January 2018 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
We are just barely into 2018, and we already know that this will be a year of some major world-altering changes. For the first time since 1959, there will no longer be a Castro in charge of Cuba when Raúl retires as its President. On the other side of the world, Emperor Akihito of Japan will abdicate this year, the first abdication from the Chrysanthemum Throne in over 200 years. And, here in the good old United States, in our dearly-beloved civil service, … who really knows what will happen? Maybe we’ll get one, two, or three new Board members at the Merit Systems Protection Board. Maybe we won’t get any. Maybe our leadership in the world of civil service law will finally take the bull by the whatever and give us some needed systemic improvements. Or, maybe Congress will just keep chasing this-nit and that-shadow of an issue that crosses its path, much like a dog responds when it thinks it sees a SQUIRREL! The way that time works, we have lots of questions regarding what will happen in 2018, but will have no real answers about what actually did happen until this time next year. So stick with us here at FELTG. Come this time next year, we’ll be able to identify all the important abdications for you, perhaps even one or two that you might not have expected at all.
Congressional Health Insurance and Your Children
By "Just a Bill" Wiley, January 17, 2018 OK, Kiddies, here’s how government really works, and you won’t find a schematic of this in the back of your high school civics textbook (e.g., “I’m Just a Bill”). Way back in 2013, OPM granted an exemption to the requirements...
It’s Called a Deadline, not a Whenever-You-Get-to It-Line
By Meghan Droste, January 17, 2018 Although I have represented both agencies and complainants, I spend most of my time on the employee side of things. As anyone who regularly represents employees will tell you, at times it feels like the rules only apply to...
Shall, Will, May, or Must?
By Deborah Hopkins, January 17, 2018 It’s every legal writer’s conundrum: when writing a legal document, which word of the following is the strongest to use, imposing a mandatory requirement on the recipient of the document: A. Shall B. Will C. May D. Must The answer?...
Who ARE Those People with Pending MSPB Appeals?
By William Wiley, January 17, 2018 As most of us in this business know, the US Merit Systems Protection Board, our Supreme Court in the civil service, effectively has been shut down for over a year. There are three positions on the Board, we need at least two members...
Tips from the Other Side
By Meghan Droste, January 17, 2018 Welcome to the first edition of Tips from the Other Side—insight from a complainant’s counsel that I hope will help those of you who process complaints and represent agencies before the EEOC. In this column I will share some of the...
The Dangers of Charging Intent
By Deborah Hopkins, January 17, 2018 One of the more interesting – and precarious – challenges that attorneys, HR practitioners, and supervisors in our business come across in misconduct cases is a word that you probably remember from way back in your Criminal Law...
Don’t Confuse News Articles with Legal Analysis
By William Wiley, January 17, 2018 Oh, boy. Civil service stuff above the fold recently on page A-1 of the Washington Post. Career government employees don’t often rise to that level of awareness in the public eye. Sadly, the article published the last week of 2017...