Last year the group criticized department leadership for laying off employees that had been included in the 2025 promotion cycle. Image: viewimage/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA new State Department employee evaluation form “risks making career-defining decisions less fair, less transparent, and more vulnerable to bias,” the American Foreign Service Association has said.
“The new form was rolled out without negotiation with AFSA and more than three quarters through the current evaluation cycle. It employs vague, poorly defined criteria, gives disproportionate weight to second line supervisors who may have limited insight into an employee’s work, disadvantages certain groups of employees, and sharply limits space for narratives and concrete examples of performance,” it said.
“This decision highlights the real-world consequences of eliminating collective bargaining rights . . . Foreign Service employees deserve a seat at the table on changes that directly affect their livelihoods,” it said, urging Senate passage of a House-passed bill to override two Trump administration executive orders revoking union representation rights for the majority of federal employees.
The AFSA said it would file an unfair labor practice complaint.
Last year the group criticized department leadership for laying off employees that had been included in the 2025 promotion cycle (recommended under current leadership). “That the department would simultaneously recognize individuals for exemplary service and eliminate their positions as no longer needed defies logic,” AFSA said at the time. The association added that the move undercuts the Department’s repeated claims that a July round of layoffs – removing 1,353 positions including 264 Foreign Service officers – were performance-based.
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