HHS to start Schedule P/C conversions while withholding details on new RIFs

"HHS on Friday afternoon sent an email to supervisors that the initial conversions are "expected to apply to a relatively modest number of GS-15 positions - on the order of hundreds, not thousands - with additional tranches to follow as implementation progresses." Officials have estimated that around 50,000 agency staffers governmentwide will be targeted for conversion. Employees designated for the new schedule will no longer have the same notice and appeal rights regarding adverse actions, such as firings and suspensions, as the vast majority of the civil service enjoys."

""Conversion to Schedule P/C is based on the nature of a position, not the performance or conduct of an individual," according to the email obtained by Government Executive. "These actions are administrative in nature and are not intended to be punitive or to signal concerns about an employee's work.""

"Schedule P/C is a revived iteration of Schedule F, an unsuccessful effort from President Donald Trump's first term to remove most civil service job protections for federal employees in "policy-related" positions, making them at-will workers who can be fired for virtually any reason."

"An HHS official told Government Executive that the reclassifications to Schedule P/C will only take effect after Trump issues an executive order. "This will strengthen accountability for positions with significant policy-influencing responsibilities and applies to a relatively modest number of positions," the official said in a statement."

HHS has begun converting certain employees to Schedule Policy/Career, a new job classification with weaker protections. An email to supervisors states initial conversions will affect a relatively modest number of GS-15 positions, with additional groups to follow. Employees moved to the new schedule would lose the same notice and appeal rights for adverse actions such as firings and suspensions that most civil servants retain. The conversion is described as based on the nature of a position rather than individual performance or conduct, and as administrative rather than punitive. Schedule P/C is linked to a revived concept from Schedule F, which sought to reduce protections for policy-related roles. An HHS official says the changes take effect only after a Trump executive order and are intended to strengthen accountability for policy-influencing responsibilities.

Read at Nextgov.com