Anons all need to contact their reps in DC to ask them to support the MERIT ACT, H.R. 559
https://loudermilk.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1457
MAJOR SWAMP DRAINING POWERS
Summary of H.R. 559:
• Permits agencies to remove a senior executive from the civil service for performance reasons, rather than merely demoting the individual to a non-Senior Executive Service (SES) position
• Affects the retirement benefits of employees who are removed based on a felony conviction based on actions taken in furtherance of official duties
• Repeals the special process for taking action against poor performers, which is unnecessarily time-consuming, and streamlines the process for removal or suspension of poor performers and bad actors
• Addresses concerns about arbitrators overruling Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) precedent by prohibiting grievances based on adverse personnel actions. Employees will be able to appeal these actions exclusively to the MSPB
• Prohibits appeals to MSPB based on short-term furloughs, consistent with current short-term suspension rules
• Prohibits appeals of emergency furloughs, defined as furloughs resulting from a lapse of appropriations
• Authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to reduce the procedural burden on agencies when taking furlough actions, particularly those resulting from budgetary constraints
• Authorizes agencies to order repayment of bonuses and awards when performance or conduct issues are discovered and it is determined the bonus or award would not have been paid had these issues been known at the time
• Ensures adequate time to evaluate a new employee to determine whether he or she should be retained by extending the probationary period for competitive service appointments and SES members from one year to two years