Anti-gag language is not included in an NRC “security acknowledgement” form nor in nondisclosure agreements it has with other agencies. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission has become the latest agency found not in compliance with a law requiring that any nondisclosure directive or other “gag order” type policy must include a notice that employees remain free to make whistleblowing disclosures to Congress, inspectors general or the Office of Special Counsel.
“NRC did not ensure its employees were fully informed” of that requirement under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and “does not have a policy or guidance to ensure that all NDAs created by its offices contain the required anti-gag language,” an inspector general report said.
Anti-gag language is not included in an NRC “security acknowledgement” form nor in nondisclosure agreements it has with other agencies, it said.
Agency management “stated their general agreement with the findings and recommendations” to address them, it said.
The IG offices of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the FLRA separately made similar findings earlier this year, following an announcement by the OSC that over the prior 12 months, it had obtained more than 25 “corrective actions” addressing violations of the anti‐gag provision. The OSC announcement cited violations at agencies including Justice, Defense Commissary Agency and VA, both in formal nondisclosure agreements or in directives that were perceived as one.
Failure to comply with the notice requirement is a “prohibited personnel practice” under civil service law.
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