'...In today’s Federal Newscast, the National Labor Relations Board says years of flat funding led to an imbalanced staff at NLRB headquarters and its regional offices...'
'...Agencies also can offer incentives to entice employees to leave, creating vacancies. One way is to allow employees to retire before they are eligible. With OPM’s permission, agencies facing job cuts can allow employees to retire at any age with at least 25 years of service, or at age 50 or above with at least 20 years tenure, subject to a reduction in the annuity in some cases. The other incentive is a buyout. Agencies can offer those with OPM’s permission to reorganize, although most agencies would need authority from Congress to offer them for downsizing. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has asked his staff to review whether voluntary buyouts across the government would be a better way to shrink the workforce because they provide incentives for retirement-eligible and other...'
'...It is common for agencies to offer one or both when forced to downsize, with one motivation being to avoid RIFs or at least lessen the need for them. Buyouts are payments to encourage employees to retire or quit; the typical pre-tax amount is $25,000 but in some cases it has been less....'
'... Federal buyouts come in many flavors. If you work for most federal agencies there is the take-it- or-leave it, one-size-fits-all $25,000 buyout. You agree to ...'
'...money toward incentives for about 100,000 employees to retire in the near future. Some interested parties blame much of the Postal Service’s financial problems on a law that has required the USPS to pay for several decades worth of future retirement benefits over the course of a few years....'
'...likely to mean 2012 will see a hiring freeze, buyouts and early outs, and maybe even layoffs through reductions-in-force to start bringing payroll costs down....'
'...On August 8, 2011, GAO (via memo) announced a Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA or Early Out) opportunity and the upcoming possibility of a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP or Buyout) for specified positions....'
