Training, Whistleblower Bills Progress

By: fedweek

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has approved legislation (S-967) to require new supervisors to receive training in the initial year on the job and be retrained every three years on how to work with employees to develop performance evaluations and evaluate employees. The bill also would require such training for current managers, mentoring for new supervisors, training on how to mentor employees, and training on the laws and procedures relating to whistleblower and anti-discrimination rights. The committee also approved S-274, to broaden job protections for federal employees who make whistleblowing disclosures designed to overcome several court rulings that whistleblower advocates say have narrowed those rights. The bill would make clear that disclosures about information learned in the course of regular job duties are covered by whistleblower protections, would loosen restrictions on where disclosures may be made and still protected, and would extend protections to certain intelligence agency employees.