On February 3, 2021, Gilbert Employment Law, P.C. (GEL) submitted comments to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on their proposed rulemaking on federal sector disciplinary and performance issues, 87 Fed.Reg. 200-209 (January 4, 2022). The proposed rule implements President Biden’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14,003 by repealing various Trump administration rulemakings deriving from E.O. 13,839 that barred clean record settlements, shortened response timeframes to proposed discipline, and made other assorted anti-employee changes to federal personnel regulations. The proposed rule also updates regulations to conform to certain statutory changes for National Guard Technicians, and states OPM’s disagreement with the Federal Circuit’s decision in Santos v. NASA concerning the prerequisites for Chapter 43 performance-based adverse actions.
GEL in its comments came out in support of cancellation of the E.O. 13,839 regulations and implementation of the National Guard Technician protections, seconding comments from the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA). GEL further stated its support for the Federal Circuit’s Santos decision, opposing OPM’s proposed interpretation as contrary to the plain text of the statute and contrary to standard rules for statutory interpretation.
If you are a federal civil service employee and wish to discuss your rights and obligations under federal civil service law, please consider contacting Gilbert Employment Law, P.C.to request an initial consultation.