President Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul to the process by which agencies evaluate probationary federal workers before they can gain full employment status and job protections.
Agencies must also use probationary and trial periods, usually within a year, to assess employees’ fitness and alignment with agency needs before granting them full federal employment status.
Trump’s order accuses agencies of previously failing to remove poor performers, and alleges they “often retained and [gave] tenure to underperforming employees who should have been screened out during their probationary period.”
“Moving forward, career government employees, working on policy matters, will be classified as ‘Schedule Policy/Career,’ and will be held to the highest standards of conduct and performance,” he said.
Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce have been met with multiple lawsuits contesting the legality of his policies, including his decision to fire tens of thousands of probationary workers earlier this year.
At least 60 days before an employee’s probationary period ends, agencies must meet with the worker to discuss performance and continued employment that meets the agency’s needs and advances the “public interest,” the order states.
Additionally, within 30 days of the end of each employee’s probationary or trial period, each agency head or a designated individual must determine whether the employee should be appointed to federal service or terminated.
Employees on probationary or trial periods also bear the “burden of demonstrating why their continuation in employment through ... their appointment to the Federal service is in the public interest,” the order states.
Trump’s order takes effect immediately and directs the Office of Personnel Management to create new regulations and provide guidance to federal departments.
The director of that office may also define circumstances and procedures by which probationary or trial-period employees may appeal their terminations.
