Other House and Senate Proposals Remain on Plate

Other issues that have made at least some progress legislatively in the House, Senate or both include proposals to: extend the standard probationary period for newly hired employees from one to two years; restart the Circular A-76 process of comparing federal jobs to private sector bids for possible contracting out; limit the use of administrative leave—paid time off from work without charge to any other form of paid leave–in disciplinary situations; require that federal employee personnel records reflect the results of disciplinary investigations, even if the employee left before any action was taken, and that agencies review such records when considering hiring them; restrict SES appeal rights government-wide and limit performance awards to SES members at agencies including the VA and IRS; ban performance awards for IRS employees unless their conduct and personal tax compliance are considered; and require detailed annual reports on official time, on-the-clock time that some employees spend on certain union activities.