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Thousands of D.C. workers offered early retirement
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The D.C. government will offer thousands of employees a paid incentive to retire now as the District moves to transition out some its oldest staffers with new blood, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Monday.
Roughly 5,127 retirement-eligible employees could take advantage of the so-called “Early Out/Easy Out” program. Nearly one in six District employees is eligible to retire today and another 20 percent will be eligible in the next five years.
“This is a program that is used not only in the District government but in other governments to make sure that those who want to retire are able to do so more comfortably,” said Fenty, who turned 37 two weeks ago. “It is also there just to continue to recruit, retain and develop our next generation of leaders before all of our institutional knowledge walks out the door.”
The initiative is not “forced retirement,” Fenty said, but rather a way of opening the door for those longtime staffers who stayed on because they couldn’t afford to leave. Employees who take advantage will have to retire by Dec. 31, 2008, and will not be allowed to return to the D.C. government for five years.
Incentive payments will range from $20,000 for those not yet at retirement age to $25,000 for retirees. The initiative, which still must win D.C. Council approval, will be funded through the savings derived from the vacated positions.
“This is not an entitlement program,” said Brender Gregory, director of the human resources department. “It is subject to the availability of funds in the agencies.”
Police officers, firefighters, nurses and other “hard to fill” positions will not be eligible for Early Out/Easy Out. The city’s retirement age varies depending on an employee’s age, length of service and the agency for which they work.
mneibauer@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:15 AM MST on Fri., Dec. 21, 2007 re: "Savings from early retirements could top $20M"
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9:55 AM MST on Fri., Dec. 21, 2007
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5:42 PM MST on Tue., Dec. 18, 2007
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6:38 AM MST on Tue., Dec. 18, 2007
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Joe Jena said:
Look at it this way. If they had retired just 4 people plus Gandhi they would have saved 20 million at least. Stupid is as stupid does.
27 agree | 26 disagree
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Perplexed said:
Why only $25,000? In this expensive area, $25,000 doesn't seem very high. A few years ago, I took advantage of a buyout package that paid three weeks for every year I had worked. Also, I could choose either a lump-sum distribution (which would have given me a good retirement payout because the lump-sum was considered for my final salary for retirement purposes) or a bi-weekly payout (which I chose and now regret!) My point is this: why not give long-time employees something worth retiring for, especially when some of them may be giving up something as valuable as a tenured position at UDC??
36 agree | 22 disagree
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fedupcitizen said:
Someone needs to look at Fenty he is probably stealing more money then the tax lady.
69 agree | 50 disagree
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Provocateur said:
Oh fie on you. Look in your own back yard, I bet you find more thieves and loafers than elsewhere - the grass in always different on the other side :-)
47 agree | 44 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
A check is all they get? Come on, offer them a bunch of church hats, a Nieman Marcus gift card, and lifelong immunity from prosecution. THAT will do the trick for a lot of DC city employees.
55 agree | 51 disagree
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Joe Jena said:
This is one way of getting rid of the more experienced thieves and loafers.
69 agree | 50 disagree
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