Civil Service Reform--Where It Stands Today

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 is intended to provide Federal managers with the flexibility to improve Government operations and productivity while, at the same time, protect employees from unfair or unwarranted practices. As part of civil service reform, a reorganization of the agencies administering the Federal personnel system was proposed and approved. Thus, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) was abolished, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Merit Systems Protection Board and its Special Counsel were established in its place; the Federal Labor Relations Authority was established in place of the Federal Labor Relations Council; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was given responsibility for enforcing equal employment laws in the Federal agencies. The basic OPM implementation principle is that it will regulate only to the extent that there is a compelling need for uniformity in interpreting the law. The organizational components inherited from CSC have been consolidated and realigned, and OPM activities have been refocused in line with the requirements of the Act. OPM has attempted to open channels of communication to inform Federal line managers about civil service reform and how the executive branch will be affected through a program development conference. A two-stage process was employed to develop and issue new regulations implementing the Act. Training programs relating to civil service reform subjects were developed or revised and made available to agencies. In planning extensive evaluations of the Act, OPM is working with GAO, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and executive branch agencies to tailor its evaluations to meet their needs to the extent possible.