WASHINGTON, D.C. (Bloomberg Law) — Thousands of probationary federal employees reinstated to their positions via court orders aren’t back to work, as the administration fights lawsuits over President Donald Trump‘s efforts to reshape the federal workforce.
Last week, two federal courts in Maryland and California ordered the Trump administration to rehire roughly 25,000 probationary employees who were terminated from 19 federal agencies.
The government will get those employees back to their duties, the Trump administration said in a Tuesday court filing, after the judge in that case raised concern that employees were being put on paid leave rather than returning to work.
Despite those promises, many probationary federal employees are still uncertain when or if they will return to their duties, attorneys who represent federal workers say. Some fear they’ll eventually have to return the back pay awarded to them if an appeals court overturns one or both court orders.
“It’s honestly just ridiculous right now,” said Debra D’Agostino, who represents federal employees as a founding partner of the Federal Practice Group LLC. “I have spoken to a number of potential clients who, even before these judges’ decisions, didn’t know if they worked for the government or not.”
Ashley Ashworth, a probationary employee who lost her job at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency rehired her then put her on paid leave in mid-March, around the time of the court orders. Her bosses haven’t assigned her any tasks, she said. Ashworth was working on making it easier for doctors and patients to share health records when the agency terminated her.
“I don’t anticipate actually having a long term future at the agency,” she said.
More agencies aren’t giving reinstated employees back pay or even work to do, D’Agostino and two other attorneys who represent federal workers said.
Adding to the uncertainty is that Trump also directed agencies to submit large-scale reorganization plans last week, which are expected to result in more layoffs. Probationary employees will be first in line for any future reductions in force or “RIFs” because of their limited tenure at the agency, according to D’Agostino.
“A lot of probationary employees sort of feel like, ‘We’re fighting to get our jobs back, and then we’re going to turn around in a few months and end up separated through a RIF, which I think is a very valid and realistic concern,” she said.
Litigation
The Trump administration plans to appeal the decisions blocking its moves to terminate probationary employees across the federal government.
In the meantime, judges in those cases demanded more details regarding how many probationary federal employees had been terminated and when they would be returning to work. California District Judge William Alsup clarified in a Monday order that putting workers on paid administrative leave was “not allowed” by his March 13 preliminary injunction blocking the administration from laying off probationary employees at six federal agencies.
In response, the government on Tuesday said federal agencies are preparing to return the employees to their roles and that staffers being placed on leave “is merely a first part of a series of steps to reinstate probationary employees.”
Michael Fallings, managing Partner of Tully Rinckey PLLC’s Austin office, who represents workers in the federal sector, said government employees who have contacted him for legal advice say they have been put back in place or have received correspondence to put them back in their former position. “That’s in line with the various court orders” that have happened over the last week, he said.
Even before the court rulings, the US Department of Labor directed previously terminated probationary employees to return to work on March 10.
But some reinstated probationary federal workers face a murkier future.
“Further instruction about returning to duty will come from management at a later time,” read one email sent to a reinstated Treasury Department employee reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
