An Agency may take action based on performance in two ways – as a performance issue under 5 CFR Part 432 or a conduct issue under 5 C.F.R. Part 752. Before taking a performance action under 5 CFR Part 432, the Agency must allow the Federal employee a reasonable opportunity to improve his or her performance. This period, commonly known as a “PIP”, is also known as an improvement period, opportunity period, or other similar names.

There are, generally, [...]

In EEO Complaints stemming from an employee’s lowered appraisal, government attorneys often try to argue that when an appraisal is lowered, but still satisfactory, there is no adverse action. The case of Maurya Green may have put a dent in that argument. Green v. National Science Foundation, EEOC No. 01A33221 (February 16, 2006).

In early 2002, Ms. Green received an annual appraisal. This year, a temporary supervisor lowered the overall rating recommended by her regular supervisor from “Very Good-High” [...]

We got another call today from a federal retiree on an issue that is appearing more and more frequently.

The issue is the effect on a retiree’s retirement annuity if they don’t “buy-in” their post-1956 military service credits into their CSRS/FERS retirement.

Here’s how it works. A federal employee who retires after September 7, 1982 is entitled to receive credit, under both the CSRS and Social Security, for any active duty military service performed [...]

In an August 22, 2007, decision, the Office of Federal Operations (OFO) of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found the USPS liable for failure to reasonably accommodate. Bratsch v. U.S.P.S., EEOC Appeal No. 0120071942 (August 22, 2007).

The OFO ordered the Agency to pay $8,000.00 in non-compensatory pecuniary damages. (The OFO adjudicates appeals of Federal Agency decisions on discrimination complaints, and also ensures Agency compliance with decisions based on those appeals.)

Hear what the Son of George Bush’s V.P. said about the Iraq War in 1994:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY

Absolutely amazing – what changed his opinion? Could it possibly have been the substantial financial interest he held (holds?) in Halliburton?

On August 30, 2007, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that reiterates the standard of review the MSPB must utilize when reviewing the revocation of a security clearance in connection with an appealable action. You can read the decision by clicking here.

The standard, in a nutshell, is that the MSPB may only review the decision to revoke the security clearance to ensure that the employee received minimum due process (this isn’t much at all). The [...]

Over the next couple days, I want to briefly discuss the 3 major orders you will receive from your Judge in an MSPB Hearing.

They are:

1) the Acknowledgment Order;

2) the Scheduling Order; and,

3) the Pre-Hearing Summary.

There are a few other orders, but I will only talk about the big ones right now.

1) Acknowledgment Order -You will receive this order [...]

From time to time, I will review a selection of MSPB Initial Decisions. This weekend, I reviewed 52 cases in which an Initial Decision of the MSPB was issued between June 29, 2007 and July 6, 2007.

The first noteworthy point is that the MSPB issued 52 Initial Decisions in one week. That is a lot of decisions, but it’s probably about average – maybe even a little on the low side (based purely on my periodic observations). [...]

Even after you appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), your case may be dismissed for “lack of jurisdiction”. This simply means that the MSPB does not have the authority to hear your appeal.

Here are some examples of situations where the MSPB lacks jurisdiction:

The MSPB does not have jurisdiction over employees whose positions have been specifically excluded. You can see a list of 12 government “positions” that do not have the authority to appeal adverse actions to [...]

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed rules to authorize the Agency to process retirement and health and life insurance applications, notices, elections, and records under the agency’s Retirement Systems Modernization (RSM) project.

The rules would affect how benefits are managed under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS), Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits (RFEHB) programs.Under the new rules, GSA employees would be [...]