Justice to offer early retirement, buyouts
OPM has approved a Justice Department plan to offer early retirements and buyouts to help shed 600 employees by Sept. 30.
The Office of Personnel Management has approved a Justice Department plan to offer early retirements and buyouts to 600 employees, an OPM official said Thursday.
In March, the Justice Department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys asked OPM to review the proposal, which is designed to reshape and modernize the agency's workforce to better support anti-terrorist operations. The agency also is trying to replace clerical workers whose tasks are largely handled by computer-savvy attorneys.
Justice employees will only be able to take advantage of the early-out option in fiscal 2004, according to a March 24 internal Justice memo.
The Justice request "has been approved," said OPM spokesman Mike Orenstein. "It is effective immediately, and of course it is up to the Department of Justice to begin using it."
The Justice Department requested permission for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Early Separation Incentive Payment Authority, and OPM signed off on both plans. The approved requests now will be sent back to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which will instruct personnel and administrative officers on how to handle employees interested in leaving the agency early. The department will be able to pay departing personnel up to $25,000.
The window of opportunity to take advantage of the early-outs will be extremely limited, however, and Justice officials had been encouraging personnel to consider the option even before the approval was granted. According to the March memo, employees probably will have "two to three weeks at most" to decide whether they want to take part in the plan. If an employee accepts an early departure, they would have to leave the agency within 30 days.
Justice officials initially expected an answer from OPM in early May, and Thursday's decision has moved up the time line. A Justice Department spokeswoman said, however, that the agency is prepared to handle the departures.
The early-out offers are limited to 250 attorneys, 275 legal assistants, 50 secretaries and 25 budget analysts. To be eligible, employees must be 50 years old and have 20 years of service, or be any age with 25 years of service.
Justice officials said also they are seeking to hire attorneys who specialize in investigating "nontraditional" terrorist activities, including cyberterrorism and financial crimes.