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

March 13 is deadline to send plans for massive layoffs

Workers would get buyout payment of as much as $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 government agencies are turning to early retirement programs to reduce headcount as they rush to fulfill 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 companies which have actually used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who agree to leave their tasks.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to help meet the Thursday deadline, personnel experts at numerous federal companies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad suits 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 help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unscrupulous lenders.

All U.S. government agencies have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday as part of Trump's unprecedented project 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 home portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently provided benefits of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

"If your technique is to get as lots of people out the door voluntarily, that reduces the danger 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 firms have actually telegraphed via media leaks the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. They include 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 staff.

Despite the looming deadline, no firm has yet sent its job-cutting strategy to OPM, the federal government's human resources department that is collating the information, an individual familiar with the matter told Reuters. OPM decreased to comment.

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

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

"I encourage each of you to consider your options as we move on," 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 effectiveness and high-value results."

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 opt into a VSIP. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

"There will be no extensions," states the email, 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 including that employees accepting it would get 2 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 government employees, said the Trump administration was using "a legitimate program to more damage the capabilities of companies 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)