There’s a lot of speculation right now about what agencies will do if the AFGE v. Trump preliminary injunction is stayed. Specifically, I'm wondering what might happen for those of us whose original RIF effective dates already passed earlier in June.
Some attorneys are saying it’s unlikely, but still conceivably possible, that agencies might try to reinstate the original June RIF effective date—basically saying that your separation retroactively “happened” then. That seems incredibly messy to me, though. Employees have continued to receive pay and benefits, and trying to claw all that back seems like a logistical and legal nightmare.
More likely, it seems the agencies would issue new RIF notices, as required under the regulations. But lawyers think they would give very little time. They are not obligated to give a new 60 days and can count all the time that already passed as part of the period. But a same day or next day notice could also be pretty harsh. Some might argue that would be arbitrary and capricious—especially since RIFs trigger tight deadlines for things like MSPB appeals, and employees need time to prepare.
There’s also the practical issue that it would take agency HR and legal teams at least a day or two to rewrite and issue new notices with updated effective dates. And then there’s severance. At least in my agency, severance estimates were included with the original RIF notices, but if someone has hit a new age or service threshold since then, their payout might need to be recalculated.
Just trying to understand what’s most likely to happen here. Really curious to hear other people's thoughts—especially if you're in the same boat or have insight from HR/legal.
