Agencies are placing reinstated employees in leave status. Judge says that violates his order.

Updated March 18 at 2:07 p.m.

The Trump administration is not complying with a federal judge’s order to reinstate fired probationary employees, with the court ruling that the placement of those workers on administrative leave is failing to meet his demands.

Instead, said Judge William Alsup, from the U.S. District Court for Northern California, employees should be placed fully back in their roles and permitted to carry out their normal duties. All six agencies impacted by Alsup’s order to reinstate employees fired during their probationary periods last month—as well as virtually all of those impacted by a broader, similar ruling from a federal court in Maryland—have placed those workers in a paid leave status. The workers have largely not regained access to their emails or work systems and have been instructed not to report for duty. 

“This is not allowed by the preliminary injunction,” Alsup said Monday evening of the reinstatement-onto-leave approach, “for it would not restore the services the preliminary injunction intends to restore.” 

Alsup asked for an update on the status of the impacted employees by Tuesday afternoon. After publication of this story, the Trump administration told the judge it understood he "had questions about whether the placement of employees on administrative leave was an effort to avoid the injunction," but sought to assure him instead the "placement is an administrative, intermediate measure taken by a number of the agencies in order to return probationary employees to full duty status." 

The judge last week tasked the six impacted agencies—the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury—with immediately putting the roughly 24,000 affected employees back into their jobs after finding they were fired unlawfully. That was followed by the ruling from Judge James Bredar in Maryland that 13 additional agencies also reinstate their fired probationers—typically employees hired in the last one or two years—though he specifically allowed agencies to utilize administrative leave.

All agencies impacted by Bredar’s ruling submitted updates on Monday night noting they had made efforts to follow through on the order and, in most cases, had successfully informed employees they were back in paid status. Agency human resources leaders noted in their declarations to the court that the ruling could be reversed upon appeal and placing employees into their normal job duties would therefore be both overly burdensome and detract from agency mission. 

The employees impacted by the Maryland case received notifications that they were only guaranteed to be employed until March 27, when Bredar’s order is currently set to expire. The judge has indicated that he could extend his restraining order. 

At most agencies, notices to employees suggested the administrative leave designation would remain in place indefinitely or until the court order expired. For most employees, they also said they would receive back pay and have their full benefits restored.

Only the Transportation Department took a different approach, telling its 757 impacted workers they would only be placed on administrative leave through Wednesday. By Thursday, their reinstatement notices said, they would be placed back on active duty status. They would soon receive information on restoration of government equipment and their Personal Identify Verification (PIV) card. Employees who do not wish to return to their roles must notify the department by Wednesday that they are resigning.

One rehired Transportation employee said they were told that they no longer have assigned work areas as those were “given away,” nor do they have their previously assigned laptops or IDs. The working conditions must still be sorted, the reinstated employee said, but they remained pleased to have a job again.

“I am just happy that the justice system is working,” the employee said. “Our democracy is in a fragile state and this win is a glimmer of hope.”