With RIFs imminent, the Small Business Administration reoffers its Deferred Resignation Program

Small Business Administration employees received an email early Saturday morning from the agency’s chief human capital office offering them a second opportunity to accept the deferred-resignation deal first offered by the Office of Personnel Management to all federal employees from Jan. 28 to Feb. 12.

The offer follows the unveiling of an agencywide reorganization that will soon eliminate 2,700 of its active workforce of 6,500 employees — a 43% reduction in staff the agency estimates will save $435 million.

According to the Saturday email viewed by Government Executive, the deferred-resignation offer is available to all full- and part-time SBA employees from March 31 to April 7.

“If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce,” the email states. “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position.”

The program purportedly offers the same terms as the first so-called “Fork in the Road” offer led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. SBA, however, reserves the right to deny acceptance of offers “to ensure continuity of business operations as the agency thoughtfully executes” its reorganization.

Those SBA employees who accept the offer “will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” the email states.

On Friday, the General Services Administration and the Defense Department both reoffered deferred-resignation deals to staff with slightly different timelines. Unlike the original offer, which OPM sent governmentwide, an administration official told Government Executive on Sunday that the new wave of deferred resignation offers was not part of any governmentwide effort and was the result only of individual agency decisions.

An official at an agency not planning to offer a renewed deferred resignation window said OPM has encouraged agencies to utilize early retirements and buyouts — as many have done — and to grant administrative leave on top of that at their own discretion. The official said their agency did not want employees potentially subject to RIFs to be sitting on administrative leave when the layoffs occur.

The deferred resignation program was challenged in court. 

Multiple emails sent to SBA employees in the week leading up to Saturday’s second Fork in the Road offer — shared with Government Executive — indicate SBA staff were unable to send outgoing emails to non-SBA email addresses from March 21 to March 24. It’s unclear what caused the “issue,” which was referenced in the staff email acknowledging the situation authored by a senior SBA official.  

Government Executive senior reporter Eric Katz contributed to this report.