Merit Systems Protection Board

  • Hiring in the federal government is supposed to be open, competitive and fair. But you get what you measure. The Merit System Protection Board recently released its annual Fair and Open Competition report. It's designed to ensure federal employees are hired based on their qualifications, not their connections. Allison Wiley is a senior research analyst at the board. She joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the report's findings. One of the key ones, she said, is that fair and open competition is still the standard in the majority of government hires.

    January 28, 2015
  • Do federal managers know who they want to hire before even posting a job? Do they rig the process to the benefit of their candidate? And, is it worth it to even apply for a job at an agency given these barriers? Former federal HR exec Jeff Neal offers his candid advice based on his 33 years of experience.

    January 23, 2015
  • Veterans Affairs whistleblowers reclaimed their jobs and reputations after supervisors tried to downplay claims of falsified performance reports, a delayed response to rape allegations against a VA employee and low staffing levels at VA medical centers.

    January 20, 2015
  • Two Justice Department prosecutors were briefly suspended for withholding evidence during the 2008 corruption trial of then-Sen. Ted Stevens. Now they've won their appeals over a technicality in how Justice handled their case. According to the Merit System Protection Board, Justice violated its own procedures in punishing the duo. Lynne Bernabei, a partner at the law firm Bernabei and Watchel, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the case.

    January 19, 2015
  • The federal hiring process is too complicated to give people a fair shot at working for your agency, according to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Tim McManus is Vice President for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said it's possible to fix the hiring process without compromising your agency's core principles.

    January 12, 2015
  • Certain recruiting and hiring authorities within agencies "threaten the principle of fair and open competition," according to the latest report from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Former DHS CHCO Jeff Neal offers his take.

    January 12, 2015
  • In a new report, the Merit Systems Protection Board says federal hiring managers are having trouble balancing rules meant to help veterans and other select groups benefit veterans and other select or other groups for hiring managers who are supposed to hold fair and open competitions for jobs.

    January 07, 2015
  • The Merit System Protection Board agrees that GSA's conference scandal was, indeed, scandalous. But at least two of the senior officials GSA fired in response didn't have much to do with the whole affair.

    December 29, 2014
  • A ruling could have a major impact on the pay, pensions. bonuses and job security of Uncle Sam's 6,000 top career executives, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.

    December 22, 2014
  • The Merit Systems Protection Board has affirmed the Veterans Affairs Department's decision to ax James Talton, one of the first senior executives targeted under a new law that speeds up the removal process. Talton headed the Central Alabama Veterans Administration Healthcare System.

    November 20, 2014
  • In a report released just before Veterans Day, the Merit Systems Protection Board outlined some of the complications in two key veterans workforce laws. Sharon Roth, MSPB senior research analyst, said managers need to better understand veterans' rights when hiring.

    November 10, 2014
  • Just in time for Veterans Day, the Merit Systems Protection Board has issued fresh guidance for federal managers on the topic of veterans hiring preferences. Two laws underpin the myriad of veterans preference regulations. Sharon Roth, a senior research analyst at the Merit Systems Protection Board, was the project manager of the report. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain the new guidance.

    November 10, 2014
  • Sloan Gibson, VA's deputy secretary, said he's proposed the removal of Susan Taylor, the deputy chief procurement officer at the Veterans Health Administration. Gibson will use the new authorities provided by Congress and President Barack Obama in August under the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014.

    October 06, 2014
  • A new law signed by the President last month gives the Veterans Affairs secretary lots of discretion to fire or demote members of the Senior Executive Service. The law came in response to management problems resulting in long wait times for admittance to VA facilities. The law means SESers at VA work under a different set of civil service rules than those in the rest of government. It also imposes new burdens on the Merit Systems Protection Board. The board issued an interim final rule on how the agency will carry out the new mandate. Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the comments the board received about the rule and what the law does require of the board.

    October 06, 2014