HHS Reinstates 400 NIOSH Employees Placed on Administrative Leave

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent RIF notices to about 1,000 NIOSH employees in April 2025 and placed them on paid administrative leave; after recalling roughly 300 a month later, about 400 remained on paid leave. Then, in January 2026, HHS decided not to terminate them after having paid them not to work for eight months. All of the employees worked for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health within the Centers for Disease Prevention & Control. They returned to work in January 2026.