“Serving those who serve in government”
The 1939 Hatch Act is meant to prevent federal employees and certain state and local government employees from unduly interfering with elections. It prohibits, for example, things like intimidation, bribery, and promising benefits to coerce political support or...
The Office of Personnel Management has announced changes to the performance evaluation processes for Senior Executive Service and Senior Level/Scientific and Professional personnel. The revised process, called Certification 2.0, is expected to reduce the...
Most people have experienced stress at work. And some jobs are just naturally stressful and high-pressure.But some jobs are so stressful that they affect an individual’s mental health. And shockingly, some employers intentionally make working conditions so bad that...
When two firefighters brought an age discrimination suit against their tiny fire district, the fire district defended itself by saying that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) didn't apply. According to its reading of the law, only employers with at least...
A federal employee who is accused of misconduct at work may face an employee investigation, which may be followed by disciplinary action.Disciplinary action could be something relatively minor, such as receiving a letter of counseling or a letter of reprimand. Or it...
In 2012, the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), an advocacy group for female soldiers, filed a lawsuit challenging a 1994 Pentagon policy barring women from serving in combat roles. That policy kept women from serving in 238,000 positions in the military.That...
According to a letter submitted by members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General received a sexual misconduct complaint against FEMA's then chief component human capital...
Current and prospective federal employees are sometimes required to undergo a polygraph exam as part of their security clearance applications or renewals. Mostly, the "lie detector test" is required for people seeking a high security clearance within the intelligence...
Before a government agency can remove a non-probationary employee, it must issue a proposed removal letter. The employee has the opportunity to respond to the proposal. Then the employer will issue a decision letter.Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong in this process....
Sexual harassment in the workplace has become a hot-button issue in many fields, including the federal sector. While workplace sexual harassment is currently the most widely discussed form of gender-based discrimination, two recent lawsuits have brought attention to...