Last Updated: October 5, 2026 Reading Time: 6 min

If you work at one of the four public naval shipyards, you have probably heard that the law protects you from a reduction in force. The shipyard RIF protection is real, and it is narrower than the shorthand. Section 1101 of last year's defense law limits what fiscal 2026 Defense money can be used for. Fiscal 2026 ended on September 30, and whether the limit reaches the money Congress has provided since then has not been settled.

What Is Known, What Is Not, and What Would Settle It

Question Answer as of October 5, 2026 Status What would settle it
Does a law limit RIFs at public shipyards? Yes. Section 1101 of the FY2026 defense authorization law, signed December 18, 2025 Known Already law
What does it limit? Using fiscal 2026 Defense funds for a hiring freeze, a RIF, or a without-cause delay in filling a vacant civilian job Known Already law
Does it list the shipyards? No. It says "a public shipyard" and does not define the term Known Not applicable
Did it end on September 30? No. It still applies to fiscal 2026 Defense money spent after that date Known Not applicable
Does it reach the stopgap's fiscal 2027 money? Not settled. The text names fiscal 2026 funds, and the stopgap does not mention it Unknown A 2027 defense law, shipyard language in the next funding law, or a GAO or Defense Department legal opinion
Is there a 2027 version? Proposed in both the House and Senate bills. Neither is law Known A final bill signed into law

FedTools reading of Public Law 119-60, Public Law 119-103, H.R. 8800 and S. 4784.

What Section 1101 Says

The section is one sentence long. In Public Law 119-60, at 139 Stat. 1072, it says that "None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be used to" do three things:

  • "carry out a hiring freeze at a public shipyard"
  • "carry out a reduction in force at a public shipyard"
  • "delay without cause the filling of a vacant Federal civilian employee position at a public shipyard"

It has no waiver and no end date. Its scope is set by the money it describes.

The law does not define "public shipyard" or list the yards. Elsewhere in the same Act, Congress names the four: Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, Portsmouth and Puget Sound. Federal law at 10 U.S.C. § 2476 lists the same four as Navy depots. So the four naval shipyards are the natural reading. How far the phrase reaches for tenant commands and offices on a shipyard's grounds is not spelled out.

What Section 1101 Does Not Cover

Section 1101 names three actions and nothing else. These are outside it:

  • Early retirement and buyouts. VERA is a voluntary early retirement, and Defense buyouts under VSIP are voluntary too. The section does not stop the Navy from offering either, or you from accepting.
  • Deferred resignation. A deferred resignation is a resignation you agree to.
  • Performance and conduct removals. A removal for poor performance or for misconduct runs under different chapters of federal personnel law.
  • Probation. If you are in an initial probationary or trial period, your appointment ends on the last day of that period unless the agency certifies, within the 30 days before, that keeping you advances the public interest. A first-time supervisor's probation works differently.
  • Directed reassignment. A management-directed reassignment is not covered unless it is part of a RIF. A reassignment that displaces another employee during a RIF is a RIF action.

If an early-out is on the table, the VERA Eligibility Checker tells you whether your age and years of service qualify. The Severance Calculator estimates severance pay from your annual basic pay, years of service and age if a RIF notice ever arrives. If you are paid by the hour, enter your scheduled hourly rate times 2,087.

Why October 1 Raised the Question

Section 1101 is tied to money "for fiscal year 2026." Fiscal 2027 began October 1.

The section did not switch off. Some fiscal 2026 Defense money stays available for years, and the limit follows that money. But the Defense Department is now also operating on a stopgap funding law, Public Law 119-103, which runs through December 11, 2026 at the latest. Under its Section 106, stopgap authority for a project or activity ends at the earliest of three events: an appropriation for it is enacted, the applicable fiscal 2027 appropriations act is enacted without providing for it, or December 11, 2026.

The stopgap's money is fiscal 2027 money. It carries forward last year's appropriations laws and their conditions. The defense authorization law that holds Section 1101 is not an appropriations law, and the stopgap adds no shipyard language of its own. We also checked the fiscal 2026 Defense spending law. It has no shipyard RIF or hiring-freeze provision, so the stopgap has none to carry forward.

GAO's appropriations-law guide says a stopgap normally carries forward the restrictions in the prior year's appropriations laws. GAO has also treated a Defense authorization provision written for one fiscal year as ending with that year when the next stopgap was silent. That older case is an analogy, and we found no ruling on Section 1101. Whether it reaches the stopgap's fiscal 2027 money has not been settled.

What Congress Is Doing About Fiscal 2027

Both chambers have written a renewal.

Bill Shipyard provision Where it stands
House, H.R. 8800 Section 1121 would bar fiscal 2027 Defense funds for the same three actions at a public shipyard. Section 1116 would separately bar a fiscal 2027 hiring freeze on shipyard positions Passed the House 216 to 212 on July 22, 2026. Received in the Senate September 14
Senate, S. 4784 Section 1106 carries the same three-action limit for fiscal 2027. Section 1107 would extend it to working-capital-fund organizations. Section 1110 would require 45 days' notice to Congress before the Department approves a cut of 50 or more full-time civilians at any facility Reported by committee. A vote to take it up failed 50 to 46 on July 14, 2026

Neither bill is law, and no conference version exists. If one is enacted with the shipyard section, fiscal 2027 money is covered from then on.

Our FY2027 NDAA guide for Defense civilians follows both bills.

What to Do If You Work at a Shipyard

  1. Watch for a written notice. Under 5 CFR § 351.801, a RIF requires a specific written notice at least 60 full days before release. When the RIF is caused by circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable, OPM can approve a shorter period of at least 30 full days. A shipyard RIF would show up as notices first.
  2. Call your union local. By statute, the union is entitled to the same written notice.
  3. Treat voluntary offers as voluntary. Section 1101 does not block an early-out, a buyout or a deferred resignation offer. Nothing in it requires you to take one either.
  4. Watch the funding laws. The stopgap runs through December 11, 2026 or an earlier termination event, such as a full-year Defense appropriations act. The next funding law could add shipyard language. A final defense bill would also settle it.

For the Navy's wider civilian review, see our Navy civilian reduction guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can public shipyard workers be laid off in a RIF?

Section 1101 of the FY2026 defense authorization law bars using fiscal 2026 Defense funds to carry out a reduction in force at a public shipyard. It is a limit on that money and has no waiver. Whether it also reaches the stopgap funding that began October 1, 2026 has not been settled.

Did the shipyard protection expire on September 30, 2026?

No. The section has no end date, and it still covers any fiscal 2026 Defense money spent after September 30. What is unsettled is whether it reaches fiscal 2027 money provided by the stopgap funding law.

Which shipyards does Section 1101 cover?

The section says "a public shipyard" and does not define the term or list the yards. Elsewhere in the same law Congress names four naval shipyards: Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, Portsmouth and Puget Sound.

Does Section 1101 stop a buyout, early retirement or deferred resignation?

No. Section 1101 names a hiring freeze, a reduction in force and a without-cause delay in filling a vacant civilian job. VERA, VSIP and deferred resignation are voluntary and are not among those three actions.

Does Section 1101 protect me from being fired for performance or conduct?

No. Removals for performance and for misconduct run under other parts of federal personnel law and are not among the three actions the section names. The same is true of the end of a probationary appointment.

Will the protection continue in fiscal 2027?

Both the House-passed bill (H.R. 8800, Section 1121) and the Senate committee bill (S. 4784, Section 1106) would renew the limit for fiscal 2027 money. Neither is law as of October 5, 2026.

How much notice would I get before a RIF?

A RIF requires a specific written notice at least 60 full days before release. When the RIF is caused by circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable, OPM may approve a shorter period of at least 30 full days. Your union is entitled to written notice as well.

Sources

  • Public Law 119-60, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 1101, 139 Stat. 1072
  • Public Law 119-103, continuing appropriations for fiscal 2027, Division A, sections 101 and 106
  • Public Law 119-75, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, Division A
  • H.R. 8800, sections 1116 and 1121, as passed by the House
  • S. 4784, sections 1106, 1107 and 1110, as reported in the Senate
  • 10 U.S.C. § 2476: naval shipyards listed as depots
  • 5 CFR § 351.801 and 5 U.S.C. § 3502: RIF notice
  • GAO, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law, Volume II, chapter 8