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some of the comments and questions we've
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seen from our viewers and from our
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readers indicate that they're skeptical
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about the government's legal authority
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to even offer the Deferred resignation
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offer to federal employees apparently
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that isn't lost on the office of
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personnel management either because
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they've issued a new memo defending the
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government's legal authority to offer
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the program here are the details I'm Ian
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Smith with fedsmith.com thanks for
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taking the time to join me today
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I know this deferred resignation offer
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and the program are a very hot topic
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right now and a lot of you are seeking
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more news and information so that's why
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I wanted to take the time to do this
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short video outlining the latest memo
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that's come out from OPM I'm recording
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this on February 4th 2025 and that was
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the date the memo was issued by OPM
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basically the memo issued by OPM is a
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series of questions and then opm's
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answers about the government's authority
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to make the Deferred resignation offer
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so with that I'll get right to it
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summarizing these questions and the
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answers first question is the offer
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legally binding OPM says yes it states
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in part quote the Deferred resignation
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program offers employees who opt into
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the program an exemption from any return
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to work requirements and full pay and
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benefits regardless of workload with the
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expectation that most employees will
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transition their duties and be placed on
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administrative leave for the bulk of the
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Deferred resignation period those
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assurances are binding on the government
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were the government to backtrack on its
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commitments an employee would be
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entitled to request a recision of his or
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her resignation and to help ease
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concerns OPM has distributed a template
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contract to agencies to formalize the
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government's agreement with its
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employees is Congressional approval
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required OPM says no quote nothing in
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the Deferred resignation program
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requires Congressional approval the
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program offers employees an exemption
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from return to work requirements and in
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most cases a significantly reduced
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workload during the Deferred resignation
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period under the program employees
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remain in Duty status entitled to the
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regular pay and benefits the program
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does not promise employees additional
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compens ation that might require special
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Congressional Appropriations may an
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employee be placed on administrative
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leave during the resignation period the
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short answer is yes to quote OPM in part
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the decision to Grant administrative
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leave and for how long lies largely
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within the agency's discretion a statute
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governing administrative leave states
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that quote during any calendar year an
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agency May place an employee in
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administrative leave for a period of not
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more than a total of 10 work days
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unquote but binding regulations
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promulgated by OPM have interpreted that
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limitation to apply only to a quote
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management initiated action to put an
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employee in administrative leave status
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with or without the employees consent
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for the purpose of conducting an
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investigation unquote the 10day rule
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therefore poses no bar to the extended
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administrative leave contemplated by the
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by the Deferred resignation program may
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an employee get a second job during the
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Deferred resignation period with respect
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to this OPM says that being placed on
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administrative leave facilitates getting
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a second job part of its answer States
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quote extended administrative leave
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frees an employee to obtain a second job
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in doing so employees must comply with
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the standards of ethical conduct for
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employees of the executive Branch as
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well as any agency specific
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regulations the ethical standards among
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other things provide that employees not
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engage in outside employment or
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activities that conflict with official
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government duties and
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responsibilities by maximizing an
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employees job duties and limiting the
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number of matters in which he or she is
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involved administratively reduces the
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potential for conflicts with any outside
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employment does the Deferred resignation
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email comply with private y rules OPM
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says that it does it says in its answer
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in part quote OPM was authorized to send
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the email announcing the Deferred
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resignation program by its broad
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authority to oversee the federal
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Workforce OPM is authorized to store
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employee responses under existing system
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of records including systems
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encompassing Personnel records and
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correspondence to and from the
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agency and the Deferred resignation
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offer explicitly provides that by
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responding to the email employees cons
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sent to their resignations being shared
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with their employing agencies OPM also
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notes that employee resignations are
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stored on secure government systems and
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last item of interest in the memo I
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think I mentioned it briefly a moment
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ago but the OPM memo also has a template
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for agencies to use for formalizing the
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agreement with their employees I've
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written an article with more information
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about all of this and it's got a copy of
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that template in it and then you can
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also check out opm's memo for more
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details so that's the Crux of opm's memo
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that was issued today it was those
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questions and their answers to it and
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again the government is basically
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defending the legality of the Deferred
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resignation offer for federal employees
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I hope you found this video helpful if
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so please like And subscribe and also
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visit the fedsmith.com website for more
5:58
information we've got a number of
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articles about the Deferred resignation
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program on our site have a good day
