State Department Expands Schedule Policy/Career Push as Other Agencies Could Follow
The State Department is reportedly expanding its push to classify more workers into the new Schedule Policy/Career category. According to GovExec, that includes expanding the search to identify more employees in the General Schedule (GS) 13 and GS-14 levels for possible conversion.
The move is raising concerns among federal worker groups that other agencies could follow the State Department's approach.
This comes after President Trump signed an executive order in June that reclassified approximately 8,000 employees into Schedule P/C, short of the 50,000 or so positions who were projected to possibly move into Schedule P/C. The new category reduces some of the traditional civil service protections available to employees, including protections related to adverse personnel actions.
“Short Questionnaire”
According to one State Department employee who spoke to GovExec, human resources officials at the State Department are “using a short questionnaire to determine if GS-13 and GS-14 level employees are working in policymaking positions that should be reclassified to Schedule P/C.”
The questionnaire reportedly includes questions on whether a particular position formulates policy, develops regulations, provides substantive advocacy of foreign policy, represents the department before Congress, as well as other questions.
The push to convert more GS-13 and GS-14 employees comes after a senior administration official said that 97 percent of employees converted so far are at GS-15 or higher. The official said a “small number” of GS-13 and GS-14 employees were also converted, but that most of them work at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
A second staffer told GovExec that while the work is in the early stages, it’s moving “relatively fast.”
Battle Over Schedule Policy/Career
OPM says the creation of the new category is necessary to ensure that federal employees holding policy making or policy influencing positions “can be held accountable for poor performance or misconduct. “
The creation of Schedule Policy/Career also remains the subject of legal challenges brought by groups including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Democracy Forward, and others.
