The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed rule on Tuesday aiming to implement a selection of employee performance provisions from President Donald Trump’s (R) three civil service executive orders.

 

President Trump issued the civil service executive orders (E.O. 13837, E.O. 13836, and E.O.13839) in May 2018. The orders include proposals aimed at facilitating the removal of poor-performing federal employees and streamlining collective bargaining procedures.

 

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction in August 2018 blocking Trump administration officials from implementing nine provisions of the executive orders that she claimed unlawfully restricted the use of union official time. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed Jackson’s ruling in July, but the injunction remains in place as the case continues to move through the federal courts.

 

The proposed rule issued by OPM seeks to implement provisions of the executive orders not barred by the injunction. These include notifying supervisors that an employee’s probationary period is set to expire; limiting poor-performing employees to one performance improvement period to demonstrate acceptable performance; prohibiting the removal of employee information from personnel records as part of a settlement agreement; publishing data related to adverse personnel actions; and creating new penalties for supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers.

 

The proposed rule is open for public comment through October 17, 2019.