IRS recalls thousands of employees to work and asks them to bring their own safety gear

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

The IRS will start recalling “certain employees in mission-critical functions” to agency offices starting Monday, though it is urging them to bring their own face masks and suggesting the employees can make them out of t-shirts or bandanas, according to an internal memo circulated Saturday by two lawmakers.

...snip...

The agency is asking for volunteers and offering incentive pay, Reardon said in a statement, but will order employees back if there are not enough volunteers.

“We are communicating with the IRS about working conditions at those facilities to make sure there are adequate cleaning and disinfecting supplies, accommodations to allow for physical distancing among employees and personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves,” Reardon said.

But the agency memo, released by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who heads the panel’s oversight subcommittee, said that while the IRS “is seeking to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves, each IRS facility may not be able to initially procure the PPE for all employees immediately.”




Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/25/irs-recalls-employees-to-work-207870

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From: *IRS Human Capital Officer <[e-mail]>
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2020 2:16 PM
To: &&Employees All <[e-mail]>
Subject: Face coverings to be required in IRS facilities and workspaces

Effective April 27, 2020, the IRS will be recalling certain employees in mission-critical functions to handle work that must be conducted onsite. We are thankful for these employees that are coming back to their worksite to conduct the critical work for the IRS as well as the country. Throughout, the health and safety of our employees remains our highest priority. Therefore, we are implementing the following requirements regarding face covering based on recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings.

People have differing levels of concern associated with the current situation. As we return to the worksite, we need to respect and balance the concerns of others with the requirement to continue our mission-critical functions. Further, CDC is advising the use of at least having simple cloth face coverings to potentially slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others. Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, public health measure.

Accordingly, effective April 27, 2020, all individuals are to wear cloth face coverings while in IRS facilities and workspaces. Although the IRS is seeking to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves, each IRS facility may not be able to initially procure the PPE for all employees immediately. Employees are therefore required to bring personal face coverings for their nose and mouth area when they come to work. As stated in the CDC recommendations, these face coverings can be fashioned from common household materials (.pdf), such as clean t-shirts or bandanas. Materials used to create the covering must be conducive to a professional work environment and not contain any images or text that may be deemed inappropriate or offensive to others.

If an employee’s workspace is a private office or an individual cubicle with barriers between other cubicles, the employee may remove their face covering while working in their individual workspace. However, employees must appropriately use their face coverings when in common spaces (such as, walkways, elevators, staircases, bathrooms, cafeterias) or entering or leaving their work facility.
We appreciate your understanding and respect for the concerns of both your colleagues and the agency in wearing a face covering until further notice. An employee who fails to adhere to the requirements in the memo may be required to return home until such time the employee adheres to these requirements. Please remember, the intent of this requirement is to ensure the health and safety of all our employees and their families.

Robin D. Bailey, Jr.
IRS Human Capital Officer
Kevin Q. McIver
Deputy IRS Human Capital Officer

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/IRS%20PPE%20email.pdf

[SheltieLover]

1. 😳

WTF? 🤬

K&R

[Igel]

3. If they were in many locations they'd have to provide their own just to get to work.

Or, as we're told locally, face a "hefty fine."

I don't know that they'd need to have regulation face masks as a kind of uniform--have to take off the one you wore to work, leave your official work mask at your desk when you left. If we have to provide our own to go to the mailbox or get gasoline, I don't see the big deal.

It's been strongly suggested for a while. While I saw store-issued face masks at Walmart Tuesday (some of them interestingly worn, under the chin or just over the mouth and not the nose), the car repair place the employees had their own. Same for the pizza place a couple of weeks ago (drive through window, naturally).

I'm personally trying to work through possible plans for starting school again in August--what are the options, good, bad, and ugly.

[christx30]

21. My wife is making ours.

Leggings, with shop towels inside, with pipe cleaners for the nose part, and hair ties to hold them on the ears. Plus, because they are leggings, they come in a bunch of cool colors and patterns. She’s really awesome and crafty.

[DENVERPOPS]

14. How about this SL

Rumor floating around that Air Traffic Controllers in hard hit areas of the country are getting a bonus of ten bucks an hour is they come into work rather than being sick sitting at home.........

With no one flying, the air traffic they normally handle is off by 95%.........

I bet the airports that handle massive Fedex and UPS haven't slowed down much........

Isn't there some airport down south, like in Atlanta? that has a constant massive flow of freight airplanes coming in an out night and day?????

[LizBeth]

2. I get why they need help. Waiting for stimulus and tax refund. I am glad to hear that they take

safety seriously.

[regnaD kciN]

7. "Take safety seriously" "bring your own PPE"

My wife, who is in a high-risk group, works there, in one of those "mission-critical functions." She has been off since the office closed up here on March 17th. She is due to retire, after thirty-plus years there, at the end of this coming week. I'm now terrified that they're going to order her in for a few more days, in a crowded office without sufficient PPE.

[LizBeth]

8. And I hope they will take her situation in consideration. I hope the same too with my work when

they start having us come back for nothing more than to wait on customers. I am in a group that makes me not comfortable going back to work yet. I still need my refund and stimulus. They are still inundated with claims to process. I would prefer to get it before Sept.

[ancianita]

4. That is exactly where the American tax strike should begin. They should call in sick.

There should be no taxation as long as the economy is not open.

IRS employees should string out their pay for as long as they can. Resist setting taxation in motion by any means they can.

Only a plantation demands work with no guarantee of safety.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. All the governments

at Federal level and local levels drastically need things to be forced back open regardless of the Covid19. If for no other reason than lost tax revenue. What's a few deaths compared to money??????????

I remember when Denver International Airport was shut down for a couple of days years ago due to a blizzard. The Mayor of Denver went berserk.....He said the tax revenue lost was 17 million a day. Not taxes ON 17 Million, Taxes OF 17 million.
Then, besides the loss of Taxes, Denver had a humongous bill to clear the snow on all the tarmacs and runways........

The States are particularly vulnerable, their budgets obliterated, and then Trump tells them that they are on their own, and shouldn't require bailouts or money from his Republican Controlled Tyranny in Washington.

[Cozmo]

5. What about all the PPE the government has stolen from the states?

Oh, I guess the administration is hoarding that equipment in their stockpile so they can sell them to other countries for a big profit.

[TeamPooka]

6. Hello, OSHA....?

[Historic NY]

9. You mean the can't go to Jared.

[CreekDog]

10. It's not clear how someone can keep their face covered while eating and drinking

hmmm.

[Withywindle]

11. Demanding workers bring their OWN safety gear is completely unacceptable

What the fuck is a government even FOR if it can't provide necessities for their own staff?

[DENVERPOPS]

16. Any PPE supplied to them by FEMA

Would dip into the inventory Jared and his Trailer Trash Barbie are selling on the side for outrageous profits going to Trump Inc.

There are no words in the english language that come near describing what is going on in the U.S. today.

We need words that are 1000x stronger than Un-fathomable, Un-believeable, etc

[Lonestarblue]

12. And how are employees supposed to get masks on their own?

Few, if any, local stores have them. I ordered masks in late March, and the estimated delivery is by June 21—nearly a three-month wait. How will IRS employees get their masks if they agency doesn’t use its government power to procure them? By now, Kushner has certainly stolen enough masks from governors’ orders and the VA hospitals to supply the IRS—or has he sold them on the black market already?

[gab13by13]

13. I think I know why they had to go back to work.

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the IRS, my first thoughts were, Oh shit.

I opened it up, it was a letter signed by Trump saying that I was going to either get a check or a direct deposit. I already got my direct deposit last week, I didn't need Trump to explain to me I was going to get it.

Those IRS workers probably had to stuff envelops.

[iluvtennis]

19. A waste of money to stuff envelopes. Those $ could have gone to ppl struggling during this outbreak

[Locrian]

17. why don't we have an overflowing supply of masks?

I know the manufacturing base in the US is not exactly world class anymore - but seriously?

It's like signing up for duty in WW2 and being told to bring your own bullets.

[iluvtennis]

18. While trump crime family hoards PPE, yeah you, Jared "It's our PPE" Kushner.

[rocktivity]

20. No PPE, and no testing of ALL the employees? No way!

Last edited Mon Apr 27, 2020, 01:39 AM - Edit history (1)

Send them back to work by sending them what they'll need to work from home


rocktivity