IHS puts layoffs on hold in South Dakota

Friday, September 21, 2007  

Six Indian Health Service employees in South Dakota have returned to work after the agency tried to lay them off.

Three Sioux San Hospital employees and three Pine Ridge Reservation employees were told they were losing their jobs because they were "time-limited" appointments. But officials in Washington, D.C., agreed to hold off after Aberdeen Area IHS executive officer Allen Davis questioned the layoffs.

At issue is whether the "time-limited" employees are working past their appointments. The Aberdeen office, and other IHS offices, are "abusing" the use of "time-limited" employees, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management.

The layoffs are on hold while officials review the practice. The Aberdeen area has 322 time-limited employees, who can work for five years at a time.

Get the Story:
Indian Health Service workers reinstated after lay-off (The Rapid City Journal 9/21)

$rl Indian Health Service - http://www.ihs.gov