Originally published IRS begins RIF process, VA renews ‘deferred resignation’ offer on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/04/irs-begins-rif-process-va-renews-deferred-resignation-offer/ at Federal News Network
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The IRS is preparing for its first wave of nonvoluntary layoffs, as part of a governmentwide reduction in force (RIF).
The agency is cutting 80% of staff at its Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which the agency previously called the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
The agency shed about 5% of OCRC staffing so far this year through attrition and the Office of Personnel Management’s deferred resignation offer. But the IRS will cut another 75% of the office’s workforce as part of the RIF.
“The IRS has begun implementing a Reduction in Force (RIF) that will result in staffing cuts across multiple offices and job categories,” the agency told employees in an email Friday afternoon. “None of the reductions were made today based on individual performance.”
The remaining OCRC workforce will report to the Office of Chief Counsel to carry out statutory responsibilities.
The IRS says additional phases of the RIF will target other offices. Employees laid off through a RIF notice will have 30-60 days before separating from the agency.
“This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS in accordance with agency priorities and the Workforce Optimization Initiative outlined in a recent Executive Order,” the IRS wrote.
The IRS has also gotten approval from the Office of Personnel Management to offer Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP). The IRS says it will share more information on the VERA/VSIP with employees next week.
The IRS is putting a freeze on most personnel reassignments and relocations with the RIF underway.
“With limited exceptions, all actions with an effective date after April 4, 2025, will be canceled. If you are currently on a detail or temporary promotion, it will not be canceled,” the agency told employees.
The IRS is directing employees to upload a current resume to the agency’s HR portal for its Human Capital Office to review each employee’s qualifications during the RIF.
“If you choose not to upload a resume and are impacted by RIF, the Human Capital Office will use your current position description to determine qualifications. No resumes will be accepted outside of the Connect upload feature. If you cannot access HRConnect, you can work with your supervisor,” the email states.
VA offers ‘Deferred Resignation’ 2.0 to employees
The Department of Veterans Affairs is giving employees another chance to accept a “deferred resignation” offer, before proceeding with its own reduction in force.
VA employees have until 5 p.m. Eastern time on April 30 to accept the deal through the department’s deferred resignation portal and must separate from the agency no later than Sept. 30.
An earlier version of this offer, coordinated by the Office of Personnel Management, allowed employees to go on paid administrative leave through the end of the fiscal year, if they responded to a governmentwide email by Feb. 6.
“Previous requests to participate in the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) DRP will not suffice as evidence of opting in to this opportunity,” the memo states.
The VA’s memo states employees can go on administrative leave “no sooner than July 1, 2025, or seven days after signing this agreement if [an] employee is age 40 or over, whichever is later.”
Probationary VA employees are eligible to take the VA’s offer, but reemployed annuitants are not eligible.
If employees opt in, the department says they won’t be subject to return-to-office requirements or layoffs under the RIF.
VA has also received approval from OPM to offer early retirement for its employees. Employees are eligible for voluntary early retirement if they’re at least 50 years of age, with at least 20 years of service, or any age with at least 25 years of service.
Some VA positions that provide direct care to veterans, or support direct-care positions, are not eligible to accept the deferred resignation offer.
The VA, in a memo last month, said it is preparing to cut more than 80,000 positions from its workforce as part of its RIF plans.
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Originally published IRS begins RIF process, VA renews ‘deferred resignation’ offer on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/04/irs-begins-rif-process-va-renews-deferred-resignation-offer/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
