March 2021 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Announcing Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law II
It’s that time of year when we officially announce the agenda for our annual Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law virtual training event. The dates are April 27-30. Over 15 sessions, our talented instructors will cover the latest on the Biden Executive Orders and relevant OPM guidance, EEO-related COVID-19 issues, Paid Parental Leave, emotional support animals at work, microaggressions and bias in the workplace, and much more. Attend one session, or attend them all. Earn CLE and HRCI credits. Have fun while you learn. Early bird discounts are available.
As we contemplate a return to the physical classroom, we want to know what you think of virtual training, and what your agencies are saying about future travel. If you don’t mind participating in a brief 5-question anonymous survey on SurveyMonkey, it will help us plan the future with you in mind.
This month’s newsletter covers an important new decision undoing 40 years of PIPs precedent, how to not handle complaints of harassment, guidance for working with unions, and much more.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
Say Goodbye to 40 Years of Case Precedent: Agencies Must Justify PIPs
By Deborah Hopkins, March 16, 2021 For the past 20+ years, we have taught a principle in performance cases that has been around since the beginning of the Civil Service Reform Act: An agency does not need to justify putting an employee on a performance demonstration...
EEOC Decision Details Everything a Manager Should NOT Do
By Meghan Droste, March 16, 2021 When I started writing this article, I was planning to make the headline something about not being an ostrich. This seemed like a somewhat amusing way to highlight one of the points from the case I’m bringing to you, Thomasina B. v....
The Good News? ‘He Left the Job Because He Just Couldn’t Take the Union Any Longer’
By Ann Boehm, March 16, 2021 I overheard an agency employee quote the headline above when explaining why a supervisor left his job for another position. The supervisor couldn’t deal with the union any longer. This is a sad statement. And yet, I’ve heard it before....
When is a Judge Not a Judge?
By William Wiley, March 16, 2021 Perhaps you’ve heard of this issue. In 2018, the US Supreme Court caused a bit of a civil service uproar when it held that a certain group of administrative law judges were “inferior officers of the United States.” That meant that each...
Tips from the Other Side: It All Starts With a Good Faith Effort
By Meghan Droste, March 16, 2021 This month, we continue our discussion of religious accommodations. In January, we looked at what an agency needs to do to establish that providing a religious accommodation to an employee would be an undue hardship (namely that there...
And Now Another Word With … Scott Boehm
By Michael Rhoads, March 16, 2021 A goal without a plan is just a wish. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry There are many wishes I have for 2021, but the short list is: Lose a little weight. Take my wife and kids on a “road trip” vacation. So how can I make these dreams a...
What Do You Charge When Someone Buys Marijuana on Duty, in Uniform?
By Deborah Hopkins, March 16, 2021 One of the topics we spend an entire day discussing during FELTG’s MSPB Law Week (next offered virtually March 29 – April 2) is disciplinary charges. Poorly drafted charges too often cause agencies to lose cases that they otherwise...
Director of EEO Oh No! When HR Practitioners Fail to Perform Part II
By Barbara Haga, March 16, 2021 This month, I’m going to focus on how an agency might deal with the situation described in last month’s column. Just a quick recap: An IG investigation resulting from an OSC complaint found that the head of the EO Office at an Air Force...
A Future of Dramatic Workplace Change is in the Cards
By Dan Gephart, March 16, 2021 A few years back, I read that a Topps 1973 Mike Schmidt rookie baseball card in mint condition could fetch $10,000. Like me, my Schmidt rookie card didn’t quite make it out of childhood in mint condition. Still, I optimistically took the...