Ask FELTG
Have a question about federal employment law? Read below to find answers - or ask a question of your own.Should I Charge Untruthful Witness With Lack of Candor?
We received the following question via Ask FELTG. Dear FELTG: If an agency is investigating misconduct and the employee being investigated lies to an investigator, does it make sense to charge the employee with lack of candor on top of the other misconduct the agency...
Ask FELTG: Could Deadnaming Be Considered Unlawful Harassment?
A FELTG reader sent us the following submission. A discussion recently came up in our agency about deadnaming and whether that could be considered unlawful harassment. Can you weigh in? Thanks for the question. Let’s start with a definition. A deadname, according to...
Ask FELTG: Are There Restrictions on Gift-giving Between Feds Who are friends?
This question came into the Ask FELTG mailbag: I know there are prohibitions on gift-giving when it involves Federal employees, but are there any restrictions on gift-giving if two people who are friends also happen to be Federal employees The source for all things...
Ask FELTG: How Much Information Do You Need in the Proposal Letter?
The following question came into Ask FELTG: Must the proposal letter in a proposed disciplinary action contain everything the agency has relied upon in making the proposal? And here's the answer: The letter itself does not have to contain the agency’s entire case...
Ask FELTG: Our Agency Has a Table of Penalties, Must We Follow It?
Not all agencies have tables of penalties; approximately half do. For those not familiar with the concept, a table of penalties contains a list of misconduct charges, and a range of potential discipline for a first, second, and...
Ask FELTG: MSPB Only Has 2 Members; What Happens if They Don’t Agree on the Outcome?
As the FELTG newsletter reader pointed out, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is currently down a member. So what happens if the two remaining members can't agree on the outcome of a Petition for Review (PFR)? It's a great question. And here's our answer. If...
Ask FELTG: Is There Case Law That Warns Against Alternative Discipline?
Much like the Merit Systems Protection Board, we at FELTG are longtime proponents of alternative discipline. And why not? In many cases, alternative sanctions are the more effective approach when addressing misconduct. Not too long ago, we received the following...
Ask FELTG: Does union rep have right to attend staff meeting whenever he wants?
Here’s a summarized version of the question that came into FELTG headquarters: I run a monthly staff meeting with the employees I supervise. They are bargaining unit employees. I received a request from a union rep to attend the staff meetings. I asked him the nature...
Ask FELTG: If an employee is AWOL, should agency charge only AWOL or also Failure to Follow Leave procedures?
June 26, 2023 Thanks for the question; it’s one we get fairly frequently. Let’s look at what the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) says on this matter: AWOL and Failure to Follow Leave Procedures generally are separate charges with different elements of proof....
Ask FELTG: Does a Local CBA Trump an Agency’s Nationwide Policy?
June 14, 2023 Here’s more context from the loyal FELTG reader who posed the question: Let’s say, hypothetically, management at a regional outpost agrees to terms regarding office workspace with their local union, and then enters into a CBA articulating those...