Posted on 09/28/2005 11:06:13 AM PDT by KingofZion
It is a stereotype that a federal government worker cannot or at least will not be fired. Once you are hired, you can probably stay on the payroll for the rest of your career because firing someone is a long, expensive, arduous process that no sane person wants to experience.
A major exception to this stereotypical image is a new federal employee who is on "probation" for the first year. This probationary period is supposed to be the final step in the examining process for a new federal employee.
In other words, if an employee looks good on paper, comes across well in an interview, has good grades in school and has taken the right courses or has relevant experience needed for a federal job, there is a good chance the person will be hired.
But sometimes what looks good on paper doesn't work out in practice. We have all had experiences like this and an employment decision is crtical for any company or federal agency. Recognizing this, the probationary period is supposed to be the final test.
Probation and the New Federal Employee
During the probationary period, an agency can fire a new employee and that employee does not have the benefit of most of the usual and numerous appeal rights available to feds. If you are a supervisor, and a new employee just isn't working out for some reason, you can quickly and easily fire the person. That is the last time you can quickly and easily fire a federal employee. With this background, one would expect a high rate of termination among this batch of new federal employees.
Most federal supervisors probably know about the probationary period. If they have had any training at all in the federal human resources program, the instructor will probably drill home that the time to fire a federal employee is during the probationary period.
But a new study by the Merit Systems Protection Board shows that the probationary period is not being used as it was intended.
Probationary Period Not Used or Ignored
For example, in many agencies, the agency treats a probationary employee just as if he was a federal employee who has been an employee for a number of years. A big advantage of the probationary period is that an agency does not have to jump through hoops to fire someone who can't do the job. No performance improvement plan is necessary. The agency does not have to spend its time and resources to bring the employee's performance up to an acceptable level. But, apparently, some agencies do it anyway and require the supervisor to jump through the hoops that would be necessary for a longer term employee.
The MSPB study also found that supervisors often had no intent to get rid of a probationary employee who does not work out. Even in situations in which the supervisor indicated she would not hire the employee again, there was no intent to get rid off the employee during the trial period.
And, probably to no one's surprise, a new federal employee who cannot do the job or is creating problems, but is not terminated during a probationary period, is not likely to ever leave federal employment. Only 1.6 percent of probationary employees are terminated. After the first year of government service, the rate of termination drops to 0.5 percent and that figure doesn't change much for the next 20 years of government service. In contract, companies like Microsoft expect that at least six percent of their workforce will be terminated during a given year--presumably so that employees who do not perform as well as others will be fired so the company can hire people who can do a better job.
The MSPB also found that a third of new federal employees did not realize they would be required to serve a probationary period and most did not know what consequences may follow if there were conduct or performance problems. Moreover, most probationary employees indicated they did not think the agency took the probationary period seriously as a time that would be used to evaluate whether they should be retained as a federal employee.
The Board has several recommendations.
For one, it recommends trying to change the culture in federal agencies so that it is not expected that once a person is hired, that person cannot be fired during a probationary period. In other words, the probationary period should be used for its intended purpose--to weed out people who should not remain as a civil service employee.
MSPB also recommends that completion of the probationary period should not be automatic. The agency should have to certify that the person is acceptable as an employee and should not become a regular employee unless the agency certifies the person is acceptable.
Also, the probationary period should be longer than one year in some cases. There is currently a one-year limit to a probationary period. The MSPB recommends extending this to up to three years in some cases.
Finally, the MSPB recommends that supervisors and probationary employees be told about the purpose of the probationary period and supervisors should be supported by the agency when they use this time to terminate people that are not acceptable.
Here is the MSPB report on the use of the probationary period in federal agencies.
They can move your job somewhere that they know you won't go, and then give you little to choose from locally.
BTTT
Good post!
I have a friend I've known for forty years. Immediately out of college, she took a Federal Gov't job, and shortly thereafter married a fellow who did the same. We visited ocassionally over the years and I can safely say that neither of them EVER had a stressful day 'on the job'. They retired about a year ago - full pay, full benefits. I've always said they were a whole lot smarter than me and in 'my next life' I'm going to do the same d**mn thing!
Yes, you can fire a FED employee after the probation period; however, there is a level of paperwork and counseling that most supervisors will not engage in. Then the (in my opinion) de balled union steps in and everybody runs for cover. It is a corrupt process, but not impossible to enact if you have the tenacity to pursue said action. It’s all about ones self-confidence and comfort level.
I know, I'm a federal employee.
I know that the fed employees at the shipyard here, got all upset when someone suggested that they actually have their jobs reviewed.
They're civil employees - you aren't getting the best and brightest to begin with.
Well, they never really succeeded, either, did they? I mean, a government job is just like a union job - a wonderful way of guaranteeing yourself a maximum salary. If all you want out of life is forty years of terminal boredom and no hope of ever accomplishing anything, then, yes, a government job is the way to go.
Ah-h-h-h, but by the standards held up as 'perfection' in our society, they DID succeed. They 'held down a job' for thirty years, they paid off their house by age 50, they saved their money in a nice ever-growing savings account, they were very 'active in their church', they raised two law-abiding citizens who both obtained college degrees from good universities (neither of whom have gone to work for the gov't, by the way), they have traveled extensively and they are enjoying a lovely retirement. Sounds pretty good to me!
After that, we can start some serious cutting.
I've got one of these useless mouthbreathers next door; he apparently did absolutely nothing during his "career" in the Agriculture Dept. (talk about a department that needs serious pruning!) except give away our money to hobby farmers - now he sits on his "retired" ass, sucking on the taxpayer tit fulltime, resting up from his arduous "career".
And you know the funny part of all this? The Republican Party has made Big Stupid Government a lot bigger, more expensive, less useful (one word: Louisiana) and more parasitic.
Way to go, 'pubbies.
Down with Civil Service! Back to the spoils system!
Muleteam1
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
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