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The Department of Housing and Urban Development, unlike most agencies, has opted not to provide backpay to its fired probationary employees while in the process of reinstating them.
In an email sent to HUD’s fired probationary staff on Monday, agency leaders said although the employees are being reinstated, they will not receive pay retroactively for the time they were out of their jobs.
“Please accept our sincerest apologies for the delayed response,” the March 24 email, obtained by Federal News Network, states. “Our office has been working tirelessly to ensure we provide accurate responses to your questions. We are currently preparing correspondence that will provide you with important updates regarding your health benefits and any other entitlements resulting from reinstatement of your employment.”
Although a federal judge in Maryland did not appear to explicitly address backpay in his order to reinstate fired probationary employees, a majority of agencies are providing it. The departments of Interior, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, among many other agencies, have stated they are giving backpay to their previously fired probationary employees.
One HUD employee, who spoke to Federal News Network anonymously for fear of professional retribution, said she believes HUD’s denial of backpay conflicts with the language and intent of the federal judge’s orders. The employee, like many of her co-workers at HUD, has now gone for more than seven weeks without income or health benefits.
“They are putting us in an even worse situation,” the employee said. “We’ve been thrown under the bus in every way possible.”
Many of the fired probationary employees have reached out to HUD’s leadership to push for answers, but the agency has not responded to any of their questions, the employee said.
HUD did not respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment.
In a court document earlier this week, though, HUD said it is in the process of reinstating about 300 probationary employees who were fired on Feb. 14. The fired employees were first notified of their reinstatements on March 17.
Despite being reinstated, the HUD employees — like many others across the government — remain in limbo and on administrative leave, many without confirmation of when they will actually return to their duties.
“Explicitly the order states that ‘reinstatement means restoration to employment, whether actually on duty or on leave, including administrative leave,’” HUD wrote in the March 17 email to probationary staff. “Accordingly, your appointment will be reinstated, and you will be placed on paid administrative leave temporarily.”
The March 17 email from HUD also directed probationary employees who had filed for unemployment to notify their state’s local office immediately and cancel their claims. Employees were given one day to respond to HUD’s email to confirm whether they were accepting the reinstatement offer.
“We recognize that this may have been a challenging period,” HUD wrote. “We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we take the necessary steps to fully implement the conditions of the court order.”
A second email from HUD leadership the following week, on March 24, clarified that the affected probationary employees would not be receiving backpay. But the email did not provide a date employees would be taken off administrative leave and officially return to their jobs.
A HUD employee who canceled her unemployment claim a week before learning she would not be receiving backpay said the agency’s decision caused “immediate harm.”
In the March 24 email, HUD also told its probationary employees they could choose to enroll in Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC) to continue receiving health insurance. The employees would not see their normal coverage continue through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program (FEHB), despite being reinstated. TCC is costlier than FEHB, as it requires employees to pay for both the employee’s and the government’s share of premiums, plus a 2% administrative fee.
The reinstatements of recently fired probationary employees come on the orders of two federal judges. One judge, in Maryland, found that the Trump administration’s firings amounted to large-scale RIFs, which are subject to specific rules. Another, in California, ruled that the Office of Personnel Management does not have the authority to direct governmentwide layoffs.
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