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 government agencies are turning to early retirement programs to lower headcount as they scramble to fulfill President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to submit 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 Fda, are among the companies which have used lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who accept leave their tasks.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnel specialists at several federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and dismantled entire departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus deceitful lending institutions.

All U.S. government firms have been purchased to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday as part of Trump's unprecedented campaign to revamp the government. One of 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 handles the government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently offered rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnel and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation reward payments, is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It also requires employees who have accepted the deal to pay back the money if they take another government job within 5 years.

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

OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS

Only a couple of companies have telegraphed by means of media leaks the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. They consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 staff.

Despite the looming deadline, no agency has yet sent its job-cutting strategy to OPM, the federal government's human resources department that is collecting the information, a person knowledgeable about the matter informed Reuters. OPM decreased to comment.

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

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 workers.

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

On March 10, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all its 19,000 employees revealing a Friday, March 14, deadline to choose into a VSIP. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

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

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous VSIP deal by including that workers accepting it would get two months of complete pay in addition to the reward, 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 using "a legitimate program to further damage the abilities of firms to finish their objective."

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)