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

March 13 is deadline to submit strategies 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 federal government firms are turning to early retirement programs to reduce headcount as they rush to satisfy President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to send prepare 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 Food and Drug Administration, are amongst the companies which have actually provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent to leave their jobs.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnel professionals at several federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and dismantled entire departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus deceitful loan providers.

All U.S. government firms have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday as part of Trump's unprecedented project to revamp the government. Among his top advisers, 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 property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already used bonus offers of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnel and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation reward payments, is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal difficulties. It also needs workers who have actually accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government job within five years.

"If your technique is to get as lots of people out the door voluntarily, that reduces the threat 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 number of agencies have actually telegraphed by means of media leakages how numerous employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage 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 preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.

Despite the looming due date, no agency has actually yet sent its job-cutting strategy to OPM, the government's personnels department that is collating the data, a person acquainted with the matter told Reuters. OPM decreased to comment.

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

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

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

On March 10, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all its 19,000 workers revealing a Friday, March 14, due date to opt into a VSIP. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

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

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior VSIP deal by adding that workers accepting it would get 2 months of complete 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 federal government workers, said the Trump administration was utilizing "a genuine program to further damage the abilities of agencies 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)