For all IRS employees that took the Deferred Resignation
Like many of you I was surprised by the Fork letter when it first came out. All of us were filled with uncertainty and confusion. Some of us like myself concluded that people would get fired, especially those with fewer years under their belt at their position. And the benefits for that were pretty dim. The promise of getting preference when reapplying for government work wouldn't much matter if every government agency was simply going to be unable to hire for the foreseeable future anyway. I was uncertain that the Deferred Resignation Program was legitimate but I took the calculated risk as it made more sense to me.
Every day that we see more people getting removed from their job I feel that my choice was better for myself and my family, and I'm sorry to see people like the probationary employees in other agencies who were told to hold their ground basically get almost nothing to show for it. What's done is done. I and many others took the deal and because of this hopefully it helps those of you who want to stay in your position keep it. We support your decision to stay and fight to keep your job, I hope you can support us for taking the DRP and hopefully helping those who want to stay in any small way.
Those of us who took the deal have been promised administrative leave until Sept 30th with full pay and benefits and to be "put on that leave no later than March 1st." However our IRS HR heads also sent out a letter on 2/5/25 saying that many of us are exempt from the DRP until at least May 15, 2025.
Now there are provisions that state: "Subject to rare exceptions, you are not expected to work during the deferred resignation period. Exceptions may be granted by the agency to employees who work in law enforcement, public safety, border security, or other limited categories of essential employees."
The above positions listed in our IRS letter from HR make up thousands of employees. I don't know if the administration is going to screw us over for the DRP in the future, but I know for a fact that my own agency is doing it right now trying to make us stay until May 15th. With how things are going it can take up to a year, perhaps even longer to find a new job. Every day counts. And for those who are living paycheck to paycheck having half the offer taken away is simply cruel. We took the deal in good faith, even if wary of the president's intentions, only to have our own agency stab us in the back with this. It's clear the exemption goes against the terms of the DRP and the provisions for exceptions are for individual cases or issues akin to life or death. Taxpayers can be slightly inconvenienced while we try to put our lives back together.
The worst thing that happens here is that people will get some refunds later in the year. The employees who are losing their job and their livelihood outweighs the slight inconvenience of a late refund. And even if it were to get more chaotic, good, let it get chaotic. Let people see the effects of these policies. If the IRS truly all the employees it is losing, it will be made that much more obvious. And if they do not, fine as well. Let's test the policy. But to offer us a deal to step aside, then have our own agency take half away from us so they can make use of us during peak season only to discard us later, that's shameful.
So what can we as IRS employees do?
Contact NTEU: I know our union is very much against the current administration and that's understandable. They may look at us as being foolish or even traitors for taking the DRP. But again this extension is an issue with our agency, not the president. Contact your stewards, bring it up and meetings, insist that the NTEU support us. And depending on what they do we will see if NTEU is for all workers, or just certain ones. This could be a very easy win, possibly the only, for the union fighting for us to enforce the terms of the DRP. We got out of the way so those that wanted to stay had a better chance. Now please stand with us as well.
Contact IRS HR: Express your frustration at the fact that our agency is doing this to us. Underline that these exemptions are for rare and individual cases or positions such as military or medical. We're not watching out for invaders or performing surgery. We're answering timeline questions and processing returns. Delays should be expected. (When are we not delayed anyway.)
File a complaint with Office of Special Counsel: Complain that the decision by the IRS is violating the OPM's framework with unfair personnel practices. https://osc.gov/Pages/File-Complaint-Portal.aspx
File a complaint with the OPM: This is clearly a violation of the spirit of the OPM's deal that the IRS is imposing upon us. https://hotlineintake.oig.opm.gov/etk-opm-ig-prod/page.request.do?page=page.efile.publicPage
Reach out to your Congress person: If they are D, complain that the agency is working to cheat us. If R, that the agency is going above the head of the president and bypassing the DRP terms. Both are true.
Contact Media: Different news agencies are putting in their contact information throughout reddit trying to get government employees to talk to them. So far the media has basically reported this as "Welp I guess IRS people have to work longer...anywho..." And that's been about it. We need to make this story big.
We're stuck in the middle here. The anti gov agency people hate us anyway due to being IRS and won't fight for us. The pro gov agency people think we're fools at best, or worse traitors for simply taking the decision that works better for us and our families. So to the IRS employees that took the DRP...you...YES YOU reading this right now, this entire coming week you need to hit all of these points and fight for yourself. NOBODY is coming to save us. We have to fight for this. And while lawyers and talking heads will rattle on about obscure 19th century clauses and whatever else, which they will for the coming months if not years, we gotta get our freedom ASAP so we can set our house in order.