Two hundred 24 of 296 state employees who applied for the “Voluntary Separation Plan” have been accepted.
This is the second year of that volunteer program.
The state employees who were accepted had two options.
"The first option was for the worker to receive three months of wages and the cost of health insurance paid out in a lump sum," said Human Resource Management Services interim director Becky Sicble. "The second option keeps them 'on the payroll' for three months after they separate, so they get paid the same as if they were coming to work, but they're not."
Sicble said the idea behind this program is to come up with budget savings. Gov. Doug Burgum has asked state agencies to find another 5 to 10 percent budget reductions for the next biennium.
"The whole goal in offering this program was to realize financial savings," Sicble said. "This is a way for employees to voluntarily put their name in the hat."
While many of the positions vacated by the voluntary separations will be left unfilled, some agencies will be hiring replacements.
