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In 1883, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act passes. This act prohibited political contributions in
exchange for appointment to federal government positions and barred the solicitation of campaign donations on federal government property. This act is named after a sponsor of the bill, Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio. To view more information on the image featured on this post, view the Library of Congress
listing for this item.
- Defense Acquisition Innovation Repository
- Defense Acquisition Innovation Repository hosted at the Naval Postgraduate School
- Section 809 Panel: Reports, Recommendations & Resource Library
Please use this identifier
to cite or link to this item: //dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/4003
| Title: | Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act [1883] |
| Authors: | |
| Keywords: | Simplify Acquisition Service Contracting Workforce Reform Civil Service History |
| Issue Date: | 1 |
| Publisher: | United States Government |
| Citation: | Unlimited Distribution |
| Series/Report no.: | Simplify Acquisition - Services SEC809-SMP-83-0094 |
| Abstract: | The Pendleton Act provided that Federal Government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that Government employees be selected through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law. The law further forbids requiring employees to give political service or contributions. The Civil Service Commission was established to enforce this act. |
| Description: | //www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=48 |
| URI: | //dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/4003 |
| Appears in Collections: | Section 809 Panel: Reports, Recommendations & Resource Library |
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From Ballotpedia
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [CSRA] is legislation that implemented changes to the structure, management, and employment practices of the federal civil service. The CSRA reaffirmed the merit system selection process of the competitive civil service, decentralized administrative personnel functions, and codified a number of changes to workforce practices and procedures, including the prohibition of certain discriminatory practices. The New York Times described the CSRA as the "most sweeping change in Federal personnel regulations since the Civil Service Act of 1883."[1][2]
Background
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 eliminated the spoils system of the 19th century, which rewarded individuals for partisan loyalty and service through appointments to government positions. The legislation ushered in the competitive civil service, a merit-based system for the appointment of federal executive branch employees. The new system, overseen by the U.S. Civil Service Commission, allowed individuals to apply for government employment and compete through examinations rather than seek an appointment to a position on the basis of their political ideology or government connections. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, members of the competitive civil service gained workers' compensation protections, retirement annuities, and procedural protections against removal, which ensured that federal employees could only be fired for just cause.[3][4]
By the 1970s, federal employees had begun to express dissatisfaction with perceived shortcomings in their procedural protections and discriminatory practices in the workplace. The resulting Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [CSRA] reaffirmed the merit system selection process, codified collective bargaining procedures, and identified prohibited practices in the federal workforce, including nepotism and discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, or other specified factors. The legislation also created guidelines for the removal of personnel for unsatisfactory performance and created the Senior Executive Service, a separate tier of administrators "designed to attract and retain highly competent senior executives," according to the legislation. [1][5][6][7]
The CSRA also replaced the U.S. Civil Service Commission with the following agencies:[8]
- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is tasked with implementing rules to oversee the management of the federal workforce.[1]
- The Merit Systems Protection Board
The Merit Systems Protection Board is responsible for processing employment-related hearings and appeals. According to the Merit Systems Protection Board website, the Board "was given new responsibilities to perform merit systems studies and to review the significant actions of OPM. The CSRA also created the Office of Special Counsel [OSC] which investigates allegations of prohibited personnel practices, prosecutes violators of civil service rules and regulations, and enforces the Hatch Act. Although originally established as an office of the Board, the OSC now functions independently as a prosecutor of cases before the Board.[1][9]
- The Federal Labor Relations Authority
The Federal Labor Relations Authority is responsible for establishing guidelines and resolving issues related to collective bargaining practices.[1]
Provisions
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [CSRA] included the following provisions:[1]
Title I—Merit System Principles
The CSRA reaffirmed the merit system
selection process for competitive civil service employees and prohibited discrimination on the basis of political affiliation, race, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or disability.[1]
| “ | [1] in order to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive Federal work force reflective of the Nation's diversity, and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles and free from prohibited personnel practices; [2] the merit system principles which shall govern in the competitive service and in the executive branch of the Federal Government should be expressly stated to furnish guidance to Federal agencies in carrying out their responsibilities in administering the public business, and prohibited personnel practices should be statutorily defined to enable Federal employees to avoid conduct which undermines the merit system principles and the integrity of the merit system;[1][10] | ” |
Title II—Civil Service Functions; Performance Appraisal; Adverse Actions
Title II established the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to oversee personnel management for civil service employees, created the Merit Systems Protection Board to process hearings and appeals related to personnel matters, and authorized the Office of the Special Council to investigate alleged prohibited personnel practices. This section also established performance appraisal
systems and best practices for employee suspensions.[1]
| “ | [3] Federal employees should receive appropriate protection through increasing the authority and powers of the Merit Systems Protection Board in processing hearings and appeals affecting Federal employees; [4] the authority and power of the Special Counsel should be increased so that the Special Counsel may investigate allegations involving prohibited personnel practices and reprisals against Federal employees for the lawful disclosure of certain information and may file complaints against agency officials and employees who engage in such conduct;[1][10] | ” |
Title III—Staffing
Title III put forth provisions related to volunteers, interpretive assistants for deaf employees, probationary periods, training, travel, retirement, veterans' preference, dual pay for retired military members, civil service job postings, minority recruitment, and temporary employment.[1]
| “ | [5] the function of filling positions and other personnel functions in the competitive service and in the executive branch should be delegated in appropriate cases to the agencies to expedite processing appointments and other personnel actions, with the control and oversight of this delegation being maintained by the Office of Personnel Management to protect against prohibited personnel practices and the use of unsound management practices by the agencies;[1][10] | ” |
Title IV—Senior Executive Service
The CSRA created the Senior Executive Service for high-level management positions.[1]
| “ | [6] a Senior Executive Service should be established to provide the flexibility needed by agencies to recruit and retain the highly competent and qualified executives needed to provide more effective management of agencies and their functions, and the more expeditious administration of the public business;[1][10] | ” |
Title V—Merit Pay
The provisions of Title V provided for a pay-for-performance system and incentive pay.[1]
| “ | [7] in appropriate instances, pay increases should be based on quality of performance rather than length of service;[1][10] | ” |
Title VI—Research, Demonstration, and Other Programs
Title VI authorized the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to conduct research, demonstration projects, and other programs with the goal of improving personnel management.[1]
| “ | [8] research programs and demonstration projects should be authorized to permit Federal agencies to experiment, subject to congressional oversight, with new and different personnel management concepts in controlled situations to achieve more efficient management of the Government's human resources and greater productivity in the delivery of service to the public;[1][10] | ” |
Title VII—Federal Service Labor-Management Relations
The CSRA codified collective bargaining practices for the competitive civil service and allowed for back pay in the case of certain grievances.[1]
| “ | [10] the right of Federal employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations in decisions which affect them, with full regard for the public interest and the effective conduct of public business, should be specifically recognized in statute;[1][10] | ” |
Title VIII—Grade and Pay Retention
Title VIII provided for certain grade and pay procedures and retraining efforts in order to encourage employee retention.[1]
| “ | [9] the training program of the Government should include retraining of employees for positions in other agencies to avoid separations during reductions in force and the loss to the Government of the knowledge and experience that these employees possess;[1][10] | ” |
Title IX—Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous provisions under Title IX include the authorization for a study on the decentralization of governmental functions, appropriations authorization, protections for presidential authority, and other related technical amendments and provisions.[1]
| “ | [a] As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall conduct a detailed study concerning the decentralization of Federal governmental functions. [b] The study to be conducted under subsection [a] of this section shall include--, [1] a review of the existing geographical distribution of Federal governmental functions throughout the United States, including the extent to which such functions are concentrated in the District of Columbia; and [2] a review of the possibilities of distributing some of the functions of the various Federal agencies currently concentrated in the District of Columbia to field offices located at points throughout the United States.[1][10] | ” |
See also
- Civil service
- United States Civil Service Commission
External links
- Code of Federal Regulations
- United States Code
- Federal Register
- Search Google News for this topic
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 Office of Personnel Management, "Civil Service Reform Act of 1978," accessed September 30, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "POLITICAL SCIENTISTS SEE LITTLE IMPACT OF 1978 CIVIL SERVICE LAW," May 3, 1982
- ↑ USHistory.org, "American Government—8a. The Development of the Bureaucracy," accessed October 2, 2017
- ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica, "Pendleton Civil Service Act," accessed September 29, 2017
- ↑ Encyclopedia.com, "Civil Service Acts [1883]," accessed September 29, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority, "The Statute," accessed September 30, 2017
- ↑ American Historical Association, "What Is Federal Civil Service Like Today?" accessed September 25, 2017
- ↑ Westlaw, "Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [CSRA]," accessed October 5, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "About," October 14, 2020
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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