The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed that it does not need to be fired all federal employees while still on probation, but it encourages the removal of low performers.
The direction confirmed by familiar sources comes after the OPM asked government-wide agencies and then asked them to take over a list of employees hired last year or within two years.
Probation period lasts one to two years depending on the agency, and is a status that makes it easier for around 200,000 federal employees to fire.
“The Trump administration is encouraging the use of probationary periods as intended as a continuation of the job search process, rather than as a permanent qualification for employment in the DC swamp,” an OPM spokesman stated. stated in.
CBS News first reported development.
It was not immediately clear which employees still on probation would be targeted under instructions. The agency grading scale placed employees in different layers, and it was unclear which criteria were passed to the agency.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote a letter to House and Senate leaders on Friday to investigate potential plans to fire up employees in large numbers during their probationary period.
“We respectfully look into the rationale and legal basis for these planned layoff administrations. …The large number of federal employees of the kind reportedly being considered. Scale layoffs are presumably and inherently illegal,” the ACLU wrote to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The ACLU argued that the law requires that each employee be considered on a case-by-case basis, but argued that massive shootings must comply with existing laws to reduce the workforce.
Despite their probation status, employees are still given much of the same protection as the broader federal workforce. This means that you must be informed of “inadequate” performance before you are fired.
“The law allows probation employees to be terminated for performance or practice reasons, but mass firing at this scale without using personalized assessments or force reduction (RIF) procedures is not possible. , raises serious legal concerns,” the ACLU wrote.
