By Diane Williamson
Please note that the information contained in this post is for informational purposes and is not to be considered legal advice. This blog post does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss your particular circumstances with us, please set up a consultation by contacting the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm at 315-471-0405 or through our website (https://www.satterlaw.com/contact-us/). We look forward to walking you through your workplace rights.
In November this blog spread the word that President Trump signed an executive order that made it easier to terminate civil servants working for the federal government. There is good news for those of you impacted by this Trump policy shift.
On January 22, 2021, President Biden reversed the Trump administration’s executive order that targeted civil service workers by creating “Schedule F” employees, a new class of civil servants who could be hired or fired without regard to civil service rules. Biden’s executive order protects an employment merit system so that civil servants cannot be appointed and terminated for political purposes.
According to the Business of Federal Technology Journal, the Office of Management and Budget made moves to reclassify almost 90% of its workforce as Schedule F in the last days of President Trump’s administration. While the reclassifications had not yet taken place, their imminence suggests that the institutions of democratic government are weaker than we may have realized. These dueling executive orders remind us that we cannot take for granted our system in which government employees enforce the laws and not the power of elected officials. The government, like any workplace, functions best when its employees are evaluated on performance not on their allegiance to certain leaders.
The new executive order also reinstates union rights that were eliminated by the Trump administration executive orders, signed on March 28, 2018, which restricted collective bargaining and were the subject of several lawsuits and labor practice challenges.
The new executive order directs the Office of Personnel Management to instruct the President on recommendations for moving toward a $15 minimum wage for federal employees.
As stated in President Biden’s executive order: “It is also the policy of the United States to encourage union organizing and collective bargaining. The Federal Government should serve as a model employer.” These changes are a step in the right direction for workers.
