Trump promises generous severance pay for federal workers
image: Scott Graham on Unsplash
Some two million federal workers in the US recently received an email offering an enticing severance pay deal if they voluntarily resigned. The question arises whether there is sufficient budget for this. Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, says in Knack magazine that it would be gamble to take up the offer.
Trump has repeatedly shown that he sees civil servants as a ‘plague’ and wants to use ‘Deep State’, an influential elite, to significantly thin out the government apparatus. The organisation responsible for implementation is the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), reports Knack.
Barentsen doesn’t expect a ‘mass exodus of federal workers’, but even a small number of fired officials will be claimed as a success by Trump. On the other hand, not taking up the offer could also be detrimental. Trump's focus on federal workers involved in areas such as transgender rights or environmental issues, among others, where it is clear that these positions will eventually be eliminated anyway, is also a clear strategic choice. In this case, it might be wise for them to take advantage of the offer. The professor adds that ‘many social rights in the US are tied to being an employee of a company or a federal worker. As soon as you're no longer an active worker, you also immediately lose your health insurance.'
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Read the full article in Knack (in Dutch)