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Only 1,500 public employees approved for P.R. Govt’s Incentivized Resignation Plan 

By on March 1, 2018

Gerardo Portela (Juan J. Rodríguez/CB)

SAN JUAN — Up until Feb. 28, roughly 2,530 public workers had applied to benefit from the Puerto Rico government’s incentivized resignation plan, the “Voluntary Transition Program” (VTP), but only 1,500 were authorized. 

According to data from the Office of Management & Budget, up until October 2017, the number of public employees was about 140,000 people. The only public employees who could benefit from the VTP were those with a regular work status in the executive branch. 

The VTP is an initiative of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s administration to incentivize public employees to transfer to the private sector while receiving their salary until June 30, 2018. 

The expiration date to apply to the VTP, which started Nov. 16, 2017, is March 15, 2018. 

“With this measure, we are helping employees who seek other opportunities outside the government, and reducing long-term public expenses without dismissing anybody,” the governor said when he announced the program Nov. 9, 2017. 

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Fiscal Agency & Financial Advisory Authority (Fafaa) Director Gerardo J. Portela issued a release Thursday stating that “one of our goals, as contemplated in the fiscal plan, is to create a new government that is efficient and with substantial expense adjustments without dismissing public employees. That program is already on that path.” 

In addition to receiving their salary until June, employees in the program will are paid $100 monthly to cover part of the healthcare plan of their choice. Both the salary and the health plan incentive are exempt from taxes. 

Portela added that Fafaa recently amended the administrative order that created the VTP to allow Education Department employees, whose wages are paid with federal funds, to apply to the program if allowed by the U.S. government. 

Once the request is approved, the employee must sign a final agreement that declares their resignation as “final and irrevocable,” while completely relieving the government from claims they could or have had related to their employment and the termination process. 

Eligible employees who are interested must digitally submit their applications. Agency directors and the Office of Management & Budget will then evaluate it. The request is available at http://www.transicionvoluntaria.pr.gov/.

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