H. R. 3870

One Hundred Fourth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six

An Act

To authorize the Agency for International Development to offer voluntary separation

incentive payments to employees of that agency.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVES FOR EMPLOYEES

OF THE AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

(a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act—

(1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means the Agency for International

Development;

(2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator,

Agency for International Development; and

(3) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee (as defined

by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code) who is employed

by the agency, is serving under an appointment without time

limitation, and has been currently employed for a continuous

period of at least 12 months, but does not include—

(A) any employee who, upon separation and application, would then be eligible for an immediate annuity under

subchapter III of chapter 83 (except for section 8336(d)(2))

or chapter 84 (except for section 8414(b)(1)(B)) of title 5,

United States Code, or corresponding provisions of another

retirement system for employees of the agency;

(B) a reemployed annuitant under subchapter III of

chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code,

or another retirement system for employees of the agency;

(C) an employee having a disability on the basis of

which such employee is or would be eligible for disability

retirement under the applicable retirement system referred

to in subparagraph (A);

(D) an employee who is to be separated involuntarily

for misconduct or unacceptable performance, and to whom

specific notice has been given with respect to that separation;

(E) an employee who, upon completing an additional

period of service, as referred to in section 3(b)(2)(B)(ii)

of the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994 (5

U.S.C. 5597 note), would qualify for a voluntary separation

incentive payment under section 3 of such Act;

(F) an employee who has previously received any voluntary separation incentive payment by the Government

of the United States under this Act or any other authority

and has not repaid such payment;
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(G) an employee covered by statutory reemployment

rights who is on transfer to another organization; or

(H) any employee who, during the 24-month period

preceding the date of separation, received a recruitment

or relocation bonus under section 5753 of title 5, United

States Code, or who, within the 12-month period preceding

the date of separation, received a retention allowance under

section 5754 of such title 5.

(b) AGENCY STRATEGIC PLAN.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, before obligating any

resources for voluntary separation incentive payments under

this Act, shall submit to the House and Senate Committees

on Appropriations and the Committee on Governmental Affairs

of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight of the House of Representatives a strategic plan

outlining the intended use of such incentive payments and

a proposed organizational chart for the agency once such incentive payments have been completed.

(2) CONTENTS.—The agency’s plan shall include—

(A) the positions and functions to be reduced or eliminated, identified by organizational unit, geographic location, occupational category and grade level;

(B) the number and amounts of voluntary separation

incentive payments to be offered; and

(C) a description of how the agency will operate without

the eliminated positions and functions.

(c) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE

PAYMENTS.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—A voluntary separation incentive payment

under this Act may be paid by the agency to not more than

100 employees of such agency and only to the extent necessary

to eliminate the positions and functions identified by the strategic plan.

(2) AMOUNT AND TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—A voluntary

separation incentive payment under this Act—

(A) shall be paid in a lump sum after the employee’s

separation;

(B) shall be paid from appropriations or funds available

for the payment of the basic pay of the employees;

(C) shall be equal to the lesser of—

(i) an amount equal to the amount the employee

would be entitled to receive under section 5595(c) of

title 5, United States Code, if the employee were entitled to payment under such section; or

(ii) an amount determined by the agency head

not to exceed $25,000;

(D) may not be made except in the case of any employee

who voluntarily separates (whether by retirement or resignation) before February 1, 1997;

(E) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall not

be included in the computation, of any other type of Government benefit; and

(F) shall not be taken into account in determining

the amount of any severance pay to which the employee

may be entitled under section 5595 of title 5, United States

Code, based on any other separation.
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(d) ADDITIONAL AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE RETIREMENT

FUND.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other payments which

it is required to make under subchapter III of chapter 83

or chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, the agency shall

remit to the Office of Personnel Management for deposit in

the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Civil

Service Retirement and Disability Fund an amount equal to

15 percent of the final basic pay of each employee of the

agency who is covered under subchapter III of chapter 83

or chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to whom a voluntary separation incentive has been paid under this Act.

(2) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of paragraph (1), the

term ‘‘final basic pay’’, with respect to an employee, means

the total amount of basic pay which would be payable for

a year of service by such employee, computed using the employee’s final rate of basic pay, and, if last serving on other than

a full-time basis, with appropriate adjustment therefor.

(e) EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT.—An individual who has received a voluntary separation

incentive payment under this Act and accepts any employment

for compensation with the Government of the United States, or

who works for any agency of the Government of the United States

through a personal services contract, within 5 years after the date

of the separation on which the payment is based shall be required

to pay, prior to the individual’s first day of employment, the entire

amount of the incentive payment to the agency that paid the

incentive payment.

(f) REDUCTION OF AGENCY EMPLOYMENT LEVELS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The total number of funded employee

positions in the agency shall be reduced by one position for

each vacancy created by the separation of any employee who

has received, or is due to receive, a voluntary separation incentive payment under this Act. For the purposes of this subsection, positions shall be counted on a full-time-equivalent

basis.
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(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The President, through the Office of

Management and Budget, shall monitor the agency and take

any action necessary to ensure that the requirements of this

subsection are met.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.