With President Trump and his Administration launching sweeping attacks on government funding and our federal workforce, I am deeply concerned with how this is harming you, as well as the Americans you serve.
Your hard work and dedication to public service is seen and appreciated, but I understand this is a dark time and President Trump has put many federal workers at risk of losing their jobs.
My office is closely monitoring these developments, and below are some resources and guidance that may be helpful to you during this period.
Impacted by the President Trump and Republicans’ efforts to cut government funding and attacks on the federal workforce?
As a federal employee, you have rights and remedies afforded to you by law. If you believe you are being targeted for an improper or illegal reason, you should:
*If you are in a bargaining unit, you should contact your union first, as there may be a negotiated set of different grievance procedures
If you are a current or former federal employee or applicant, are NOT on the list of exceptions here, and have been subjected by your employer to a prohibited personnel practice (employment activities banned in the federal workplace), you may have a right to file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) here. In response to your complaint, 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 prohibited personnel practice), or both. Note that for prohibited personnel practices covered by both OSC and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), OSC generally defers to EEOC (see below).
If you have been subjected to one of the following personnel actions not on the basis of merit, but for other reasons, you may have the right to appeal the personnel action to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) here. See here for more information about filing an appeal and here for a Q&A about the appeal process.
Personnel actions:
If you file an appeal within the MSPB’s jurisdiction within the required time limit (generally 30 days but sometimes shorter), the agency that took the personnel action against you has the burden of proving that it was justified in taking the action. There are a number of steps in the appeal process, but at the end, you can seek review of a final MSPB decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
If you have been subjected to any of the following actions, you may have a right to file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). See here for more information.
Actions:
There are a number of steps in this process. The first step is to contact an EEO Counselor at the agency where you work or where you applied for a job. Generally, you must contact the EEO Counselor within 45 days from the day the discrimination occurred. At the end of the process, you have the ability to appeal a decision to the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations or file a lawsuit in federal district court.
If you have lost your position, see here for more information regarding filing for unemployment insurance. Unemployment benefits rules vary by state, and federal employees generally file claims in the state in which their last official duty station was located. The State of Hawaii has more information available here.
The information contained in this website is provided for informational purposes only and intended to provide a general overview of the legal rights of federal employees as set forth by executive branch agencies with responsibility for protecting those rights, such as the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The information contained in this website should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. For legal advice, consult an attorney or if you are in a bargaining unit, consult your union.