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Federal Public Sector Employment Law Toolkit
Practical Law Toolkit w-000-6537 (Approx. 20 pages)
Federal Public Sector Employment Law Toolkit
by Practical Law Public Sector and Practical Law Labor & Employment
| Maintained • USA (National/Federal) |
Resources for lawyers practicing federal public sector employment law. This Toolkit includes resources on civil service and anti-discrimination laws, including the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA), the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Rehabilitation Act (Rehab Act), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), as well as on the agencies that enforce these laws, including the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
As an employer, the federal government has unique legal considerations compared to other public-sector employers and private-sector employers. While the federal government must comply with standards that apply to all employers, it also has statutory considerations based in due process, equal protection, and other constitutional guarantees. Federal statutes that apply to federal government employees and applicants for federal public employment include:
- The Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA).
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).
- The Rehabilitation Act (Rehab Act).
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
- The Equal Pay Act (EPA).
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
- The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).
- The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA).
- The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA).
- The Hatch Act.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
- The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS).
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent, quasi-judicial agency in the federal executive branch responsible for protecting the federal merit system principles (MSPs) and promoting an effective workplace free of prohibited personnel practices (PPPs).
The MSPB:
- Adjudicates federal employee appeals of adverse employment actions and retirement decisions.
- Conducts studies of the federal merit system and federal human capital management issues.
- Reviews the rules, regulations, and significant actions of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) oversees the federal sector equal employment opportunity (EEO) program and adjudicates administrative complaints of employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the federal workplace under:
- Title VII.
- The PWFA.
- The EPA.
- The ADEA.
- Sections 101 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
- Sections 501 and 503 of the Rehab Act.
- GINA.
The MSPB and EEOC serve parallel roles in adjudicating federal employment cases. The MSPB is considered the specialist in civil service law and the EEOC is considered the specialist in discrimination law.
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) also enforces federal employees' and applicants' rights to be free of PPPs in the federal workforce and protects the rights of employees who blow the whistle on government wrongdoing. OSC:
- Investigates allegations of PPPs filed by federal employees and applicants.
- Seeks disciplinary or corrective action for a PPP before the MSPB.
- Accepts disclosures and oversees government investigations of wrongdoing within the executive branch filed by current or former federal employees and applicants.
- Investigates Hatch Act violations and protects federal employees from political coercion in the workplace.
- Files USERRA lawsuits in certain cases involving a federal employer that were not resolved by the Department of Labor.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) enforces the FSLMRS and governs labor-management relations in the federal workforce. The FLRA:
- Resolves complaints of unfair labor practices (ULPs).
- Determines appropriate bargaining units for labor organization representation and conducts elections for union representation.
- Decides appeals (exceptions) to labor arbitrators' awards.
- Decides legal issues about the duty to bargain.
- Resolves impasses in collective bargaining negotiations.
- Conducts outreach and training for federal agencies and unions.
This Toolkit provides a collection of resources that address the administrative procedures under the federal civil service laws and antidiscrimination laws that protect federal employees and applicants for employment. For an overview of various protections that apply to federal employees and applicants for employment, see Federal Public Employee Coverage under Major Labor and Employment Laws Chart and Employment Protections for Federal Employees Flowchart.
Civil Service Protections
Federal sector practitioners can use the following resources to better understand the practice before the MSPB and OSC, and the protections and procedures under the CSRA, WPA, VEOA, USERRA, and Hatch Act.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The following resources address the unique administrative procedures for federal employees and applicants under Title VII, the Rehab Act, the ADEA, and GINA.
Additional Resources
The following resources, while drafted primarily for private sector employers, discuss the federal anti-discrimination laws that also cover federal employees and applicants. Federal sector practitioners will find these resources helpful. Practitioners should note that federal employees and applicants are covered under the Rehab Act rather than the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) but the protections under the Rehab Act and ADA are mostly the same.