The MSPB has said that data on firing of federal employees for misconduct–whose relatively low numbers are often cited by congressional advocates of reducing disciplinary protections–may be misleading since far more of those employees end up leaving their positions than are ultimately fired.
Its survey of supervisors, managers and executives showed that “when an agency official proposes a removal for misconduct, 70 percent of the time, the outcome is that the employee departs. But, what many people may not realize is how many of those departures are recorded as an action other than a removal.”
Supervisors for example reported that for the most recent removals they proposed, 54 percent resulted in actual firings, while another 28 percent of employees resigned instead, another 8 percent retired instead, and 3 percent found another federal job–the outcomes of the rest were unclear.
Even cases where employees targeted for removal got other federal jobs–sometimes within the same agencies–might be in the best interests of the government, it added, “if a hiring official is aware of the employee’s weaknesses and then makes an informed assessment that the person will still fit the unique requirements of the new job.”
“Looking only at the number of employees who were removed cannot tell the whole story of what happens to employees with conduct issues. The rest of the tale is harder to see, but the data indicate that other outcomes can also serve the best interest of the government and the American people. In other words, not every departure needs to be a removal action,” MSPB said.
