Order challenged by the Trump administration
The probationary employees fired from the U.S. Forest Service in February have been reinstated, although most of the fired workers in the Methow Valley Ranger District (MVRD) were not actually back on the job yet.
Last week, the Forest Service emailed terminated probationary employees about reinstatement, saying that “all terminated employees who were in pay status at the time of their termination would be reinstated effective March 12, and placed on administrative leave, and would receive back pay from the date of their termination,” the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) said in an update to its bargaining-unit employees in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest last week. A copy of the communication was provided to the Methow Valley News by Aana Kulaas, NFFE steward for the MVRD.
Seasonal employees who weren’t in pay status at the time of their termination should be reinstated on the date their supervisor had originally planned to bring them back into pay status, NFFE said.
Although the fired MVRD employees still have scant details and remain uncertain about their future, they have been told that they were rehired. “We all have gotten our jobs back. I am still semi-skeptical, of course, but I have heard in an official capacity that I am an FS [Forest Service] employee again,” lead trail crew foreman and volunteer coordinator Ray Beaupre told the News by email last week. Beaupre had worked for the Foerst Service for a decade and was hired as a permanent seasonal worker last year, making his status “probationary.”
“We will likely plug in for our regular appointments this April. That being said, we could still have a large-scale reduction in force looming,” Beaupre said.
Eight of the nine MVRD probationary employees were seasonal workers whose shifts typically start in the spring. There was one year-round employee who worked as an environmental coordinator, but the News couldn’t reach him by press time to learn if he was back at work.
The reinstatements were ordered after two federal judges determined that the mass terminations were illegal, NFFE said. One judge said that placing reinstated employees on administrative leave wouldn’t meet the intent of the order and said the employees should be returned to full duty. The federal government has filed appeals contesting the court orders, NFFE said.
The employees were officially on probationary status because they had been at their current job for less than a year (for some jobs, less than two years), even though most of the seasonal employees had worked for the Forest Service for years. They had recently had their status converted to permanent seasonal positions.
Seasonal employees clear trails, maintain campgrounds, clean bathrooms, and care for the district’s horses and mules. As of last fall, managers at the ranger district already didn’t know how they would accomplish these tasks because the Forest Service had banned the hiring of temporary seasonal workers (except for fire-related work) because of budget cuts.
‘Phased plan’
“On Wednesday, March 5, the Merit Systems Protection Board issued a 45-day stay on the termination of U.S. Department of Agriculture probationary employees. By Wednesday, March 12, the Department placed all terminated probationary employees in pay status and provided each with back pay, from the date of termination,” the U.S. Forest Service national press team told the News last week. “The Department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid.”
There were about 45 probationary employees affected in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, according to the press team. The nine fired employees make up about one-third of MVRD’s non-wildfire-related staff.
Even though the Forest Service is taking steps to follow the court orders and reinstate the employees, NFFE doesn’t intend to withdraw the grievance it filed on behalf of the terminated workers, which asks for additional remedies beyond reinstatement and back pay, NFFE said in an update last week.
Continuing with the grievance also provides a means to enforce reinstatement if the court-ordered reinstatements are successfully appealed by the Trump administration, NFFE said.
The union called the Forest Service’s attempts to reinstate terminated employees “inconsistent and poorly communicated,” and said it recognizes the negative impacts of this poor communication on employees. “We are doing our best to keep up with constantly changing Agency direction and mitigate negative impacts to BUEs [bargaining unit employees],” NFFE said.
More court cases
The firings — which affected tens of thousands of probationary employees across the country — have been the subject of multiple court filings, prolonging the uncertainty for the workers.
Judges have ordered the reinstatements, agreeing with plaintiffs that probationary employees may be terminated only if their performance or conduct demonstrates that they are unfit for federal employment. But federal agencies are permitted to initiate a reduction in force as part of restructuring or downsizing, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Just this week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene on an emergency basis, arguing that the court order to reinstate the workers violated the separation of powers by allowing a single court to exercise the “executive branch’s powers of personnel management.”
