Federal agencies are expected to begin implementing new enforcement policies today related to President Trump’s three workforce executive orders (EO) signed on May 25.
The imperative to begin enforcement of the workforce EOs comes from guidance released by Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff Pon in three separate memoranda last Thursday, which clarify and explain the EOs and how agencies should carry out their goals.
Among the requirements that begin today are new policies on how agencies should handle employee misconduct and poor performance, articulated in EO 13839.
“Agencies should recognize and reward good performers, while unacceptable performers should be separated if they do not improve,” the memo from Pon regarding EO enforcement states. “Misconduct should be dealt with promptly in the Federal workforce.”
OPM is also instructing Federal agencies to begin enforcement today of “new requirements and restrictions for employees regarding the use of paid time and government property to ensure taxpayer monies are being spent effectively.”
These requirements – under EO 13837 – include monitoring employees to ensure they “spend at least three-quarters of their paid time, measured each fiscal year, performing agency business or attending necessary agency training,” and prohibiting free or discounted use of government property for Federal labor organizations.
The third workforce EO, related to Federal sector collective bargaining, has goals with less stringent enforcement timelines, which Pon wrote will be dependent on the expiration dates of current collective bargaining agreements.
The Trump administration is locked in several legal disputes with Federal employee labor unions over the three workforce EOs as the administration’s vision for the Federal workforce begins to take shape.
