MERIT Act Offers Reinstatement, Back Pay for Federal Workers Hit by Post-January 2025 Mass Terminations

The Model Employee Reinstatement for Ill-advised Termination (MERIT) Act sets up a process to bring back certain federal employees who lost their jobs due to mass terminations occurring between January 20, 2025, and whenever this Act becomes law. It specifically targets 'affected probationary employees' – essentially, non-temporary staff in competitive, excepted, or Senior Executive Service roles who were let go during their probationary period (or before meeting required service years) as part of a 'mass termination,' defined as 15 or more separations from one agency within 30 days for related reasons. The core goal is to offer these individuals a path back to federal service and compensate them for the disruption.

Getting Back on the Payroll

The main thrust of the MERIT Act is straightforward: the agency that terminated the employee must offer them their old job back, or one that's considered 'same or similar.' What counts as similar? The bill specifies the new role must provide benefits (like retirement, health insurance, and leave) equal to or better than the previous position. If the employee accepts the offer, they're entitled to back pay, calculated as the amount they would have earned from their termination date right up until they're reappointed. This payment is mandated to start within 90 days after the pay rates are figured out and will arrive as a single lump sum, taxed like regular wages but not subject to typical pay caps.

What If You Already Found Another Fed Job?

The Act accounts for folks who didn't wait around and landed another federal position after being terminated. If they're still in that new federal job when the MERIT Act passes, they won't get their old job back automatically, but they will receive a payment. This payment covers the difference between what they would have earned in their original job (from termination until the Act's enactment) and what they actually earned in their new federal job during that same timeframe. If the calculation results in a negative number (meaning they earned more in the new job), no payment is made. There's another twist: if someone took a new federal job but left it before the Act passed, they get the offer to return to their original position and receive the back pay difference calculation, plus additional back pay covering the time from the Act's enactment until their reappointment.

The Nitty-Gritty: Notices, Deadlines, and Re-entry

Timing is key here. Once the Act is enacted, agencies have 30 days to notify eligible former employees about their rights under the Act. Those employees then have just 30 days to respond – accept or reject the job offer. Missing that deadline means forfeiting the right to reappointment. If an employee accepts, the agency has another 30 days to make the appointment official. Importantly, Section 3 clarifies that getting reinstated this way bypasses the usual competitive hiring hoops. Furthermore, Section 5 states these terminations will be officially treated as 'involuntarily separated without cause,' which can be significant for future employment considerations. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is tasked under Section 6 with determining the exact pay amounts, using evidence provided by the employee or other available information if needed.

Keeping Tabs: Reporting Requirements

To ensure transparency, the Act includes reporting mandates. Within 60 days of enactment, the Comptroller General must report to Congress on the scope of mass terminations since January 20, 2025, including numbers, reasons, and affected probationary employees (Section 7(a)). Within 90 days, the Director of OPM must report on the reinstatement process itself – how many people were notified and how many accepted their old jobs back (Section 7(b)). These reports aim to provide oversight on both the initial terminations and the effectiveness of this legislative remedy.