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

March 13 is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

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

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Buyout program less susceptible to legal obstacle

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

March 11 (Reuters) - Multiple government companies are turning to early retirement programs to decrease headcount as they scramble to satisfy President Donald Trump's Thursday due date for them to send strategies 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 agencies which have used lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees who agree to leave their jobs.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to assist fulfill the Thursday deadline, human resource specialists at several federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and dismantled entire departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against deceitful lending institutions.

All U.S. federal government companies have been bought to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday as part of Trump's unmatched campaign to revamp the government. One of 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 residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already used rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resource and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation incentive payments, is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal obstacles. It also requires workers who have actually accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another government job within 5 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," said Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan.

OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS

Only a couple of have telegraphed through media leaks the number of employees they plan to cut in the second stage 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 actually yet sent its job-cutting plan to OPM, the federal government's human resources department that is collating the information, a person knowledgeable about the matter told Reuters. OPM declined to comment.

OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 OPM staff members, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered up until March 12 to react.

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

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

On March 10, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all its 19,000 employees revealing 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," specifies the e-mail, 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 including that workers accepting it would get two months of full 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 government workers, stated the Trump administration was utilizing "a legitimate program to further damage the capabilities of firms to complete their mission."

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