Government affairs

Legislative Updates

House passes anti-fed administrative leave bills

Two bills that, if passed, would be harmful to federal employees recently were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on a voice vote.

The Administrative Leave Reform Act (H.R. 4359) and the Office Personnel File Enhancement Act (H.R. 4360) both were introduced by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), and both bills received support from that committee. (The committee oversees, among other things, the U.S. Postal Service.)

Under H.R. 4359, administrative leave would be capped to 14 days per calendar year for federal employees who have been accused of misconduct or poor performance. However, this limit could be extended by 30-day increments with notice to Congress, with any extensions beyond 44 days would require a detailed report to Congress.

H.R. 4360, on the other hand, calls for requiring a permanent notation in an employee’s personnel file if he or she is the subject of an investigation.

While both measures may not directly affect letter carriers or the U.S. Postal Service, they are the latest pieces of legislation that lawmakers have introduced during this session of Congress that could be harmful to the entire federal-postal community if they were enacted.

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