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

March 13 is due date to send prepare for massive layoffs

Workers would get buyout payment of approximately $25,000

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Buyout program less susceptible to legal difficulty

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

March 11 (Reuters) - Multiple federal government firms are turning to early retirement programs to decrease headcount as they rush to fulfill President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to submit prepare 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 amongst the firms which have actually provided lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees who accept leave their tasks.

The buyout uses, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a to assist meet the Thursday deadline, human resource professionals at several federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and dismantled whole departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian aid firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus deceitful lenders.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's home portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided rewards of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnel and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation incentive payments, is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise needs workers who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government task within five years.

"If your strategy is to get as many individuals out the door voluntarily, that lowers the risk of court orders and opposition to you in the long run," stated Don Moynihan, a public law teacher at the University of Michigan.

OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS

Only a number of companies have actually telegraphed through media leaks how numerous staff members they prepare to cut in the second phase of layoffs. They consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming 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 yet sent its job-cutting strategy to OPM, the federal government's personnels department that is looking at the information, an individual knowledgeable about the matter told Reuters. OPM declined to comment.

OPM itself has provided lump-sum payments to some 650 OPM workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided until March 12 to respond.

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

"I encourage each of you to consider your alternatives as we move on," GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian wrote in an e-mail 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 e-mail to all its 19,000 staff members revealing a Friday, March 14, deadline to choose into a VSIP. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

"There will be no extensions," states 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 prior VSIP deal by adding that employees accepting it would get two months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, 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 utilizing "a genuine program to more damage the abilities of firms to complete their mission."

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)