MERIT Act

This bill requires federal agencies to offer to reinstate recently fired probationary employees. If you were let go, you can get your old job or a similar job in the same agency, plus a single lump-sum payment for the pay you missed since the day you were terminated. If you already took another federal job, you can receive a payment to make up the difference between what you would have earned and what you actually earned. Any new job offered must have benefits (like retirement, health insurance, and leave) that are at least as good as before.

Agencies must send notices within 30 days after the law takes effect. You then have 30 days to accept or refuse, and if you accept, the agency must appoint you within 30 more days. Payments must begin no later than 90 days after pay is set and are paid in one lump sum; they are treated as taxable wages. Your past separation is labeled “involuntary” and “without cause.” The Office of Personnel Management sets the pay figures used to calculate payments, and you can submit proof of your past pay within 60 days. The government must also report on mass terminations since January 20, 2025, and on how many people are reinstated. A “mass termination” means at least 15 separations in a 30-day period tied to the same action.

Key points

• Who is affected: Probationary federal employees who were recently separated.
• What changes: Right to return to the same or similar job in the former agency, with a lump-sum payment for missed pay; if you took another federal job, a make-up payment for the difference; benefits must match or exceed your prior benefits; agencies can rehire without certain standard hiring rules.
• When: Agency notice within 30 days of enactment; employee response due within 30 days; appointment within 30 days after acceptance; payments start within 90 days after pay is determined; reports due at 60 and 90 days.