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

March 13 is due date to submit prepare for massive layoffs

Workers would receive buyout payment of up to $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 government firms are turning to early retirement programs to reduce headcount as they scramble to fulfill President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Fda, are amongst the agencies which have used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent to leave their tasks.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnel experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.

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

All U.S. federal government firms have been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday as part of Trump's unmatched campaign to revamp 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 government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already used perks of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resource and public governance stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation reward payments, is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It also needs employees who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within five years.

"If your technique is to get as numerous people out the door voluntarily, that minimizes the danger of court orders and opposition to you in the long run," stated Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan.

OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed by means of media leaks how numerous employees they prepare to cut in the second phase of layoffs. They consist of 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 staff.

Despite the looming due date, no agency has actually yet sent its job-cutting plan to OPM, the government's human resources department that is collating the data, a person familiar with the matter informed Reuters. OPM decreased to comment.

OPM itself has actually offered lump-sum payments to some 650 OPM workers, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were given up until March 12 to respond.

At the General Services Administration, employees were notified on Monday that OPM had actually greenlit a strategy to provide an early retirement program to all qualified employees.

"I motivate each of you to consider your alternatives as we move on," GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian composed in an e-mail seen by Reuters. "The new GSA will be slimmer, more efficient and laser-focused on efficiency and high-value results."

On March 10, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an e-mail to all its 19,000 staff members revealing a Friday, March 14, deadline to opt into a VSIP. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

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

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior VSIP offer by adding that employees accepting it would get two months of complete pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters.

Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union which represents 110,000 federal government employees, stated the Trump administration was using "a genuine program to additional damage the capabilities of companies to finish their mission."

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