Labor authority overturns VA’s new employee discipline process, affecting thousands – By Jessie Bur (Federal Times) / Nov 21 2020
Thousands of Department of Veterans Affairs employees who were fired, suspended or demoted over the past three years under provisions of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act must be reinstated with full back pay, the Federal Labor Relations Authority recently determined.
The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which became law in June 2017, enables VA managers to more quickly institute disciplinary action for underperforming employees.
The Veterans Benefits Administration notified employees in September 2017 of the change in disciplinary processes, at which point the American Federation of Government Employees National VA Council filed a national grievance.
The changes to VA disciplinary procedure violated the union’s contract with the agency, which states that employees must be given the opportunity to improve their performance before receiving disciplinary action.
