Justice Early Outs
The Justice Department plans to offer buyouts and early retirements in an effort to better realign its workforce.
In an effort to modernize the Justice Department workforce and acquire personnel with anti-terrorism expertise, department officials recently decided to offer 600 employees early retirements or buyouts, according to an internal department memo from Guy Lewis, director of the department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
The move is designed to "hire attorneys with new skill sets," according to the memo, specifically in "nontraditional terrorist criminal areas" such as cyberterrorism or financial crimes. The memo also noted that the Justice Department needs to "hire support staff with more legal expertise than primarily clerical skills … attorneys are now expected to have requisite computer skills."
Justice officials also are attempting to make the agency more efficient and improve its financial management score on the President's Management Agenda.
The proposal is under review at the Office of Personnel Management, but personnel and administrative officers have been instructed to spread the word to Justice employees. OPM officials said they were not sure how long the approval process might take, but Justice officials expect a decision by early May, according to the memo. The authority, if granted, would only be valid for fiscal 2004.
"It is in the review process," said OPM spokesman Michael Orenstein. "It's in the pipeline."
Alerting employees now to the possibility of early retirements or buyouts "will ensure their ability to take advantage of the opportunities offered within the established time frames," the memo noted.
Justice is planning to offer the early retirements or buyouts to some attorneys, legal assistants, secretaries and budget analysts. To be eligible, employees must be 50 years old and have 20 years of service, or be any age with 25 years of service. If approved, Justice would be able to pay eligible employees up to $25,000.
The early departure offers are limited to 250 attorneys, 275 legal assistants, 50 secretaries and 25 budget analysts.
"Employees should begin thinking about their response," the memo stated. "Actual time frames for decisions will be short in duration, likely no more than two to three weeks at most, once the authority is opened, with separation occurring no more than 30 days beyond acceptance."