Book Description

In accordance with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 1204(a)(3), it is my honor to submit this Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) report, Prohibited Personnel Practices--A Study Retrospective. Since MSPB is launching a reexamination of the prevalence of prohibited personnel practices within the Federal Government, this report is intended to provide our stakeholders with a foundation of past MSPB research that examined these issues. MSPB has conducted extensive research to examine the occurrence of prohibited personnel practices in the Federal Government, as well as adherence to their complement, the merit system principles. In selected previous reports that are summarized here we have noted that the percentage of employees reporting discrimination based on ethnicity/race, sex, age, and religion have declined over time, while an increasing percentage of Federal employees believe that they are being treated fairly. However, we have also acknowledged that the Federal Government still has work to do to ensure a workplace free of prohibited personnel practices. For example, although a decreasing percentage of employees believe that they have experienced prohibited discrimination, many employees believe that personnel decisions are often based on factors other than merit, such as favoritism. There is also a continuing gap between minority and nonminority employees' perceptions of the prevalence of discrimination and other prohibited personnel practices.