More than 1,000 EPA employees are told they could be dismissed immediately
An email last week informed some workers that they had been identified as probationary and could be terminated.
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Workers who’ve been at the agency less than one year received an email last week notifying them that they had been identified as employees that were likely on a “probationary/ trial period,” according to an email reviewed by NBC News.
Yeah...
Every fed has one year probation, and it is not a secret that you're not protected until that's year up and can be let go for basically any reason. But there still has to be a reason.
Article is light on details, but it was probably the agency trying to give a heads up, or musk trying to make the fork sound more attractive.
But the risk to new hires has been a discussion since Trump won the election among federal workers, they're the most vulnerable group, and every federal worker knows that already.
Quick edit:
The irony is I'm pretty sure Trump was the one that took it down from 2 years to one...
But there still has to be a reason.
Canadian here. Under US employment law, can't the reason be as arbitrary as "I don't like the colour of your shirt" (i.e., you can be fired without cause for any reason)? Barring a union contract that says otherwise and explicitly mentions probationary workers, it seems like they can make up any reason they want; that's probably the easiest part.
Under US employment law
There's a whole host of laws for different jobs/states/workers.
Federal workers are some of the most protected workers in America, but only when you're vested. Because:
union contract that says otherwise
But you need a year to get those protections
So the current union contract specifically gives probationary workers the right not to be fired without cause? Honestly, that's a lot better than I was expecting.
What?
No, it takes a year to be vested, at which much union protections become much stronger.
Vestment isn't just a fed or even American thing.
So then why did you reply to my comment as though you were correcting me if the answer to my question was "yes, probationary workers can be fired without cause for any reason"? You've just confirmed that neither federal employment law nor a union contract will protect these probationary workers.
Did you ever think people wouldn't give up explaining things to you if you weren't constantly claiming they said things they didn't?
You keep saying "So" and then random shit. Stop trying to make connections and just listen.
Stop trying to make connections and just listen.
I'm trying to understand the things you are telling me because they don't make sense and contradict. In the end, I was correct and you're just weird and have trouble communicating and reading.
Well...
The smart thing would have been for you to Google it instead of just asking random social media accounts...
But yeah, trying to explain things to you is just going to frustrate everyone involved, I'll make sure I never do it again.
Many states are “at-will”, meaning either side caN end the relationship at will. People in these states have few protections. However there are court rulings that if a company defines a process they must follow it, and of course both sides generally have to follow contracts, including union contracts ts for the few unionized workers we have left.
However these are federal employees and appear to be union, so they’re better protected than most. It’s going to come down to how “probationary” is defined, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s in a lawsuit after the fact.
The common expectation of “probationary” is that there be a reason, you’re unsatisfactory somehow. I wouldn’t have thought you could use that for mass layoffs, but it looks like we’re going to find out
They are still federal workers and federal worker protections would still apply.
They don't need to say Shirt any more either
I think it varies state by state. In Washington State, for example, an employer can dismiss an employee without reason or notice (assuming no union contract). It goes the other way too. An employee can leave a job without notice or reason. I once worked with someone who went to lunch and never came back. Good for him!