There has been little question among my colleagues who practice federal employment law that the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 is going to vastly change the disposition track record of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) when it comes to whistleblower reprisal claims. While only time will tell just how much more beneficial this act will be among appellants, compared to those covered only by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1988 (WPA), the MSPB recently supplied interesting data that could serve as a benchmark against which that change could be measured. As required by the WPEA, the MSPB…

Timing is a crucial factor when it comes to deciding when to retire. It is also important when it comes to how older workers perceive their retirements. In fact, research has shown that retiring sooner than expected makes older workers two times more likely to perceive their retirements as being forced, compared to those who retire on time. With the Government Accountability Office recently reporting that 600,000 of the federal government’s permanent career employees will become eligible for retirement by 2017 – up from 270,000 in 2012 – there is a strong possibility that after these employees retire, some will…

There is never a want of news articles about politicians, celebrities or business leaders who do or say something stupid and – after they stir widespread public outrage – apologize, or provide something that loosely resembles an apology, for their actions. For the most part, whether the genuine or pseudo apology came from a congressman who threatened to break a news reporter “in half,” or from a chief executive who publicly complained about two female employees’ “distressed babies,” this apologize-after-outrage strategy has proved successful for high-profile individuals. However, it is less effective for federal employees. The motto, “forgive and forget,”…

With the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s March Madness basketball tournament around the corner, federal employees will again face the temptation of participating in office pools and betting a few dollars. It never ceases to amaze me how many federal employees, especially office pool organizers, consider brackets to be a benign game. They are, however, gambling much more than they realize, and during my first year as chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Board made clear that the stakes, indeed, are high. The Standards of Conduct prohibit federal employees from participating in any gambling activity “[w]hile on Government-owned or…

There is no question now that the federal government is struggling to keep sensitive personal information under wraps. A recent Government Accountability Office study found that in fiscal year 2012, federal agencies reported over 22,100 data breaches involving personally identifiable information (PII) – up 111 percent from three years earlier. While the GAO identified several sources of data breaches, ranging from the inadvertent loss of paper documents or portable electronic devices to cyber attacks waged by hackers or foreign nations, I remember hearing cases at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) about another type of source: federal employees who use…