saturday, January 30, so his 90-day review is Friday, January 29. Reviews happen once a year, in March. His manager wants a 20-minute one-on-one every Tuesday through January, then every other week. HR lists his position as exempt. He hands over his drill dates through February as notice, not as a request, and his manager pairs him with a shift lead who's an Army veteran.

Each Friday he's at work, he writes down what he did and which number moved. By the 90-day review he has 11 entries, and the best three become the start of his March review.

If you want one place to keep the wins you'll bring to your 90-day talk, the Story Bank in a free OperationMOS account gives each one boxes for the situation, task, action and result, plus a box for the number that proves it, and saves them to your account. You type everything in; there's no upload, and the page asks you to keep names and specifics general.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice for your situation. For free help with accommodations, the Job Accommodation Network answers questions at 1-800-526-7234. Guard and Reserve members who can't settle a USERRA problem with an employer can reach ESGR's ombudsmen for informal mediation at 800-336-4590, option 1.