🚨BREAKING NEWS: On October 28, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston (Northern District of California) granted a Preliminary Injunction (PI) in AFGE v. OMB, which continues halting all Federal Reduction-in-Force (RIF) actions initiated or approved by OMB during the current government shutdown. The ruling applies nationwide to any agencies--including CDC/HHS--with at least 1 AFGE Member or BUE that applied the new OMB RIF framework.🚨
Furlough notice acknowledgement guidance
Requests for Furlough Notice Acknowledgement
We are aware that CDC has sent new furlough notices to employees, with a request for acknowledgement. We understand that the new notices do not include the language about being entitled to backpay as guaranteed by the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. This, however, does not negate the law. We have been in contact with AFGE's Office of General Counsel who informed us:
1) If your supervisor directs you to acknowledge the notice, you should acknowledge the notice within the expected time frame.
2) Acknowledgement of receipt of the notice does not inherently indicate that you acknowledge the accuracy of the information in the notice.
3) We can add additional language in our response to explicitly state that we do not warrant their accuracy.
For those of you who were directed to or otherwise wish to acknowledge, we suggest the following template:
<SUPERVISOR>:
I am reporting my receipt of the forwarded notices. I do not warrant their accuracy or legality; and I do not waive any of my legal or administrative rights.
I will continue to act as if in a furlough status until November 30, or until I receive official communication to the contrary.
Please utilize the CCed personal email address for any necessary communications to me during my non-duty status. I will not be regularly checking my official email address(es).
Best of luck to you, and hope to be working together again soon.
<NAME>
<TITLE>
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Health and Human Services