Resources for Federal Employees

Despite this being an unprecedented and disturbing assault on the federal civil service and on the work of government itself, you as a federal employee still have rights and remedies afforded to you by law. If you believe you are being targeted for an improper or illegal reason, you should:

1. Document everything
2. Seek legal advice, either from an attorney who specializes in federal employee law or from your union
3. File a complaint

Filing a complaint

Note: If you are in a bargaining unit, you should contact your union first, as there may be a negotiated set of different grievance procedures.

Question: Are you a current or former federal employee or applicant, not on the list of exceptions here, and have been subjected by your employer to any of the following prohibited personnel practices, which are employment activities that are banned in the federal workplace:

• Discrimination (although OSC defers to EEOC on any overlapping claims)
• Personnel recommendations taken based on connections or influence
• Coercing political activity
• Obstructing competition
• Influencing withdrawal from competition
• Granting unauthorized advantage
• Nepotism
• Whistleblower retaliation
• Other retaliation
• Violating rules that implement a merit system principle
• Imposing nondisclosure agreements that do not allow whistleblowing
• Accessing medical records in the furtherance of another prohibited personnel practice

Answer: You may have a right to file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel. You start by filing a complaint online. OSC can seek corrective action (meaning an action that corrects what happened to the complainant), disciplinary action (meaning an action that penalizes the agency official(s) who committed the PPP), or both.

Question: Are you a federal employee and believe one of the following personnel actions were taken against you not on the basis of merit but for other reasons:

• agency adverse actions--removals, suspensions of more than 14 days, reductions in grade or pay, and furloughs of 30 days or less.
• Or other types of actions including: performance-based removals or reductions in grade, denials of within-grade salary increases, reduction-in-force actions, OPM suitability determinations, OPM employment practices, OPM determinations in retirement matters, denials of restoration or reemployment rights, terminations of probationary employees under certain circumstances, and placements or movements into excepted service positions without civil service protections?

Answer: You may have the right to appeal the personnel action to the U.S Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The MSPB has a Q&Ahere and the agency has the burden of proving that it was justified in taking the action.

You start by filing an appeal in writing. There are a number of steps, but at the end you can seek review of a final decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Question: Are you a federal employee or federal job applicant and believe you have been discriminated against because of your race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, pregnancy, or transgender status), national origin, age (40 and older), disability or genetic information?

Do you believe you have been retaliated against by opposing employment discrimination on the above grounds, filed a complaint of discrimination, or participated in the EEO complaint process (even if the complaint is not yours)?

Answer: You may have a right to file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). More details are found on the EEOC’s website, but you start by contacting an EEOC Counselor at the agency where you work or where you applied for the job within 45 days of when the discrimination occurred.

There are a number of steps, but at the end you have the ability to appeal a decision to the EEOC or file a lawsuit in federal district court.