Dog Owner Checks Pet Cam, Makes Heartbreaking Find: ‘Never Leaving Again’ [Video]

More than 1,100 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency received notice this week that they were deemed to be on probationary status and warning they could be fired immediately, according to an email obtained by CNN.Probationary employees receiving the email have been working at the agency for less than a year. The emails began to go out late on Wednesday afternoon, according to an EPA union official.The same message will be sent to other agency workforces, a White House official said. Across the U.S. government, the latest data shows there are more than 220,000 employees on probation.As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you pursuant to 5 CFR 315.804, the EPA email to probationary employees reads. The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination, and your employment is ended immediately.Each employees status will be determined individually, the email adds.The email also spells out an appeals process employees can take to see if they are eligible for extra protection.The approach is similar to how Elon Musk, now a key Trump adviser, handled layoffs when he bought Twitter make a new email alias (in this case, [email protected]) and then send mass termination letters to everyone on it.The U.S. Office of Personnel Management declined to comment, and the White House and EPA did not respond to requests for additional comment.The EPA union official said these probationary employees arent the same as at-will employees; they have less protection than tenured employees, but they have rights to appeal.The union official said EPA will have to make a finding as to every single probationary employee that is being let go either that their performance is poor or that they had a disciplinary issue. Veterans and those with tenure have extra layers of protection. Attorneys who work at the EPA and AFGE, the union representing a large number of EPA employees, are counseling people who are probationary employees on how to respond to these emails and waiting to see what further action is taken.The EPA emails come after the Office of Personnel Management sent a mass email to federal workers Tuesday night telling them if they resign now, they would be paid through Sept. 30 even though they likely wouldnt have to work, or could at least keep working remotely.The email specified that those who choose not to opt into the program referred to as a deferred resignation offer cant be given full assurance regarding the certainty of their position or agency moving forward. It added that, should their job be eliminated, they will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.The email, sent from a new government alias [email protected], contained the subject line Fork in the Road, the same subject line of an ultimatum message Musk sent to his employees at Twitter in 2022.Musk has made clear in recent months that a top priority for the Department of Government Efficiency, which he is helming, would be to rid the federal workforce of employees deemed as underperforming.Marie Owens Powell, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, said morale at EPA was suffering.Its bad, its probably the worst Ive ever seen, she said. Ive never seen anything like this. Literally every day, folks are afraid to turn their computers on. They dont know what message will be coming out next.Mass layoffs of probationary employees could disproportionately impact younger workers, said Rob Shriver, acting director of OPM under President Joe Biden.There has been a longstanding struggle to get younger people interested in public service, Shriver said. We worked hard to fix that, hiring roughly 13% more people under the age of 30 in 2024 than 2023. That progress could now be undone as these young people are going to be particularly affected by this.

Losing your job is hard enough that you shouldn't have to also fight endless unemployment hangups. Yet that's exactly what numerous people say has been happening in Massachusetts over the past several months because nobody picks up the phone at the state unemployment office."It just says, 'We're busy,' and hangs up," said Andrea Young, who was laid off last summer. "There's no way to reach a human person."When Young lost her job, she didn't expect calling the Massachusetts unemployment hotline to turn into a full-time job, but that's exactly what she says happened. At first, problems certifying her identity held up her unemployment payments, so she uploaded her driver's license and Social Security card. But then weeks went by with still no money and no way to ask about the holdup. Every time Young said she called the state's unemployment phone system, an automated message would say it was overloaded with calls and would automatically disconnect."There is nothing that says hold for the next available representative," she said. "This is our money my money and there's no reason I should have to fight to get my money."Eventually, Young hired a lawyer to write the state a demand letter, which resulted in her finally getting paid but not until six months after getting laid off.Ben Masullo says the same thing happened to him when he lost his job in November."I was willing to wait all day to talk to somebody, and I couldn't even do that," Masullo said, adding that he needed to speak with a customer service representative to figure out what was holding up his payments. "I didn't know what was needed to move my claim forward."Masullo went more than six weeks with no payment and no explanation, during which he estimates he called unemployment at least 75 times."I called every single day and different times of the day, and I got the same message: we are not taking calls today," Masullo said. "It was unbelievable. How could this be where you're desperate to get paid some money, and there's nobody there to talk to you?"Luckily, Masullo was able to draw on his savings. At NewsCenter 5's suggestion, he reached out to his state representative, after which he finally got a callback."To process an unemployment claim, you have to go to your state rep? How ridiculous is that?" Masullo said.A third individual who asked not to be identified agreed that the unemployment phone system just isn't getting the job done. He said he called "at least three times every week for the last six weeks trying to get through.""I'd try in the morning. I'd try in the midafternoon, later in the day. So it never seemed to work," he said. "The system is overloaded, or they don't have enough people to work the phones."The Department of Unemployment Assistance including the call center is still operating on a hybrid remote work schedule, although it's not clear how many days per week employees are required to be in the office.NewsCenter 5 offered the Healey Administration the chance for an on-camera interview about this, but they declined. Matthew Kitsos, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, which oversees the Department of Unemployment Assistance, sent this statement:"The Department of Unemployment Assistance is committed to ensuring program integrity while timely sending benefits to eligible claimants. DUA recognizes some customers may experience long wait times and is working diligently to strengthen response and improve communication. Fraudulent activity for unemployment insurance is a national issue and Massachusetts is no exception. Increases in fraudulent claims can add additional pressure to the appeals process, call center, and capacity among DUA staff. DUA has taken steps to address these challenges and remains committed to further improvements to better serve its constituents."DUA says December and January can be the busiest months for unemployment claims. According to data provided by the state, that was true in 2024 but not in any of the previous four years going back to 2019.DUA says it is about to launch a new website this spring that will modernize technology and improve the customer experience.

The gig economy has swiftly become a prominent aspect of today's labour market, reshaping how individuals work and how businesses function. Defined by short-term contracts, freelancing, and ada...

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