It can take six months to a year to fire a poor performing federal employee, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The report released Monday says the time and resource commitment needed to remove a poor performing permanent employee can be “substantial,” and that some departments may be keeping substandard employees in order to avoid the paperwork.
“Overall, it can take six months to a year (and sometimes significantly longer) to dismiss an employee,” the report said.
Moreover, once an employee is dismissed, he or she may file an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which takes an average of 243 days to adjudicate from start to finish.
“According to selected experts and GAO’s literature review, concerns over internal support, lack of performance management training, and legal issues can also reduce a supervisor’s willingness to address poor performance,’ the report said.
The government fired just 3,489 employees for performance in 2013, representing 0.18 percent of permanent federal workers.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called the findings “unacceptable.”
“The federal government cannot use tax dollars effectively if it does not hire, train and keep effective supervisors,” the Wisconsin Republican told Breitbart News.
The GAO made four recommendations to the Office of Personnel Management, including extending probationary periods and better training of supervisors.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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