Archive
New Civil Service Legislation
Right now, we cannot be as flexible or innovative as we would like to be because the personnel system
applies a single set of rules to all federal employees, from patent attorneys to park rangers. No
corporation would operate this way. General Electric makes light bulbs, buys and sells mortgage loans, and
leases cars. GE does not try to squeeze such a diverse cadre of workers into a single set of personnel
rules, and neither should the federal government.
Legislation now moving through Congress will grant agencies more flexibility in administering personnel
systems that support their missions, while preserving basic common values like veterans preference and
merit. It will allow each agency to set up its own method of rewarding good performance and dealing with
poor performance.
