US Agencies Offer Staff new Buyouts Ahead Of Trump's Layoff Deadline > 자유게시판

Agencies using lump-sum payments, early retirement program to cut federal workers

March 13 is deadline to submit prepare for large-scale layoffs

Workers would receive buyout payment of as much as $25,000

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Buyout program less vulnerable to legal obstacle

By Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid, Marisa Taylor and Nathan Layne

March 11 (Reuters) - Multiple federal government companies are turning to early retirement programs to lower headcount as they rush to meet President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Food and Drug Administration, are among the firms which have actually offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who accept leave their jobs.

The buyout offers, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to help meet the Thursday deadline, human resource professionals at several federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and took apart entire departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against deceitful lenders.

All U.S. federal government agencies have been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday as part of Trump's unprecedented campaign to overhaul the government. One of his leading consultants, the tech billionaire Elon Musk, is leading that effort with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already offered bonus offers of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resource and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation incentive payments, is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise requires workers who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government task within 5 years.

"If your method is to get as numerous individuals out the door voluntarily, that decreases the danger of court orders and opposition to you in the long run," said Don Moynihan, a public policy teacher at the University of Michigan.

OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS

Only a number of firms have telegraphed through media leaks how many staff members they plan to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. They include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.

Despite the looming due date, no firm has actually yet sent its to OPM, the government's personnels department that is collating the data, an individual familiar with the matter told Reuters. OPM declined to comment.

OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 OPM staff members, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given till March 12 to respond.

At the General Services Administration, workers were notified on Monday that OPM had greenlit a strategy to offer an early retirement program to all eligible staff members.

"I motivate each of you to consider your options as we progress," GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian wrote in an email seen by Reuters. "The brand-new GSA will be slimmer, more effective and laser-focused on performance and high-value outcomes."

On March 10, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all its 19,000 employees announcing a Friday, March 14, due date to decide into a VSIP. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

"There will be no extensions," mentions the e-mail, reviewed by Reuters and signed by Tania Tse, director of the FDA's Office of Human Capital Management.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous VSIP deal by including that employees accepting it would get 2 months of full pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters.

Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union which represents 110,000 government workers, said the Trump administration was utilizing "a legitimate program to more damage the capabilities of companies to finish their objective."

OPM decreased to respond to Lenkart's comments. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid, Marisa Taylor and Nathan Layne; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)