April 2023 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Is It Possible to Be Both Pro-Management and Pro-Employee?
In the business of Federal employment law, practitioners are often categorized as either pro-management or pro-employee. But during a recent training session of our flagship class, UnCivil Servant, we had a discussion about how holding employees accountable for performance and conduct issues is not solely a pro-management position – it’s also pro-employee because it helps promote productivity and morale among the workforce employees who perform well and maintain appropriate workplace conduct. Employees appreciate when supervisors recognize meaningful differences in performance.
Don’t believe me? Check out any Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from the past several years and you can verify the results. Taking performance and conduct actions is not just good for management – it’s good for employees too.
This month’s newsletter tackles workplace violence, EEO official time, settlement agreements, effective communication and categories of harassment.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
One Way to Help Prevent Mass Murder in a Federal Workplace
By William Wiley, April 17, 2023 Did you hear about the recent deadly mass shooting at a Louisville bank? According to stories in the media, the killer was a 25-year-old employee. He had worked at the bank for six years, first just in the summers, then full time...
Can an Agency Constrain Official Time for EEO Complainants?
By Deborah J. Hopkins, April 17, 2023 A few years ago, a client asked me what to do in this scenario: The employee did not show up to work for two weeks and did not respond to her supervisor’s phone calls, text messages, or emails. On the day the employee returned to...
Pay Attention: Avoid These Compensation Issues That Derail Settlement Agreements
By Barbara Haga, April 17, 2023 I'm wrapping up this series on settlement agreements with a couple of cases where the agency agreed to a condition regarding a pay matter that could not be legally done. You can find my settlement agreement article from last month’s...
The Good News: Here’s the Secret to Handling Problem Employees
By Ann Boehm, April 17, 2023 As a FELTG instructor, I regularly hear comments from class participants. Supervisors often tell me they are frustrated by what they perceive as lack of support from the Human Resources (HR) professionals. But HR professionals often tell...
Forecast Calls for Category 1-3 Harassment: What Will You Do?
By Dan Gephart, April 17, 2023 It's no secret the current administration wants the Federal workplace to be more inclusive. A key to achieving that goal is rooting out harassment. This is not a new concern. Several years ago, agencies started their own anti-harassment...