Fenty Announces Early Retirement Initiative For District Employees

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, joined by DC Department of Human Resources (DCHR) Director Brender L. Gregory and senior administration officials, announced the District will offer more than 5,100 District employees the opportunity to retire through an “Early Out/Easy Out” incentive program.

Nearly one in six District employees is eligible to retire today and more than 20 percent will be eligible to retire in the next five years, officials said.

“It is imperative that the District recruits, retains and then develops the next generation of leaders before decades of institutional knowledge walks out the door,” said Fenty. “Our top priority is to ensure we have talented staff for the years to come as we maintain and improve services for our residents.”

The program impacts 5,127 retirement eligible employees in both the Civil Service (employees hired before October 1, 1987) and District Service (employees hired on or after October 1, 1987). Certain other District employees may be offered incentives to separate. Employees such as police officers, firefighters, nurses and social workers, who may be in positions deemed hard to fill or critical may not be eligible to receive incentive payments.

Incentives for retirees will range up to $25,000 and incentives for non-retirees will range up to $20,000. This initiative will be primarily funded through lapse salary savings from positions vacated as part of this initiative.

District agencies will be required to submit strategic HR plans to ensure continued high levels of service through the transition period. These plans will be reviewed by DCHR and approved by the Executive Office of the Mayor.

Applications for the “Early Out/Easy Out” incentive will be accepted following City Council approval of the initiative. To receive the incentive, employees must be willing to separate by December 31, 2008. Employees taking advantage of