MSPB

MSPB political firing case raises new questions on Schedule F

The Housing and Urban Development Department’s 2017 firing of a probationary employee over alleged leaks was politically motivated, the agency tasked with enforcing civil service laws said last week.

  • Erich Wagner

D.C. lawmaker wants to restore due process to feds in ‘sensitive’ posts

A new bill would overrule a 2013 federal appellate court decision that denied roughly 200,000 federal employees access to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

  • Erich Wagner

Key federal workforce agencies get confirmed leaders

Biden finally has confirmed heads at the primary civil service enforcement agencies.

  • Eric Katz

Senate panel advances watchdog, labor nominees

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported four nominees for adjudicative agencies recently hamstrung by vacancy-related case backlogs to the Senate floor for final consideration.

  • Erich Wagner

Supreme Court to hear arguments on federal employee furlough case

The case was significantly delayed as the agency that initially hears federal worker appeals was non-functional for five years.

  • Eric Katz

Senate takes first steps to refill federal workforce watchdog roles

At the civil service appeals agency, parts of the workforce are voicing frustration with current leadership.

  • Eric Katz

Court opens up more discretion for reducing feds’ punishments

Federal employees facing firings will have an easier time mitigating that discipline to a lower form of punishment under new precedent.

  • Eric Katz

Biden looks to swap leadership at civil service watchdog agencies

White House nominates a Trump appointee for a new role overseeing enforcement of civil service laws.

  • Eric Katz

Fewer Federal Employees Are Reporting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

At some agencies, the rates of harassment remain high.

  • Eric Katz

Feds Reported ‘Notable Levels’ of Perceived Banned Personnel Practices in 2021

This “data is only a starting point, not the finishing line,” said the Merit Systems Protection Board.

  • Courtney Bublé

Merit Board: Agencies Must Tell Employees to Pick One Place to File Personnel Action Appeals, and Stick With It

An Air Force civilian worker was never informed that she could not both file a union grievance and have the Merit Systems Protection Board hear her case.

  • Erich Wagner

Appeals Panel for Feds No Longer Whole As Former Board Member Runs for Office

The Merit Systems Protection Board, now once again dealing with a vacancy as former member runs for state House in West Virginia, vows to continue working on its backlog.

  • Eric Katz

Agencies Are Facing New Restrictions for Firing Feds Injured on the Job

In many cases, employees have a right to restoration if they can recover physically.

  • Eric Katz
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Court Affirms That Federal Employee Appeals Agency's Judges Are Constitutionally Appointed

A ruling for the appellant could have upended enforcement of civil service protections for federal workers.

  • Eric Katz

Federal Employee Appeals Board Still Has Years of Work Ahead to Cut Through Its Record Backlog

Board has made slow but steady progress in reducing its workload after Congress incapacitated it for five years.

  • Eric Katz

White House Can't Just Retaliate Against and Discipline Its Employees Willy-Nilly, Panel Rules

Non-political appointees at the White House are now entitled to civil service protections.

  • Eric Katz

Don’t Fear the Public Service Reform Act

A former chief human capital officer says it is time to re-center and simplify the rules to balance individual fairness and organizational effectiveness in the federal government.

  • Anita Blair

'There Needs to Be a Reckoning': Republicans Introduce a Bill to Make Feds At-Will Employees

The legislation, along with recent talk of a renewed effort to implement Schedule F, makes clear that a “major assault” on the federal civil service is coming, regardless of who the next Republican presidential nominee will be.

  • Erich Wagner

Trump Has Endorsed a Plan to Purge the Civil Service of ‘Rogue Bureaucrats’

Former Trump staffers have said they have identified 50,000 federal employees who would be ousted under a new iteration of Schedule F during the next Republican administration.

  • Erich Wagner

Being Left Out of Meetings or Yelled at Isn’t Always Enough to Claim Whistleblower Protections

Still, MSPB says it will broadly interpret civil service laws to cumulatively examine management’s actions.

  • Eric Katz

Biden’s Board Appointees Promise to Finally Provide Feds ‘Extra Insurance’ Against Mistreatment

After five years, a restored Merit Systems Protection Board is setting new precedents with sweeping impacts for the civil service.

  • Eric Katz