Pentagon removes protections for civilian workers, orders swift firings
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The Pentagon stripped basic protections for its civilian employees and instructed managers to act “swiftly and confidently” to fire underperforming workers, according to a memo released last month.
The guidelines were issued on September 30, just one day before the government shutdown, in a memorandum titled “Separating Employees with Unacceptable Performance” to eliminate employees with “unacceptable” performance evaluations.
“Supervisors and human resources (HR) professionals are directed to act quickly and faithfully to facilitate the separation of underperforming employees from Federal service,” reads the memo, signed by Undersecretary of Defense Anthony Tata, the Pentagon’s top personnel policy official.
The memo also states that managers will be held accountable for failing to address “poor employee performance.”
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The Pentagon stripped basic protections for civilian workers and instructed managers to act “with speed and conviction” to fire underperforming workers. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Some executives fear the rules are so broad that they could be used to fire anyone who doesn’t support the Trump administration’s programs, according to The Washington Post.
It is unclear how many employees have been laid off since the notice was issued last month.
“The Department is in the process of complying with the new guidance outlined in the September 30 memo from Under Secretary of War Tata, and we have nothing specific to share at this time,” the Pentagon said in a statement to The Washington Post. he said.
Almost half of the Defense civilian workforce has been furloughed during the ongoing shutdown. The administration attempted to furlough thousands of employees earlier this month, but that effort was blocked by a federal court.
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The manifesto states that managers will be held accountable for failing to address “poor employee performance.” (Reuters)
The firings of civilians are part of a larger effort to eliminate the “surplus” that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth claims is standing in the way of Trump’s mission to carry out his agenda.
“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies. Personnel is policy,” Hegseth said last month in a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
The declaration makes it easier for managers to fire Defense civilian employees and creates additional subjectivity in job performance evaluations.
Managers are directed to cite criteria used in federal job evaluations, known as Douglas Factors, but each factor in the language added in the new memo could impact some of those considerations.
Some executives fear the rules are so broad that they could be used to fire people who do not support the Trump administration’s programs. (Photo: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)
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“Every DoW position supports the mission, so deficiencies in any role may require strong action,” the memo says under the Douglas Factor section, which includes employee roles and responsibilities.
The factors give managers “the flexibility to quickly and effectively resolve performance issues,” according to the manifesto.
“This approach reinforces a culture of excellence by empowering supervisors to act decisively when performance undermines DoW’s objectives. Supervisors should use Douglas Factors with their actions taken into account,” the statement said. statement was added.
