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WASHINGTON – If the IRS proceeds with plans for an ill-advised mass layoff, there are certain steps under the collective bargaining agreement that must be followed to mitigate the impact on employees, according to a letter NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald sent Friday to IRS leadership.

Failure to follow those contractual requirements would violate federal law, the letter states. As importantly, a rushed reduction-in-force would have a devastating impact on the IRS’s ability to collect revenue that funds the government services our country depends on.

NTEU strongly opposes any reduction-in-force because it “would be incredibly destructive not only for the many civil servants we proudly represent at the IRS, but also for the American public who depends on this agency to bring in revenue for vital government services,” Greenwald wrote.

The reduction-in-force (RIF) requirements, as outlined in contracts between NTEU and the IRS for the last two decades, include the agency providing adequate notice to the union and an opportunity to bargain the RIF; offering mitigation strategies such as reskilling programs, outplacement services, transfers, early retirements, voluntary separation incentives, and others; and giving NTEU the data and analysis the agency relied on in determining a RIF is necessary. The contract also requires that no employee be involuntarily separated in the first 12 months after the union is formally notified of the RIF, giving employees and the union time to help as many employees as possible.

Notably, the RIF provisions were initially negotiated and added to the 2006 contract after the IRS itself insisted on a “comprehensive RIF article,” with the stated purpose of reducing the number of employees who are involuntary separated and allowing the agency to retain employees with valuable institutional knowledge of the IRS. The relevant language remains in effect.

NTEU represents employees in 37 federal agencies and offices.