EPA warns 1,100 employees of termination [Video]
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EPA warns 1,100 employees of termination [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 employee’s status will be determined individually,” the email …

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EPA warns 1,100 employees of termination [Video]
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Remote Work Opportunities

EPA warns 1,100 employees of termination [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.

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