June 2016 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Do you use Uber, the ride sharing way of getting around most major cities? One of the great aspects of that philosophy of providing a service is that you get to rate your driver right after the drive is completed (and he rates you as well, by the way). The scale is easy: one to five stars with five being the best rating. So if the guy picks you up right on time, is courteous, and drives sensibly, what do you give him as a rating? Well, if you’re like me, you give him a five. He did exactly what you needed him to do, how and when you needed him to do it. Oh, he could have done more – a nice back rub perhaps – but that would be beyond expectations. So why do senior managers in agencies get all freaked out when a supervisor wants to give all of his employees a performance rating of Outstanding? Most every civil servant is selected via a merit system designed to employee the best and the brightest. If those employees do exactly what you need them to do, how and when you need them to do it, don’t they deserve an Uber-like top rating? If you ran Uber, wouldn’t you be thrilled if all your drivers got “5” ratings? The federal performance appraisal system is routinely mishandled and misapplied. Perhaps our new administration will have the foresight to bring into government some organizational psychologists who know the basic science and can help us come up with a better way to do things, maybe even Uber-ize performance appraisal. Just think; everyone who receives a service from a federal employee could use an app to rate that civil servant’s service. Hey, I can dream, can’t I?
Do I Have to Grant an Employee with a Disability Her Accommodation of Choice?
By Deborah Hopkins Last week, I was teaching a day on The Federal Supervisor’s Role in EEO to a group of GS-14 and 15 supervisors at an agency in Atlanta. One of the topics that generated a lot of discussion – and about which there was some confusion – was reasonable...
Do Not Extend the Notice Period for a Proposed Removal
By William Wiley Cut us, we bleed efficiency. OK, maybe too graphic. Come to our FELTG training and we will teach you how to quickly and effectively hold your employees accountable for performance and conduct while simultaneously providing all the rights the employee...
Sanctions: When the Agency Fails To Provide the Complaint File on Appeal
By Deryn Sumner We’ve come to the end of the road in our series on when sanctions can be issued in federal sector EEO complaints. And fittingly, this month we’ll discuss sanctions issued at the end of the road in the administrative process: appeals before the EEOC’s...
This One is Difficult to Report
By William Wiley As some of you might remember, late last year here at FELTG, we embarked on a mission we had never undertaken before. We decided to conduct a highly-scientific survey of all the attendees at our training programs to try to get an answer to what I...
We Gotta Have a Rule
By William Wiley Questions, we get wonderful questions here at FELTG. This one is from a somewhat frustrated practitioner that doubts that MSPB knows what “abuse of authority” really is. And it involves an area commonly misunderstood, right at the heart of our merit...
Supreme Court Rules On When 45-Day Time Limitation Begins for Initiating EEO Contact on Claims of Constructive Discharge
By Deryn Sumner I previously wrote about the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in the case of Green v. Donahoe in May 2015 as well as the oral arguments heard by the Justices in December 2015. The Court took up the case to address a circuit split as to when a...
MSPB’s Statistics for 2015
By William Wiley The Board published its annual summary of cases decided a couple of months ago. Normally, I dig into those win/loss tables with glee, separating the agencies who won most of their appeals from the pitiful losers who are wasting the government’s money....
Non-Pecuniary Compensatory Damages Awards in 2015: A Brief Overview of Trends
By Deryn Sumner As I promised last week, here are some facts and figures from decisions awarding non-pecuniary compensatory damages issued by the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations in calendar year 2015. I’ll start with a caveat. This is based on my review of the...
MSPB Fails to Understand Its Role in Adjudication
By William Wiley Once again, I willingly choose to engage in the crime of lèse-majesté. Consider the following exchange: Bill: Hey, Deb, how did you get to work today? Deb: Well, I drove my Ford, as usual. Bill: You’re lying. I saw you driving a...
Stranded on a Sand Pile: Vehicle Misuse – Charges Sustained
By Barbara Haga In the past two columns we reviewed cases where misuse of the government vehicle was not sustained. This month we will look at a case where the Board, and the Federal Circuit, upheld the disciplinary action. Stranded on a Sand Pile This case is...