The IRS furloughed nearly half its workforce earlier this week, but is now warning remaining staff they may also be sent home \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 if they take too much leave during the government shutdown.<\/p>\n
The agency is telling some shutdown-exempt employees that they will be furloughed if they take more than eight hours of leave per pay period.<\/p>\n
Three IRS employees told Federal News Network that the policy change was communicated verbally to the workforce, and that no email or memo was sent.<\/p>\n
Federal News Network also obtained a recording of an IRS manager communicating these changes to employees. The IRS and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
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According to these sources, IRS employees were told that if they take more than eight hours of leave per pay period, they will be furloughed for the remainder of the pay period, and \u201cmay or may not\u201d be called back to work during the next pay period.<\/p>\n
According to employees, management pulled them aside on Thursday and informed them about the new payroll and timecard changes.<\/p>\n
An IRS employee told Federal News Network on Friday that \u201cwe just furloughed dozens of employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told they were safe. Now they\u2019re not,\u201d the employee said. \u201cI\u2019m having to call employees, and hear them crying, break down. This is very hard. Everything changed today.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second IRS employee said they had just signed paperwork outlining that they are exempt during the shutdown, and that leave and pay would continue as normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told I would be furloughed for the remainder of the pay period, due to taking more than eight hours of leave in a pay period,\u201d the second IRS employee said.<\/p>\n
The employee\u2019s furlough exemption states that they should continue working during the shutdown, as of Oct. 8. \u201cAll your time reporting, leave, and pay remain as usual,\u201d the notice states.<\/p>\n
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The IRS, which is preparing for next year\u2019s filing season, kept all its employees on the job for\u00a0the first five business days of the shutdown<\/a>. But its initial contingency plans didn\u2019t specify what would happen if a lapse in funding extended beyond Oct. 7.<\/p>\n The employee said they were given a standard furlough notice. The template notice on the IRS website states<\/a> that furloughed employees are guaranteed back pay once the shutdown ends.<\/p>\n But on Thursday, the IRS walked back that guidance that included the back pay guarantee. The IRS is now deferring to the Office of Management and Budget, which on Tuesday floated the possibility<\/a>\u00a0that furloughed federal employees would not be guaranteed back pay.<\/p>\n The employee said their furlough notice email \u201cmysteriously disappeared from my work email.\u201d A copy forwarded to their personal email, however, remains in their inbox.<\/p>\n Legislation that President Trump signed in January 2019<\/a>, which ended a record 35-day government shutdown, guarantees back pay to these employees once any shutdown ends.<\/p>\n The exempt employee was told they will return to work later this month, but they have been unable to get this update in writing.<\/p>\n \u201cI asked for a guarantee that I would return,\u201d the employee said, but their direct manager said they couldn\u2019t make that promise.<\/p>\n According to a second employee, individuals who have been furloughed for taking more than eight hours of leave in a pay period will be brought back to work the next pay period, but was told \u201cit\u2019s not definite.\u201d<\/p>\n The IRS, in\u00a0updated contingency plans<\/a>\u00a0it posted Wednesday afternoon, plans to keep 53% of its employees working, as the shutdown enters its second week. A majority of them work in public-facing taxpayer services positions.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The agency began an \u201cIRS-wide furlough\u201d on Wednesday morning, \u201cfor everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees.\u201d<\/p>\n The IRS is preparing for next year\u2019s filing season and scrambling to prepare for major changes to the tax code as part of the\u00a0\u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d<\/a> that Trump signed into law in July. Some of those changes will go into effect as soon as next year\u2019s filing season.<\/p>\n Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Federal News Network on Wednesday, prior to this new leave policy, that he would \u201cbe very surprised if much of the remaining workforce was furloughed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Constitution clearly states that \u2018emergency\u2019 employees, who can work without an appropriation, are those involved in protecting life or property. Property includes federal tax revenues. So there is no reason to furlough those in the IRS working to prepare for the start of the filing season beyond the customer service employees,\u201d Koskinen said.<\/p>\n Larry Gibbs, another former IRS commissioner, agreed that furloughs could hamper the agency\u2019s preparations for next year\u2019s filing season.<\/p>\n \u201cThe filing season next year has many risks. Current furloughs are one of them,\u201d Gibbs said.<\/p>\n