The House is considering voting on two civil service reform packages this week that would expand benefits to veterans while throwing out seniority as a criterion for job protection, The Washington Post reported today.
One of the packages would give veterans expanded employment preferences and a competitive edge during layoffs. Additional measures in the package would permit federal employees to share their annual leave time with other employees through leave banks and expand investment opportunities under the Thrift Savings Plan.
The second package would make job performance count more than seniority in layoff decisions. Under the proposal, an employee who received an "outstanding" performance rating would thus outrank employees who have served in the government longer but rated lower in their evaluation.
Some employee groups oppose the second package, saying that current employee evaluation systems are inconsistent, while some Senators may object to the first package because it contradicts the performance based model of the second package. The Senate appears unlikely to consider the packages so late in this legislative session.
The reform packages also propose expanding the use of experimental personnel systems, including those that would link pay to performance.
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