According to some health officials, the Department of Health and Human Services has made the decision to essentially prevent the payment of past-due incentives to a large number of its laid-off workers.
Prior to their termination from the department, the bonuses were contingent on the employees’ exceptional performance in the previous year.
One current employee of the government health service remarked of the decision, “If the savings from the layoffs were pennies from the HHS budget, this is hundredths of a penny.”
High-performing federal employees typically receive bonus payouts in April, but the department had delayed their deposit. Under the revised ruling, disbursements are now planned to occur after June 2.
People who were laid off, received buyouts, or retired early cannot receive the money because of this time. Prior to the official “separation” date of June 2, the majority of the department’s laid-off employees are still on paid leave in accordance with federal regulations.
Human resources executives wrote to the employees of one HHS office, saying, We apologize to those of you who were expecting bonuses and truly wish we could have delivered them.”
A request for an appeal by certain agency officials was “unsuccessful in having it overturned,” the email stated.
“That is f****d up. “They put in a lot of effort last year to earn those honors,” a message from a government health department staffer stated.
Under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the decision is applicable to all departments and divisions that depend on the department’s main human resources office, the Staffing and Recruitment Operations Center.
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This covers the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s laid-off staff as well as some of the department’s independent offices.
The bonuses were distributed by a few larger organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, whose human resources departments are not directly under departmental supervision.
