Your Rights as a Federal Employee (v2024).pdf

Your Rights

as a Federal Employee

Enforced by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC)

Prohibited Personnel Practices

Prohibited personnel practices (PPPs) are employment-related activities that are banned in the federal workforce because they violate the merit

system through some form of employment discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, improper hiring practices, or failure to adhere to laws,

rules, or regulations that directly concern the merit system principles. Under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(1)-(b)(14) a federal employee authorized to

take, direct others to take, recommend or approve any personnel action may not:

Discriminate (including discrimination based on

marital status and political affiliation).

Ex: Supervisor Joe refuses to promote Employee Jane

because Jane is a registered Republican; or his refusal is

because she is single. NOTE: OSC does not generally

investigate Title VII discrimination. 5 U.S.C. §

2302(b)(1)

Solicit or consider employment recommendations

based on factors other than personal knowledge or

records of job-related abilities or characteristics.

Ex: Selecting Official Joe hires Applicant Jack based on

Senator Smith’s recommendation that Jack be hired

because Jack is a constituent. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(2)

Coerce the political activity of any person or take

action against any employee as reprisal for refusing

to engage in political activity. Ex: Supervisor Jane

takes away significant job duties of Employee Jack

because Jack will not make a contribution to Jane’s

favorite candidate. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(3)

Deceive or willfully obstruct any person from

competing for employment. Ex: Supervisor Joe,

located in Headquarters, orders that no vacancy

announcements be posted in the field office where

Employee Jack works because he does not want Jack to

get hired for a job in Headquarters. 5 U.S.C. §

2302(b)(4)

Influence any person to withdraw from competition

for a position to improve or injure the employment

prospects of any other person. Ex: Supervisor Jane, in

an effort to hire Employee Joe, tells Employee Jack that

he should not apply for a position because he is not

qualified and will never be selected. Employee Jack is

qualified. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(5)

Give an unauthorized preference to a person to

improve or injure the employment prospects of any

particular employee or applicant. Ex: Supervisor Jane

specifies that Spanish-speaking skills are necessary for

a vacant position, for the purpose of selecting

Employee Jack, who speaks fluent Spanish. The

position, however, does not require Spanish-speaking

skills. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(6)

Engage in nepotism: Ex: Second-level Supervisor Jane

asks First-level Supervisor Joe to hire or promote her

son. Supervisor Denise serves as the first-line

supervisor for her uncle Anthony. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(7)

Take, fail to take, or threaten (to take or fail to take)

a personnel action against an employee for making

protected disclosures. Ex: Supervisor Joe directs the

geographic reassignment of Employee Jill after Jill

reported a gross waste of funds to the Office of Internal

Affairs. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8)

Take, fail to take, or threaten (to take or fail to take)

a personnel action against an employee for engaging

in protected activity. Ex: Supervisor Jack terminates

Employee John after learning that John reported a gross

waste of funds to the Office of Inspector General; or for

refusing to obey an order that would require John to

violate agency regulations. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)

Discriminate against an employee on the basis of

conduct, which does not adversely affect the

performance of the employee. Ex: Jack's employment

is terminated because he attended a "Gay Pride" march;

or he attended a "Pro-Life" event; or he attended an

animal rights rally; or he attended a gun-owners' rights

meeting. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(10)

For more information on filing a complaint or making a disclosure: 202-804-7000, 800-872-9855, or submit a question at info@osc.gov.

Please note that OSC may not provide advice regarding merit of a complaint or whether the allegation meets the statutory definitions.

Updated and detailed information on OSC and its procedures can be found on OSC’s website at https://osc.gov.

For information about training and the 2302c Certification Program please contact OSC’s Outreach Unit via email at [email protected].

Take or fail to take a personnel action, if such action

would violate a veterans’ preference requirement.

Ex: Supervisor Jane hired Employee Jack, without

considering Veteran Jennifer, who was included on the

list of eligible employees. NOTE: OSC’s jurisdiction is

limited to disciplinary actions only; the Dept. of Labor

has jurisdiction to investigate for corrective actions.

5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(11)

Take a personnel action against an employee which

violates a law, rule, or regulation which implements

a merit systems principle. Ex: Supervisor Joe

terminates the probationary appointment of Employee

Jack because of Jack’s letter to the editor criticizing

affirmative action - a valid exercise of First amendment

rights, a law implementing a merit system principle.

5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(12)

Implement or enforce a nondisclosure agreement or

policy lacking notification of whistleblower rights.

Ex: A manager Issues a policy to all employees in his

program that prohibits the employees from discussing

the program in any way and fails to notify employees of

protected channels for making disclosures. 5 U.S.C. §

2302(b)(13)

Access the medical record of an employee or

applicant, as part of, or in furtherance of any of the

above-listed prohibitions. Ex: An employee expresses

interest in an open position to a hiring official, who

wants to hire another applicant. The hiring official

accesses the employee’s medical records provided

under a reasonable accommodation (RA) request and

attempts to influence the employee to withdraw from

competition by telling her that the stress of the new

position will worsen a medical condition noted in her

RA medical records. 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(14)

HAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU BELIEVE THAT A

PPP

HAS BEEN COMMITTED

OSC is an investigative and prosecutorial agency. Current and former federal employees, including probationary employees, and applicants for

federal employment can submit a complaint electronically to OSC at https://osc.gov. OSC will review the allegations to determine jurisdiction

and investigate allegations of prohibited personnel practices. In complaints where OSC finds a violation, OSC has the authority to seek corrective

and/or disciplinary action and/or file complaints with the Merit System Protection Board, where appropriate. 5 U.S.C. section 1212 and section

2302(b)(1)-(b)(14). You can learn more about prohibited personnel practices by watching these short videos.

WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU WANT TO REPORT GOVERNMENT WRONGDOING?

Current and former federal employees and applicants can confidentially report information evidencing a violation of any law, rule, or regulation,

gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. OSC has the

authority to require the head of the agency concerned to investigate the matter. While OSC does not have independent investigative authority in

these cases, Congress has given OSC an important oversight role in reviewing government investigations of potential wrongdoing.

HOW DOES OSC ENFORCE THE HATCH ACT?

The Hatch Act Unit (HAU) enforces compliance with the Hatch Act, which limits certain political activities of federal executive branch

employees. All employees, except for the President and Vice President, are prohibited from: (1) using their official authority or influence to

affect the result of an election; (2) soliciting, accepting, or receiving political contributions from any person; (3) being candidates in partisan

elections; (4) soliciting or discouraging the political activity of persons with business pending before their employing office; and (5) engaging in

political activity while on duty or in the federal workplace. See 5 U.S.C. §§ 7323-7324. HAU investigates complaints to determine whether a

Hatch Act violation has occurred. In cases where HAU concludes that an employee has violated this law, it will either issue a warning letter or

seek disciplinary action by negotiating a settlement or prosecuting the case before the Merit Systems Protection Board. HAU also is responsible

for a nation-wide program that provides federal, state, and local employees, as well as the public at large, with legal advice on the Hatch Act,

enabling individuals to determine their coverage under the Act and whether their contemplated activities are permitted under the Act. To further

its advisory and enforcement role, HAU is very active in OSC’s outreach program and operates a hotline and dedicated email address for

individuals to request and receive timely Hatch Act advice. In addition, HAU launched its own webinar series tailored to various audiences to

address specific Hatch Act topics. You can learn more about the Hatch Act’s prohibitions by watching these short videos.