Getting paid not to work: Federal probationary workers are being reinstated but put on paid leave

Yahoo

18-03-2025

Days after a Maryland federal judge ruled that terminated probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated, multiple federal agencies have told their staffers that they are complying with the decision – but placing the employees on paid administrative leave.
Workers at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Food and Drug Administration, among other agencies, received emails that said they are being reinstated and placed on administrative leave – essentially being paid not to work.
Separately, at least one US Department of Agriculture probationary employee who was terminated received notice late last week that they would be reinstated and placed on paid administrative leave initially. The agency told staffers it is developing a phased plan to return them to duty. This action stems from an earlier order by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which said that nearly 6,000 probationary workers who lost their jobs in mid-February had to be reinstated for at least 45 days.
At the Federal Aviation Administration, workers were informed that they would be put on administrative leave through Wednesday and their supervisors would reach out about resuming their duties. They will receive back pay, and the termination will be removed from the personnel record.
'They will be able to get back to their important work on behalf of the American flying public,' David Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents FAA employees, said in a statement.
CNN has viewed the emails from multiple agencies.
Most agencies specified that the workers will receive retroactive pay from their termination date. While the IRS' email to employees did not mention back pay, a separate email sent to agency managers said the probationary workers will receive it.
As part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce, the Trump administration has dismissed tens of thousands of probationary workers, who have typically been in their positions for only one or two years. The MSPB and two federal judges have issued various orders and rulings regarding their reinstatement, at least temporarily.
Workers interviewed by CNN said they were pleased that they are being reinstated and getting paid again, but they expressed frustration that they cannot return to their jobs. Many, if not all, had to return their work laptops and phone, had their work emails suspended and have been told not to go to their offices.
'I'm ready and raring to go. I don't like to get paid not to do my work,' the USDA probationary worker told CNN. 'The whole fraud, waste and abuse thing, it's kind of hilarious now, because they're wasting money by paying us all to not work.'
Employees CNN interviewed said they are in a holding pattern. Two said they have applied for scores of jobs but haven't gotten any interviews.
Some are also wary that the courts may ultimately rule in the Trump administration's favor or that they may lose their job anyway through the sweeping reduction in force, or RIF, that is underway across the federal government.
Andy Hazelton, a hurricane hunter with NOAA who was fired as a probationary employee, told CNN the letter he received left him with 'a lot more questions than answers.'
While Hazelton said he's relieved to be getting back pay, the letter notes he could be re-fired at any time, depending on how the court case goes.
'We're not back to work yet, which is unfortunate,' he told CNN. 'It's kind of at the mercy of the court system now. Definitely some initial relief but a lot of uncertainty.'
At the same time, probationary employees are hearing from their former colleagues that the work is piling up.
'They are burning the candle at both ends and a mystery third end, and I'm on my fifth week of paid vacation,' said one FDA probationary worker who was initially put on administrative leave for a month and has now been extended. 'I want to get back to my job.'
A number of enforcement officers and attorneys in the EPA's enforcement group were initially fired and now are being placed on leave, said Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238's Local 704, representing EPA workers in Michigan and the Upper Midwest. Their work focuses on the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other laws.
'Most of these inspectors do about 10 inspections per year. If they are on leave, inspections are not being done,' she said. 'With less enforcement, industrial polluters will go unchecked.'
Same is true at the USDA, where a union local president told CNN that losing the probationary workers is disrupting their team's ability to provide services to the public.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, called the administration's action 'chaotic' and 'disrespectful.'
'While paid administrative leave still deprives the agency of much-needed staffing during tax filing season, it allows these mistreated employees to continue to receive their pay and benefits as the legal battle continues,' the NTEU said.
But not all laid-off probationary employees are so eager to return to their agencies. One IRS worker on the audit team said that the office has become so toxic and abusive under the Trump administration that they must carefully consider their next step.
'A good part of me says this is not viable. I can't go back to work under these conditions,' the worker, who is a certified public accountant, told CNN. 'It was almost inhumane. You knew something was coming down, and there was just a complete vacuum of information.'