Despite Reinstating Probationary Workers, IRS Continues Reducing Its Workforce
According to the Journal of Accountancy, roughly 7,000 probationary IRS employees who had lost their jobs in February then placed on administrative leave in March will now come back to work in mid-April based on an email the workers received April 1.
The Journal reports the email as saying, “You are receiving this email as one of approximately 7,000 probationary employees who were separated from service and have been reinstated in compliance with recent court orders. At this time, while you remain on administrative leave, you will soon receive instructions for how to return to full-time duty by April 14.”
Earlier, because of a court order, the tax agency had reinstated the employees by placing them on administrative leave, according to an email the employees got in March. A federal judge—who is one of a couple who ordered the rehiring of probationary IRS employees as well as those from other government agencies—noted that decision did not meet the terms of his bench order and stated the employees must return to work, the Journal states.
That bench order, which included six federal agencies such as the Treasury, came in American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO et al v. United States Office of Personnel Management et al. Placing employees on administrative leave was not permitted by the court’s injunction, the judge wrote.
Another order was in State of Maryland et al v. United States Department of Agriculture et al. Last week, the judge in that case narrowed his nationwide reinstatement of probationary employees in 17 agencies to those who work or live in 19 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. He also ordered reports by 2 p.m. on April 1 about the status of the rehiring process, Bloomberg Tax reports.
The most recent IRS email told employees to go to an internal website for information about how benefits will be restored, among other details. They will receive “workspace assignments and temporary telework where space is not available,” the email stated.
The April 1 IRS email did not mention the likelihood of any reduction-in-force (RIF) as the one in March did, the Journal reports. In the March email, acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause stated that the agency did not get an RIF and reorganization plan from the Treasury Department.
An RIF is a formal process utilized by federal agencies like the IRS to reduce their workforce when positions are eliminated because of factors like reorganization, lack of work and funds, among other similar reasons.
Despite these judicial setbacks, the Trump administration is undeterred in its task to shrink the IRS. According to Bloomberg Tax, the tax agency has started a fresh round of layoffs beginning with the Office of Civil Rights and Compliance.
The IRS has been under increased scrutiny and pressure since the Trump administration took over, with thousands of probationary employees initially fired while Trump officials talked about how to more widely share taxpayer data, the most recent of which was aimed at aiding the administration's immigration efforts.
Roughly 5% of the employees in that office had already left the agency via the deferred resignation program and attrition. Those remaining were integrated into the Office of Chief Counsel, the email stated, Bloomberg Tax reports. The office was previously named the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
In related news, Accounting Today reports that the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents IRS workers among 37 federal agencies and offices, has asked a federal judge for emergency relief. This is to preserve federal employees' union rights while waiting for NTEU's legal challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order taking away unions' collective bargaining powers to be heard in court.