The Good News: The PWFA Is Good for Employees and Easy for Agencies

By Ann Boehm, September 11, 2023 Have you heard about the newest anti-discrimination law? On Dec. 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) into law. It’s the first new anti-discrimination statute since 2008. It went into effect on June...

Good News: Hostile Work Environment is Harder to Prove Than You Think

By Ann Boehm August 14, 2023 A “hostile work environment” as a form of discrimination has been prohibited since the 1980s.  The Equal Employment Commission’s guidance and regulations on what constitutes sexual harassment, from the 1980s through now, describe illegal...

The Good News: Words and Attitude Matter — and Can Justify Removal

By Ann Boehm, June 14, 2023 Frequently, folks in FELTG training classes ask how to handle an employee who is rude, or angry, or disruptive, or makes inappropriate comments, or writes inappropriate emails. Often, these folks mention complaints from other staff members...

The Good News: Reassignment May Be the Best Thing for Everyone

By Ann Boehm, May 16, 2023 Our FELTG classes on performance and misconduct emphasize that before supervisors take action against a problem employee, they try everything else first. Reassignment is one of the suggested things to try. I worked in the Federal government...

Good News: Prompt Harassment Investigation Can Limit Liability

By Ann Boehm, March 13, 2023 I frequently get asked, “Should the agency conduct a harassment misconduct investigation even if there is a pending EEO complaint filed by the alleged victim?” The answer is a resounding “YES!” I should be surprised by this question, but I...

The Good News: Two FLRA Members Can Still Issue Decisions

By Ann Boehm, February 14, 2023 On Jan. 3, 2023, FLRA Chairman Ernest DuBester’s term ended. This means the FLRA currently has only two members: now-Chairman Susan Tsui Grundmann, Democrat, and Member Colleen Duffy Kiko, Republican. With two members, the FLRA has a...

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