Employees who accept the offer will “promptly have their duties reassigned or eliminated,” according to a guidance memo published by the O.P.M. on Tuesday. Workers will then be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of September, or an earlier resignation date of their choosing.

Employees who resign will not be expected to work, except in rare cases determined by agencies, according to a question-and-answer page on O.P.M.’s website. Agency heads can require some employees to continue working for some time before they are placed on leave.

It is unclear what authority the Trump administration has to offer paid administrative leave to effectively the entire federal civilian work force. Under the law, no employee can be on administrative leave for more than 10 days in a year — let alone more than seven months.


Under the Homeland Security Act, agencies that are downsizing or reorganizing can offer federal workers $25,000 in exchange for their resignation, known as a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment. In many cases, though, the payments proposed in the O.P.M.’s email Tuesday would far exceed that sum.

Other actions mentioned in the email to federal employees could run afoul of civil service laws, as well as union contracts. Anticipating those limits, the O.P.M. said in the email that the effort to cull the federal work force would be pursued “to the extent permitted under relevant collective-bargaining agreements.”

A spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management said some workers would be exempt from the offer, including military personnel, Postal Service workers, immigration officials and certain national security officials. Agencies can also carve out exceptions for specific positions.

Still, almost every facet of the government could be significantly affected by mass resignations, and a culling of the federal work force would have wide-reaching impacts on the lives of many Americans.

Regular activities like traveling, renewing passports or filing for a tax return could be delayed or disrupted. The operation of national parks and museums, and the administration of benefits like Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ care and food stamps could also be affected. Regulators and inspectors for food, water, drugs and workplace safety could also leave the government.

Among the government employees who could turn in their resignations are skilled researchers and doctors; environmental, nuclear and rocket scientists; and meteorologists at the National Weather Service. Depending on how the Trump administration defines “national security,” officers at law enforcement agencies like the F.B.I. and Drug Enforcement Administration may also resign.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees, representing over 800,000 workers, quickly condemned the move.

“There are more Americans than ever who rely on government services,” said Everett Kelley, the president of the union. “Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”

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Anonymous wrote:They released the FAQs and it clarifies that you'd only have to work on rare occasions. I'm seriously considering the offer. I love my job, and I voted for Trump (come at me!). But it appears that forced relocations are in the mix. My spouse makes 7 figures. I think I might just leave and find a consulting gig.

Propaganda

No, I'm a real person. The number of people with circumstances similar to mine is vanishingly small so I don't think my situation would work well for propaganda. I've already been on the fence about continuing in the government for various reasons that have nothing to do with politics. I've enjoyed my career and just considering leaving while the party is still fun.

If you trust Elon Musk will pay you to do jack then just send them the resignation email. So few people are going to do it that they might highlight your situation in the next OPM email blast.

I don't trust Elon to pay me. I trust that the money is already obligated against my FTE. All they have to do is not *remove* that obligation. Look, I'm not a dummy, I've been in the government a long time and am very senior. There are a lot of questions left open in the email, but the budget is a no brainer.

It's not obligated against your FTE. It couldn't possibly be because no money past March 14 has even been appropriated. And when people resign, they don't get paid anymore no matter whether the money was there or not because it's not legal to pay salaries to people who are no longer employees.

Don't listen to this logical explanation, trust your instincts pp and send that resignation email like you sent that $500 to the Nigerian prince last time.

I dunno, i have some elderly relatives working in the govt and they probably want to take it rather than come in to work 5 times a week. Sounds like a pretty decent deal to me. The private sector doesn't give anything this good.

If they are elderly and have legitimate medical reasons accommodation will be granted. Taking a deal with the devil will not be in their favor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They released the FAQs and it clarifies that you'd only have to work on rare occasions. I'm seriously considering the offer. I love my job, and I voted for Trump (come at me!). But it appears that forced relocations are in the mix. My spouse makes 7 figures. I think I might just leave and find a consulting gig.

Good luck with that if you stay in the DC area. I wouldn't hire anyone who voted for trump and I have sneaky ways of finding out an applicant's political leaning.

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Anonymous wrote:Where is this money payout l coming from? He doesn’t pay! Remember that.

People keep saying that but to me it's obvious. It's admin leave so it comes from S&B, which is already funded.

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Anonymous wrote:i'm not a government employee so I don't know what the norm is but this sounds pretty good to me. Last time I was let go, I was given like 2 months severance.

It’s not as good as if they officially RIF you. If you wait for the government to lay you off, you will be given more than this.

Unless you are retiring or you really can’t figure out RTO, it doesn’t make much sense

How is a RIF better?

To someone in private industry this is a HUGE handout. Most give a few weeks to a few months. One company I worked with pushed fire dates up to end of month, so as to not let folks get health insurance for another month. I was in meeting where this was decided , big GSEs.

Anonymous wrote:How can he pay these people for doing nothing plus pay other people to actually run the country?

This is nuts like all of his corrupt ideas.

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Anonymous wrote:i'm not a government employee so I don't know what the norm is but this sounds pretty good to me. Last time I was let go, I was given like 2 months severance.

It’s not as good as if they officially RIF you. If you wait for the government to lay you off, you will be given more than this.

Unless you are retiring or you really can’t figure out RTO, it doesn’t make much sense

How is a RIF better?

To someone in private industry this is a HUGE handout. Most give a few weeks to a few months. One company I worked with pushed fire dates up to end of month, so as to not let folks get health insurance for another month. I was in meeting where this was decided , big GSEs.

It is not a buyout. You keep working until you resign. It is a horrible deal.

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Anonymous wrote:This is double the severance most companies offer. I’d be so gone if I was a fed.

But you aren’t a fed. That’s the difference. People are civil servants for lesser salaries because they want to be civil servants. There are also protections in place for reduction in force and for terminations.

The real question is why is this administration trying to do this in a rush?

Shock and awe. They are causing as much chaos as they possibly can everyday it’s hairbrianed half@ssed ideas.

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Anonymous wrote:They released the FAQs and it clarifies that you'd only have to work on rare occasions. I'm seriously considering the offer. I love my job, and I voted for Trump (come at me!). But it appears that forced relocations are in the mix. My spouse makes 7 figures. I think I might just leave and find a consulting gig.

Propaganda

No, I'm a real person. The number of people with circumstances similar to mine is vanishingly small so I don't think my situation would work well for propaganda. I've already been on the fence about continuing in the government for various reasons that have nothing to do with politics. I've enjoyed my career and just considering leaving while the party is still fun.

If you trust Elon Musk will pay you to do jack then just send them the resignation email. So few people are going to do it that they might highlight your situation in the next OPM email blast.

I don't trust Elon to pay me. I trust that the money is already obligated against my FTE. All they have to do is not *remove* that obligation. Look, I'm not a dummy, I've been in the government a long time and am very senior. There are a lot of questions left open in the email, but the budget is a no brainer.

It's not obligated against your FTE. It couldn't possibly be because no money past March 14 has even been appropriated. And when people resign, they don't get paid anymore no matter whether the money was there or not because it's not legal to pay salaries to people who are no longer employees.

Don't listen to this logical explanation, trust your instincts pp and send that resignation email like you sent that $500 to the Nigerian prince last time.

I dunno, i have some elderly relatives working in the govt and they probably want to take it rather than come in to work 5 times a week. Sounds like a pretty decent deal to me. The private sector doesn't give anything this good.

Anonymous wrote:Question: is this even legal?