From Government Executive:
House Republicans Want to Make It Easier to Fire All Senior Executive Service Employees
House Republicans have put forward a new measure to ease the disciplining and firing of senior executives across government, saying the measure will bring increased accountability to agencies’ top career employees.
The Senior Executive Service Accountability Act -- introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and cosponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. -- would bring sweeping changes to SES oversight. Issa’s committee will vote on the legislation Thursday.
The bill would make senior executives eligible for 14-day suspensions without pay, bringing them in line with most non-SES federal employees. Another provision would add a category for cause to fire an SES employee.
Currently, senior executives can be fired for three reasons: misfeasance, or poor performance; malfeasance, or misconduct; and nonfeasance, or the failure to complete assigned duties. The bill would add a fourth, more broad, reason, labeled as “such cause as would promote the efficiency of the service.” Employees receiving a negative personnel action would receive just 15 days’ notice, half of the 30 days they currently receive.
About time - there is a lot of deadwood that needs to be cleaned out. I would go even further and remove union representation for any public employee - each worker needs to be responsible for their own performance.
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