Senate DoD Bill Revives Performance Issues

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a DoD authorization bill for 2016 seeking changes in policies affecting the department’s civilian employees that in some ways mirrors a plan approved by the House and in other ways goes beyond it. While the House measure originally had sought to make performance the first determinant of retention in a RIF, that language was softened to require only a report from the Pentagon about whether current policies hamper retention of the most valued employees. The Senate version, however, is more in line with the original House language. According to a summary document, the measure provides DoD the authority “to establish procedures to provide that, in implementing any reduction in force for civilian positions in the Department of Defense in the competitive service or the excepted service, the determination of which employees shall be separated from employment shall be made primarily on the basis of performance.” The original House bill, amended at the committee level to soften it, also would have required DoD to take certain steps including offering buyout and early retirement incentives before carrying out a RIF; the Senate summary makes no mention of such a requirement. The Senate bill also would extend the probationary period for new DoD employees to two years from the typical one year, and set higher standards for payment of within-grade pay raises, which largely are automatic based on longevity except for those performing unacceptably.