IRS “Team C” Reassignments: Your Rights When Your Agency Details You
IRS details and reassignments are raising hard questions for mid-career federal employees. Imagine you are a GS-13, 14, or 15. The IRS pulls you out of your job, places you on a detail doing entry-level work, and now sorts you onto "Team C." What would you call that?
Whatever the answer turns out to be, if this is happening to you, you should be keeping every record, even if you do not see a legal violation today.
What the IRS Is Calling It
According to Government Executive, the IRS is sorting employees into "ONE IRS Readiness" Teams A, B, and C. An internal email calls the change a "Reporting and Organizational Correction," promising "improved roster management, workload alignment, reporting integrity, and cross-business unit coordination."
That is four phrases and not one job description. Employees on the new teams say they do not know what they will be doing.
How It Started
In February, the IRS placed about 1,500 IT and HR employees on 120-day details doing entry-level taxpayer service work, according to an estimate from the National Treasury Employees Union. One employee described GS-13, 14, and 15 employees taking direction from GS-3, 4, and 5 employees, while being paid their old salaries, roughly two to three times what those jobs normally pay.
Meanwhile, the IRS Chief Information Officer has said the agency's technology workforce lost 40 percent of its staff last year. The IRS then moved 1,200 people out, barred them from returning, and planned to hire up to 175 new employees.
"They hired people to replace us," one employee said. "They really just disappeared us and threw us away."
You Did Not Get Detailed Out of Your Rights
Most details are legal. But they come with rules:
- A written order is required. Under 5 U.S.C. § 3341(b)(1), a detail must be made by written order.
- There is a time limit. A detail cannot run longer than 120 days without a new written order renewing it.
- Save every order. Keep a copy of each detail order, renewal, and team assignment, along with any email explaining it. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is auditing these reassignments.
When a Reassignment May Be Discrimination or Retaliation
If you believe your move was based on race, sex, disability, age, or retaliation for EEO activity, the EEO process may apply. Each new assignment generally starts its own 45-day deadline to contact an EEO counselor under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a)(1). Do not wait for the whole situation to play out before you act. For other concerns, start with your union.
Keep Asking the Business Purpose
The question that employee asked is the right one: what is the business purpose of this? Write down what you are told, who told you, and when. Those records may matter later, even if nothing looks unlawful today.
Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation. You can contact Southworth PC at attorneysforfederalemployees.com.