Better buyouts

During the downsizing of the 1990s, federal workers who took buyouts took their jobs with them. But proposals in the Senate and House versions of legislation creating the new Department of Homeland Security would let agencies offer buyouts to employees without eliminating the jobs they held. That change, if it survives the legislative process, could mean a very different kind of buyout for the current decade. Instead of the first-come, first-served buyouts that agencies offered to meet downsizing quotas in the 1990s, agencies would instead offer buyouts to targeted groups of employees whose skills are no longer needed or whose slots in the workforce could be better used by the agency. The Defense Department has been able to offer the so-called "workforce restructuring" buyouts since last year, under special legislative authority. At Fort Bliss, Texas, for example, a GS-11 supply maintenance specialist will take a workforce restructuring buyout this August, according to the base's public affairs newsletter. She'll be taking a $25,000 buyout, the maximum amount allowed by existing law. The base's managers don't have to eliminate a position, but they may change the specialist's position into a GS-5 or GS-7 support assistant or technician. Defense has the authority to offer 2,000 such buyouts this year and 6,000 in fiscal 2003. The Senate version of the Homeland Security Department legislation would allow most agencies to offer workforce restructuring buyouts. The House version would allow the Bureau of Border Security in the new department and what would be left of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Justice Department to offer the workforce restructuring buyouts. Both versions would limit buyouts to $25,000. The House version specifically authorizes officials to offer the buyouts without reducing employment levels. The Senate version includes a nonbinding provision stating that the new buyout authority would be "intended to reshape the federal workforce and not downsize the federal workforce." Unlike the legislation limiting the Defense Department's authority, neither the House nor Senate version places limits on the number of workforce restructuring buyouts that could be offered. The Senate must still pass a final version of the Homeland Security Department legislation. Then the two houses must reconcile their versions before sending a final bill to President Bush. More Pay and Benefits in the Homeland Bill

The most contentious issues surrounding the Homeland Security Department legislation are related to federal personnel rules, including pay and benefits. GovExec.com is following those developments closely each day. Two minor pay and benefits provisions are tucked into the Senate version:

• A provision that would let members of the Senior Executive Service take home more money in years they make big bonuses. Under current rules, executives often run into pay caps that force them to spread out their bonuses over two years.
• A provision that would let agencies provide transit subsidies to student volunteers. Transit subsidies worth up to $100 a month are available to many federal workers.

A Transit Quandary Here's a quandary presented by a Pay and Benefits Watch reader in response to last week's column on transit benefits.

"My agency is asking me to refund a half month of my [transit] benefit for the month of July. My van charges a flat rate for the entire month whether you ride for one day or all days. I was on government travel for two weeks during the month of July, so I did not ride in my van pool during this time. That is their justification for asking for a partial refund." What say you, readers? Is the agency justified or does the employee have a right to protest? Email your response to bfriel@govexec.com.