The Merit Systems Protection Board has announced it will suspend processing furlough appeals from employees of the military services and DoD activities in order to better understand the issues that are being raised and get a handle on its current workload, which has overwhelmed the small agency as it grapples with over 30,000 appeals related to sequestration.
MSPB said in a statement it also wants to get a better idea of the work locations of the appellants, the MSPB offices in which the appeals have been filed, and whether or not the appellants are represented.
The agency is asking appellants to check its website weekly for updates, and said that in the coming weeks it would be sending out acknowledgement orders explaining the status of these cases in more detail.
MSPB alsosaid it would be unable to respond quickly to inquiries regarding furlough appeals and asked that parties to the DoD furlough appeals refrain from contacting MSPB’s regional and field offices until informed that the appeal in question is being processed.
