
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994                   TAG: 9404100072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FEDERAL WORKERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF BUYOUTS WORTH UP TO $25,000

Thousands of federal workers last week took advantage of the first governmentwide attempt to reduce its work force by offering employees buyouts, some of them worth $25,000.

The Transportation Department, for example, had received Taxpayers support some pretty cushy jobs. B7 1,800 applications by week's end, while 1,537 workers at NASA said they were interested in a buyout. The Agriculture Department expects approximately 3,120 employees to take buyouts this fiscal year and an additional 1,400 to sign up for buyouts that will be offered in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The departments of Interior and State also are offering buyouts, and the Office of Personnel Management has concluded its initial offer.

Under the legislation signed March 30 by President Clinton, departments and agencies can offer buyouts to employees who resign or retire early between now and March 31, 1995. Agencies determine which pay grades and occupations are eligible for buyouts and when they will be offered, but the decision to sign up for a buyout is left to the employee.

The buyouts are equivalent to an employee's severance benefits if he or she were fired without cause or $25,000, whichever is less. Because most employees taking a buyout are highly compensated, most are expected to get $25,000.

The first round of buyout offers is designed to help agencies survive under tight budgets this year or to speed streamlining plans.

by CNB