Protesters rally outdoors of the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Constructing headquarters of the U.S. Workplace of Personnel Administration on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Pictures)
Like many a couple of weeks in the past, Travis Pettit was profiting from the three-day weekend due to President’s Day at his house in Stanley, Virginia.
Then the decision got here round midday.
“It was a federal vacation. I used to be working some errands and my supervisor referred to as my private mobile phone,” mentioned Pettit. “She mentioned, ‘Hey, you understand, I’m calling to provide you a casual heads up that we obtained a listing of probationary workers who’re being terminated and your identify is on them.’”
Pettit mentioned his supervisor was very upset concerning the scenario.
“She knowledgeable me that they didn’t have enter into this determination. It got here from senior FEMA management,” he mentioned. “And he or she was simply principally exacerbated, simply offended on the scenario, as a result of she knew that my efficiency evaluations have been excellent and they didn’t wish to lose me, however they’d no say within the matter.”
Pettit was advised to count on an e mail together with his formal termination that night time, together with all of his separation paperwork. The following day, Pettit must ship his firm laptop computer and telephone again to FEMA, who supplied a transport label for the method.
FEMA-employee Travis Pettit was fired from the company on President’s Day. (Photograph courtesy of Travis Pettit)
Pettit was one of many many probationary workers on the Federal Emergency Administration Company who bought fired on President’s Day. The company dismissed about 200 workers, in keeping with National Public Radio and mockingly, simply final yr, the company reported staffing shortages.
The layoffs, led by billionaire Musk below the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), have primarily focused probationary workers — these with a yr or much less on the job — in keeping with States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau.
College of Virginia College of Regulation professor J.H. “Rip” Verkerke has a couple of ideas on the huge firings occurring all through the federal authorities.
“The Trump administration’s technique, guided by Elon Musk’s DOGE group, strikes me as chaotic, merciless, and counter-productive,” Verkerke mentioned in an e mail. “As many individuals have noticed, we’re seeing many echoes of Musk’s indiscriminate termination of employees at Twitter after he bought the corporate. He at the moment faces plenty of lawsuits difficult a few of these terminations and significantly alleging that his firm did not pay promised severance advantages.”
Civil servants are sometimes granted statutory protections towards termination, relying on their job classification and tenure, Verkerke mentioned.
“To this point, it seems that the administration has principally focused probationary workers for mass terminations,” he mentioned.
“These employees are comparatively weak as a result of they don’t obtain full civil service job safety till they’ve served for not less than one yr. The truth that they’re being mandated by White Home officers who don’t have any significant contact with the company employees, and the patently false statements contained in not less than among the termination notices might present some authorized grounds for these workers to problem their firing.”
Pettit was an tutorial programs specialist on the Nationwide Hearth Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, which operates below FEMA. He developed specialised coaching programs for firefighters.
“I used to be nonetheless in my probationary interval,” he mentioned. “I used to be employed in March of 2024, so I used to be about three weeks shy of being out of that probationary interval once I was terminated.”
Probation durations differ by place and company however sometimes final not less than a yr. Workers are anticipated to transition to both a profession or career-conditional appointment primarily based on efficiency.
Since his termination, Pettit has been contemplating his subsequent steps, together with the opportunity of contesting FEMA’s determination.
“It principally mentioned one thing to the impact of, since you’re a probationary worker, you haven’t demonstrated that your efficiency warrants additional employment or is within the public’s curiosity, and also you’re being separated as of tomorrow,” he mentioned.
After researching his choices, Pettit got here throughout a pattern response letter on-line.
“I had discovered a pattern letter on Reddit which advised me they couldn’t probably be really assessing our efficiency individually if I’m a excessive performer, and I’m getting this type letter that everyone else is getting,” he mentioned.
“So I typed up my response, which mentioned, ‘Hey, you’re making these unfounded claims about me. I would really like documentation. Should you can present notices that I allegedly obtained concerning my efficiency or efficiency enchancment plans, however I would like an evidence for this.”
He by no means obtained a reply.
Pettit filed a declare with the Workplace of Particular Counsel, the federal company that investigates terminations of civil servants. The workplace has agreed to tackle his case.
In the meantime, a number of lawsuits difficult the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers have emerged, in keeping with the Public Broadcasting Service.
Pettit has additionally began the method of making use of for unemployment advantages.
“I did go forward and file principally the following day after I discovered I used to be getting laid off simply because I didn’t understand how lengthy any of those processes have been gonna take,” he mentioned. “I’m within the strategy of looking for work and submitting all the pieces I must the unemployment workplace. It’s been a troublesome week.”
Unemployment profit claims in Virginia
Greater than 144,000 federal civil employees stay in Virginia, in keeping with a 2024 report put out by the Congressional Research Service.
Nonetheless, for these federal workers who’ve been terminated and are serious about probably making use of for unemployment advantages, they should perceive which state to fill out the kinds in, in keeping with Demetrios “Mitch” Melis, commissioner of the Virginia Employment Fee (VEC).
“The one people which can be going to file in Virginia are folks that labored in Virginia,” Melis defined. “So in case you labored in D.C. and that’s the place your obligation station was, you’re submitting in D.C. In case your obligation station was in Maryland, you’re submitting in Maryland.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, accompanied by his son, joins President Donald Trump within the Oval Workplace on the White Home on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photograph by Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
The federal authorities determines an worker’s obligation station, Melis added.
Regardless of the 1000’s of Virginia-based federal workers, the variety of filed claims has not shot up, mentioned Melis. When The Mercury interviewed Melis final week, Virginia’s unemployment rate for the final week of January remained unchanged. He famous that the VEC doesn’t monitor claims by job sort.
“We don’t report on an individual by particular person. The unemployment numbers are form of consolidated after which they’re damaged down,” Melis mentioned. “So we don’t at the moment have a breakout particular for federal workers.” Nonetheless, he added, “The vast majority of these jobs that we’re seeing to this point appear to be primarily based in D.C.”
Nationally, unemployment claims did rise, in keeping with figures launched by the Department of Labor on Feb. 27. The DOL reported that “within the week ending Feb. 22 was 242,000, a rise of twenty-two,000 from the earlier week’s revised degree.”
The earlier week’s report, for the week of Feb. 22 from the DOL confirmed a rise of 5,000 from the earlier week’s revised degree — that’s a soar of 17,000 claims. Claims from federal employees additionally rose, from 613 to 614. Final yr right now, the quantity was 337.
Melis mentioned his workplace sometimes sees seasonal spikes in unemployment throughout this time of yr.
“We’re not seeing a correlation in the intervening time between the federal workforce transitions and adjustments which can be occurring and the unemployment price,” he mentioned. “We sometimes see a seasonal spike proper right now of yr, each single yr. And that’s sometimes a results of post-holiday layoffs, winter slowdowns.”
The latest report for Virginia, launched Feb. 27, even confirmed a slight decline in claims:
“2,473 unemployment insurance coverage weekly preliminary claims have been filed through the week ending February 22, 2025, which is 14.7% decrease than final week’s 2,899 claims and 23.9% larger than the comparable week of final yr (1,996).”
Melis mentioned the VEC is monitoring the numbers weekly and emphasised that declare fluctuations rely on when and if individuals file. If unemployment claims rise, the company is ready.
“I do wish to reiterate that by no means are we taking it calmly,” he mentioned. “We definitely perceive the affect it has, which is why now we have rapidly made some changes to our web site. Virginia at the moment has a really massive variety of jobs out there — 290,000 jobs out there at the moment for people to have the ability to transition to.”
The VEC can also be creating tutorial movies to information federal workers by the appliance course of, outlining required documentation and eligibility standards t.
“Our focus in the intervening time is really making ready for these that could be impacted. And we’re ready to offer as a lot assist as we will for anybody that’s impacted,” Melis mentioned. “We definitely perceive it’s a time that they’re going by, however our job is to be ready with the state sources that now we have. And that’s what we’re ready to do and we’ll be persevering with to do.”
Gov.Glenn Youngkin’s response
Amid the preliminary wave of DOGE-led firings, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended Trump’s actions whereas expressing concern for these feeling anxious concerning the job cuts. On the similar time, he mentioned that his administration was creating a plan to assist federal workers.
That plan was unveiled last week as an internet job hub. The initiative guarantees an estimated 250,000 new jobs throughout Virginia’s private and non-private sectors.
For these workers who could also be serious about different choices, Verkerke mentioned there could also be some hope. He mentioned the way in which DOGE is working will transform unlawful.
“Federal workers who object to these actions or who report these actions to acceptable authorities might be able to increase whistleblowing claims towards the company that fires them,” mentioned Verkerke. “Particular statutory protections differ, however it could be no shock to seek out that some Trump appointees have retaliated towards federal workers for protected exercise.”
Though Verkeke mentioned the present scenario is so fluid that it’s troublesome to foretell what claims might succeed.
“Nonetheless, one truth is plain. The Trump administration’s actions are completely with out prior precedent,” he mentioned.
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