The Trump administration is giving agencies a one-month deadline to hand over lists of federal employees with a less than “fully successful” performance rating.
In a memo Thursday, the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to create and deliver lists of all employees who have received a lower performance rating anytime in the past three years.
The lists should include details on those employees’ job titles, pay plans and agency components, and must be given to OPM by March 7, according to the memo.
Agencies are also being directed to tell OPM whether any of their employees are on performance improvement plans, or if they have successfully completed an improvement plan in the last year.
In the federal government, performance standards depend largely on the agency, office and individual employee. But current guidance on performance management tells agencies to set standards that are objective, measurable, realistic and clearly stated to the employee.
Based on those standards, agencies generally place federal employees in one of five performance categories:
- Outstanding
- Exceeds fully
- Fully successful
- Minimally satisfactory
- Unsatisfactory
OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, however, said OPM is developing new performance metrics to evaluate federal employees in a way that “aligns with the priorities and standards in the president’s recent executive orders.”
Notably, performance is also a consideration when conducting any reductions in force (RIFs). During a RIF, an employee’s performance is considered last, coming after seniority, veterans’ preference and time in service, according to current regulations.
Ezell said the new OPM memo on performance is an effort toward “reforming the federal workforce to prioritize merit and excellence.”
Agencies also have to share further information with OPM on their current performance management policies, including whether “the agency has the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve,” according to the memo.
OPM is also asking agencies to detail whether they have issued a decision under either chapter 43 or chapter 75 — two sections of Title 5 that relate to employees’ performance, and detail agencies’ authorities for performance-based demotions or removals.
But Arthur Gary, former deputy assistant attorney general for policy, management and procurement at the Department of Justice, said chapter 43 of Title 5 is meant to help federal employees improve, and is not an effective basis for removing workers.
“Chapter 43 is designed to improve performance, and that’s why it’s inefficient for removing people,” Gary said during a webinar hosted by the Partnership for Public Service Thursday evening. “It requires a performance improvement plan. It requires the opportunity to improve.”
The two chapters of Title 5 set different requirements for agencies. But in both cases, agencies have to provide at least 30 days’ notice to an employee who may be removed or demoted. The Merit Systems Protection Board offers more details on chapters 43 and 75 on its website.
As part of OPM’s memo, agencies are also being asked to detail whether any actions taken under chapters 43 or 75 have been appealed or challenged by federal employees. On top of that, agencies have to share information on any of their policies or collective bargaining agreements that would “impede” agencies’ ability to “swiftly separate low-performing employees,” or make “meaningful distinctions” between employees’ performance standards.
OPM’s memo Thursday follows after President Donald Trump’s executive order on “reforming the federal hiring process and restoring merit to government service.” The order is one of several executive actions Trump has issued aiming to overhaul and reduce the size of the federal workforce. Trump’s other actions so far have included a hiring freeze and a return-to-office directive, as well as taking steps to make large swaths of federal positions at-will and easier to fire.
The OPM memo comes shortly after a federal judge put the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program on hold, punting the deadline for federal employees to decide whether they want to resign. Another hearing is scheduled for Monday to hear arguments on the “deferred resignation” program’s legal merits.
As of Friday morning, about 65,000 federal employees have submitted requests to leave their jobs in return for being paid through Sept. 30, according to OPM.
The post Trump administration asks agencies for details on low-performing federal employees first appeared on Federal News Network.