II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1833

To provide a temporary authority for the use of voluntary separation incentives by Federal agencies that are reducing employment levels, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 4, 1996

Mr. GLENN (for himself and Mr. PRYOR) (by request) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide a temporary authority for the use of voluntary

separation incentives by Federal agencies that are reducing employment levels, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employment

4 Reduction Assistance Act of 1996’’.

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

6 For the purpose of this Act—

7 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an Executive

8 agency (as defined by section 105 of title 5, United

9 States Code), but does not include the Department
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1 of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, or the

2 General Accounting Office; and

3 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee

4 (as defined by section 2105 of title 5, United States

5 Code) who—

6 (A) is employed by an agency;

7 (B) is serving under an appointment with8 out time limitation; and

9 (C) has been currently employed for a con10 tinuous period of at least 12 months;

11 but does not include—

12 (D) a reemployed annuitant under sub13 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title

14 5, United States Code, or another retirement

15 system for employees of the Government;

16 (E) an employee having a disability on the

17 basis of which such employee is or would be eli18 gible for disability retirement under the applica19 ble retirement system referred to in clause (D);

20 (F) an employee who is in receipt of a spe21 cific notice of involuntary separation for mis22 conduct or unacceptable performance;

23 (G) an employee who, upon completing an

24 additional period of service as referred to in

25 section 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Federal Workforce
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1 Restructuring Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–

2 226; 108 Stat. 111), would qualify for a vol3 untary separation incentive payment under sec4 tion 3 of such Act;

5 (H) an employee who has previously re6 ceived any voluntary separation incentive pay7 ment by the Federal Government under this

8 Act or any other authority and has not repaid

9 such payment; or

10 (I) an employee covered by statutory reem11 ployment rights who is on transfer to another

12 organization.

13 SEC. 3. AGENCY PLANS; APPROVAL.

14 (a) If the head of an agency determines that, in order

15 to improve the efficiency of operations or to meet antici16 pated levels of budgetary resources, the number of employ17 ees employed by the agency must be reduced, the head

18 of the agency may submit a plan to the Director of the

19 Office of Management and Budget to pay voluntary sepa20 ration incentives under this Act to employees of the agency

21 who agree to separate from the agency, by retirement or

22 resignation. The plan shall specify the planned employ23 ment reductions and the manner in which such reductions

24 will improve operating efficiency or meet anticipated budg25 et levels. The plan shall include a proposed period of time
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1 for the payment of voluntary separation incentives by the

2 agency, and a proposed coverage for offers of incentives

3 to agency employees, which may be on the basis of—

4 (1) any component of the agency;

5 (2) any occupation or levels of an occupation;

6 (3) any geographic location; or

7 (4) any appropriate combination of the factors

8 in paragraphs (1)–(3).

9 (b) The Director of the Office of Management and

10 Budget shall review each plan submitted to the Director

11 under subsection (a) and approve or disapprove such plan,

12 and may make appropriate modifications in the plan with

13 respect to the time period in which voluntary separation

14 incentives may be paid or with respect to the coverage of

15 incentives on the basis of the factors in subsection (a)(1)–

16 (4).

17 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.

18 (a) In order to receive a voluntary separation incen19 tive payment, an employee must separate from service

20 with the employee’s agency voluntarily (whether by retire21 ment or resignation) during the period of time for which

22 the payment of incentives has been authorized for the em23 ployee under the agency plan under section 3. An employ24 ee’s agreement to separate with an incentive payment is
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1 binding upon the employee and the agency, unless the em2 ployee and the agency mutually agree otherwise.

3 (b) A voluntary separation incentive payment—

4 (1) shall be paid in a lump sum after the em5 ployee’s separation;

6 (2) shall be equal to the lesser of—

7 (A) an amount equal to the amount the

8 employee would be entitled to receive under sec9 tion 5595(c) of title 5, United States Code

10 (without adjustment for any previous payment

11 made under such section), if the employee were

12 entitled to payment under such section; or

13 (B) if the employee separates—

14 (i) during fiscal year 1996 or 1997,

15 $25,000;

16 (ii) during fiscal year 1998, $20,000;

17 (iii) during fiscal year 1999, $15,000;

18 or

19 (iv) during fiscal year 2000, $10,000;

20 (3) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall

21 not be included in the computation, of any other

22 type of Government benefit, except that this para23 graph shall not apply to unemployment compensa24 tion funded in whole or in part with Federal funds;
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1 (4) shall not be taken into account in determin2 ing the amount of severance pay to which an em3 ployee may be entitled under section 5595 of title 5,

4 United States Code, based on any other separation;

5 and

6 (5) shall be paid from the appropriations or

7 funds available for payment of the basic pay of the

8 employee.

9 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT WITH THE

10 GOVERNMENT.

11 (a) An individual who has received a voluntary sepa12 ration incentive payment under this Act and accepts any

13 employment with the Government of the United States

14 within 5 years after the date of the separation on which

15 the payment is based shall be required to repay, prior to

16 the individual’s first day of employment, the entire

17 amount of the incentive payment to the agency that paid

18 the incentive payment.

19 (b)(1) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

20 an executive agency (as defined by section 105 of title 5,

21 United States Code), the United States Postal Service, or

22 the Postal Rate Commission, the Director of the Office

23 of Personnel Management may, at the request of the head

24 of the agency, waive the repayment if the individual in-
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1 volved possesses unique abilities and is the only qualified

2 applicant for the position.

3 (2) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

4 an entity in the legislative branch, the head of the entity

5 or the appointing official may waive the repayment if the

6 individual involved possesses unique abilities and is the

7 only qualified applicant available for the position.

8 (3) If the employment under subsection (a) is with

9 the judicial branch, the Director of the Administrative Of10 fice of the United States Courts may waive the repayment

11 if the individual involved possesses unique abilities and is

12 the only qualified applicant available for the position.

13 (c) For the purpose of this section, the term ‘‘employ14 ment’’—

15 (1) includes employment of any length or under

16 any type of appointment, but does not include em17 ployment that is without compensation; and

18 (2) includes employment under a personal serv19 ices contract, as defined by the Director of the Of20 fice of Personnel Management.

21 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE RE22 TIREMENT FUND.

23 (a) In addition to any other payments which it is re24 quired to make under subchapter III of chapter 83 or

25 chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, an agency shall
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1 remit to the office of Personnel Management for deposit

2 in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the

3 Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund an amount

4 equal to 15 percent of the final basic pay of each employee

5 of the agency who is covered under subchapter III of chap6 ter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5 to whom a voluntary separa7 tion incentive has been paid under this Act.

8 (b) For the purpose of this section, the term ‘‘final

9 basic pay’’, with respect to an employee, means the total

10 amount of basic pay which would be payable for a year

11 of service by such employee, computed using the employ12 ee’s final rate of basic pay, and, if last serving on other

13 than a full-time basis, with appropriate adjustment there14 for.

15 SEC. 7. REDUCTION OF AGENCY EMPLOYMENT LEVELS.

16 (a) Total full-time equivalent employment in each

17 agency shall be reduced by one for each separation of an

18 employee who receives a voluntary separation incentive

19 payment under this Act. The reduction shall be calculated

20 by comparing the agency’s full-time equivalent employ21 ment for the fiscal year in which the voluntary separation

22 payments are made with the actual full-time equivalent

23 employment for the prior fiscal year.
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1 (b) The Office of Management and Budget shall mon2 itor all agencies and take any action necessary to ensure

3 that the requirements of this section are met.

4 (c) The President shall take appropriate action to en5 sure that functions involving more than 10 full-time equiv6 alent employees are not converted to contracts by reason

7 of the enactment of this Act, except in cases in which a

8 cost comparison demonstrates such contracts would be to

9 the advantage of the Government.

10 (d) The provisions of subsections (a) and (c) of this

11 section may be waived upon a determination by the Presi12 dent that—

13 (1) the existence of a state of war or other na14 tional emergency so requires; or

15 (2) the existence of an extraordinary emergency

16 which threatens life, health, safety, property, or the

17 environment so requires.

18 SEC. 8. REPORTS.

19 (a) Each agency which has received approval under

20 section 3 or this Act to pay voluntary separation incentives

21 shall, for each applicable quarter of each fiscal year and

22 not later than 30 days after the end of such quarter, sub23 mit to the Office of Personnel Management a report pro24 viding—
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1 (1) the number of employees who received vol2 untary separation incentives for each type of separa3 tion involved;

4 (2) the average amount of the incentives paid;

5 (3) the average grade or pay level of the em6 ployees who received incentives; and

7 (4) such other information as the Office may

8 require.

9 (b) No later than March 31st of each fiscal year, the

10 Office of Personnel Management shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the

12 Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the

13 House of Representatives a report which, with respect to

14 the preceding fiscal year, shall include—

15 (1) for each agency which had approval to pay

16 voluntary separation incentives during such preced17 ing fiscal year, and on a combined basis for all such

18 agencies—

19 (A) the number of employees who received

20 voluntary separation incentives;

21 (B) the average amount of such incentives;

22 and

23 (C) the average grade or pay level of the

24 employees who received incentives; and
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1 (2) the number of waivers made under section

2 5 of this Act in the repayment of voluntary separa3 tion incentives, and for each such waiver—

4 (A) the reasons for the waiver; and

5 (B) the title and grade or pay level of the

6 position filled by each employee to whom the

7 waiver applied.

8 (c) Section 6 of the Federal Workforce Restructuring

9 Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–226; 108 Stat. 111) is

10 amended—

11 (1) by striking out ‘‘December 31st’’ and in12 serting ‘‘March 31st’’; and

13 (2) by striking out paragraphs (1)–(4) and in14 serting in lieu thereof the following:

15 ‘‘(1) for each agency which paid voluntary sepa16 ration incentives under section 3 during such preced17 ing fiscal year, and on a combined basis for all such

18 agencies—

19 ‘‘(A) the number of employees who re20 ceived voluntary separation incentives;

21 ‘‘(B) the average amount of such incen22 tives; and

23 ‘‘(C) the average grade or pay level of the

24 employees who received incentives; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the number of waivers made by each agen2 cy or other authority under section 3 or the amend3 ments made by section 8 in the repayment of vol4 untary separation incentives, and for each such

5 waiver—

6 ‘‘(A) the reasons for the waiver; and

7 ‘‘(B) the title and grade or pay level of the

8 position filled by each employee to whom the

9 waiver applied.’’.

10 SEC. 9. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN REDUCTIONS IN

11 FORCE

12 Section 3502(f) of title 5, United States Code, is

13 amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking out ‘‘The Sec15 retary of Defense or the Secretary of a military de16 partment’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Under pro17 cedures prescribed by the Office of Personnel Man18 agement, the head of an agency’’;

19 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol20 lows:

21 ‘‘(3) An employee with critical knowledge and

22 skills may not participate in a voluntary release

23 under paragraph (1) if the head of the agency deter24 mines that such participation would impair the per25 formance of the agency’s mission.’’;
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1 (3) by striking out paragraph (4); and

2 (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para3 graph (4), and by amending such paragraph by

4 striking out ‘‘September 30, 1996’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘September 30, 2000’’.

6 SEC. 10. CONTINUED HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.

7 Section 8905a(d)(4) of title 5, United States Code,

8 is amended—

9 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking out ‘‘in or

10 under the Department of Defense’’;

11 (2) in subparagraph (B)—

12 (A) immediately after ‘‘enactment’’ by in13 serting the following ‘‘(or, as applicable, amend14 ment)’’;

15 (B) in clause (i) and (ii) each by striking

16 out ‘‘October 1, 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘October

17 1, 2000’’; and

18 (C) in clause (ii) by striking out ‘‘February

19 1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘February 1, 2001’’;

20 and

21 (3) in subparagraph (C) immediately after

22 ‘‘identified’’ by inserting ‘‘by the agency’’.
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1 SEC. 11. REGULATIONS.

2 The Director of the Office of Personnel Management

3 may prescribe any regulations necessary to administer the

4 provisions of this Act.

5 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

6 (a) The provisions of this Act shall take effect on the

7 date of enactment of this Act.

8 (b) No voluntary separation incentive under this Act

9 may be paid based on the separation of an employee after

10 September 30, 2000.

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