Drive to Restrict Employee Rights Advances

Chances have increased that a law will be enacted this year restricting disciplinary appeal rights of all VA employees–which could set a strong precedent for similar changes government-wide–with introduction of a bipartisan bill in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that the panel hopes to push to passage soon. The long-expected bill mirrors many of the restrictions that the House already has backed in separate bills, setting up a situation in which both chambers could agree to target personnel policies as part of the response to the agency’s patient care and appointment scheduling scandals. That was what happened in 2014 when the disclosures first were made, resulting in a shortened MSPB appeal process for SES members at the VA with the agency winning by default unless a hearing officer overturns a decision within a deadline, and no further right of appeal. The new Senate bill would go much farther, however, and extend some similar restrictions across the entire VA workforce, which at above 360,000 employees accounts for close to a fifth of the federal workforce outside the independent USPS. As in 2014, the changes have bipartisan support and are designed to be part of a larger bill to improve benefits to veterans.