When IRS workers recently picketed saying they wanted to get back to work, this surely isn’t what they had in mind.
It’s day 26 of the government shutdown and now some IRS workers who were furloughed are being told to come back without pay. This was revealed as part of an update to the IRS’s contingency plan Tuesday. With tax filings beginning January 28th The agency writes:
This IRS Shutdown Contingency Plan (Tax Year 2018 Filing Season) for fiscal year 2019 reflects a total of 46,052 employees (57.4% of the total employee population of 80,265 as of 12/28/2018) who are designated as “excepted/exempt” and would be retained in the case of a shutdown.
The recalled employees will not be paid during the shutdown, now in its fourth week, although all federal workers have been promised back pay when funding is approved.
The tax filing season for individuals begins Jan. 28. The Trump administration said last week that the shutdown would not impact tax refunds.
Bringing workers back into service is necessary “to protect Government property, which includes tax revenue, and maintain the integrity of the federal tax collection process,” the document says.
Yesterday a judge rejected a request from The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) that would have put workers back on the payroll. The NTEU released a statement saying:
NTEU alleges that the executive branch can’t continue to force more and more employees to show up in exchange only for an IOU.
NTEU National President Tony Reardon added:
“There is no doubt the IRS needs to get ready for the 2019 filing season that starts Jan. 28, and IRS employees want to work. But the hard, cold reality is that they’ve already missed a paycheck and soon they’ll be asked to work for free for as long as the shutdown lasts.”
And he points out going back to work will only put a bigger strain on these employees.
“I’m worried whether these employees will have the money to put gas in their car to get to work. I’m worried that highly trained IRS employees will consider quitting so they can get a job that actually comes with a paycheck.”
The union has another hearing for a preliminary injunction scheduled for January 31st.