Agencies were discouraged from using tables of discipline, told to consider an employee’s entire disciplinary and work record when deciding on a penalty, and told not to require that an employee have previously been suspended or demoted before a proposing official may propose removal. Image: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA trio of executive orders during the first Trump administration whose provisions are widely expected to return during his second term sought to strengthen management’s hand in the federal workplace by stressing its discretion and limiting employee protections to the minimum required by law.
In conduct cases, agencies were told that when taking disciplinary action, they need not follow principles of progressive discipline and need not take the same action in a given case that they took in a prior similar case.
Agencies further were discouraged from using tables of discipline, told to consider an employee’s entire disciplinary and work record when deciding on a penalty, and told not to require that an employee have previously been suspended or demoted before a proposing official may propose removal.
In performance cases, agencies were told that they need not take any steps beyond a minimum requirement in law to assist employees in improving performance deemed unacceptable before they are subject to disciplinary action. Further, they were told that the nature of assistance provided is in an agency’s sole discretion and that such periods should generally last no more than 30 days.
The union-related orders set policies including that agencies were not to: bargain over matters that are negotiable at management’s discretion under civil service law; make firing for performance or conduct reasons subject to a grievance/arbitration process; or restrict management’s authority over various aspects of performance evaluations or the length of a performance improvement period before disciplinary action.
Also included were provisions requiring agencies to complete bargaining within certain deadlines or else invoke outside assistance or file a complaint against the union—and to impose their positions as final policy, under certain circumstances—and to limit the amount of negotiated official time, generally not allow its use for pursuing grievances, and restrict it to no more than 25 percent of any employee’s working hours.
Agencies further were told to no longer provide unions with cost-free office space or use of agency resources such as computer systems in federal buildings.
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