No FEAR Act

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Description: This course is an overview of the Notification and Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act). It meets the training requirements of the No FEAR Act, and OPM regulations in 5 CFR Part 724, which require that agencies provide training to all employees regarding federal anti-discrimination, whistleblower, and retaliation laws. The emphasis here is on an understanding of the purpose and provisions of the No FEAR Act, rights and protections under anti-discrimination, whistleblower, and retaliation laws, how to process a discrimination or retaliation complaint (tailored for specific agencies – i.e., who to contact, how to contact) and a description of the responsibilities and obligations of federal agencies under this Act.

Length: 2 or 4 hours.

Table of Contents:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW 1

The Notification & Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination Act (NO FEAR) 2

PART I. An Overview 2

A. The “NO FEAR” Law 2
1. Agencies Must Pay Judgments 2
2. Agencies Must Submit Reports 2
3. Agencies Must Notify Employees About Their Rights 3
4. Agencies Must Provide Training 3

PART II: The NO FEAR Law – The Intent of Congress 3

A. Congressional Findings 3

B. The Sense of Congress 4

PART III: Your Rights and Remedies as a Federal Employee Under
Civil Service and Whistleblower Protection Laws 4

A. The Office of Special Counsel 4

Staying a personnel action 6

Contacting the Office of Special Counsel 6

B. What is a Prohibited Personnel Practice (PPP)? 7

C. Whistleblower Disclosures and Reprisal 9

1. Whistleblower Disclosures 9

a. Who to contact 10

b. What will OSC do about my disclosure? 12

c. Will DOE know that I “blew the whistle”? 13

 

2. Whistleblower Reprisal 14

a. Who can you contact? 15

b. How will my Complaint be processed by OSC? 16

c. How can OSC remedy a prohibited personnel practice? 17

Corrective action 17

1. By OSC 17

2. Individual right to prosecute a complaint 18

3. Disciplinary action 18

4. Intervention by OSC 19

d. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement 19

e. Allegations of EEO based discrimination 19

f. Marital status and political affiliation 19

g. Veteran’s preference rights 19

h. Other matters addressed by OSC 20

i. Are federal employees required to cooperate with OSC? 20

D. Your Right to File an Action Challenging
Whistleblower Reprisal 21

E. The Hatch Act– Political Activity by DOE Employees 23

1. Penalties for violation 24

2. Who May File a Hatch Act Complaint with OSC? 24

3. Advisory Opinions 24

F. OSC Case Illustrations 25

PART IV: CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES 27

PART V: EXERCISES 29