HR 2880119th CongressIn Committee

To provide employment protections for, and reinstatement of, certain probationary Federal career employees, and for other purposes.

Introduced: Apr 10, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

H.R. 2880 would extend certain workplace protections to federal employees who are promoted into probationary or trial periods, giving them due process rights similar to other career employees. It would also create a reinstatement option for individuals who were removed from a federal career position after a promotion during a defined window (January 20, 2025, to enactment) with back pay. The bill explicitly excludes political positions from these protections. In short, it expands due process coverage for probationary federal employees and provides a retroactive reinstatement pathway with backpay for a specific group of employees who were removed after promotion.

Key Points

1Due Process Protections: Any federal employee promoted to a competitive service, an excepted career position, or a Senior Executive Service (SES) career appointee, and who remains in a probationary or trial period, would be treated as covered by the normal due process requirements in Title 5 (Chapter 75) for those job tracks.
2VA Employees: Federal employees promoted within the Department of Veterans Affairs and serving under a probationary or trial period would be covered by the VA’s due process provisions (section 714, Title 38).
3Reinstatement Rights: Individuals who were federal employees in probationary/trial status after a promotion and who were removed from their position in the window from January 20, 2025, to the enactment date could elect (at their option) to be reinstated to the same or an equivalent position, with back pay under 5 U.S.C. 5596.
4Exclusions: The protections do not apply to individuals promoted to political positions, and the reinstatement rights do not apply to individuals removed from political positions.
5Definitions: The bill provides definitions for key terms (e.g., “career appointee,” “competitive service,” “excepted service,” and “political position”) to clarify who is covered and what counts as a political or non-political role.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Federal employees promoted into competitive service, excepted service, or SES, who are in a probationary or trial period; and Department of Veterans Affairs employees promoted into VA roles on probation.Secondary group/area affected: Federal agencies’ human resources practices, because agencies would need to apply due process protections during probationary periods and manage reinstatement processes.Additional impacts: Potential fiscal implications due to backpay for reinstated employees; possible changes in agency personnel decision-making and risk management around probationary removals; potential interactions with existing laws governing federal employee due process and backpay (Title 5, sections 5596 and related chapters).

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