Page:Professionalism within the Workforce.pdf/14

 practicable, an employee is carried in an active duty status prior to and during the notice period of the proposed action. The employee may be placed in a nonduty status only when circumstances are such that the retention of the employee in an active duty status may pose a threat to the employee or others, may result in the loss of or damage to Government property, or otherwise may jeopardize legitimate Government interests (including security). In such situations, the Secret Service may place the employee in a paid nonduty status (administrative leave) for such time as is necessary to effect the action. In other circumstances, at the employee's request, the agency may allow the employee to take leave as appropriate. The employee ultimately is issued a written decision that provides the specific reasons for the decision.

Following the issuance of a final decision on the disciplinary action, an employee has several avenues of recourse. A non-Senior Executive Service (SES) employee may request review before the Secret Service's Discipline Review Board (DRB). The DRB has the authority to vacate, mitigate, or uphold the charge and penalty consistent with guidance provided in the Table of Penalties. Alternatively, an employee may: file an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint with the Secret Service, if the individual believes that discrimination was a factor in his/her effected disciplinary action; bring a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, if the individual is claiming whistleblower status; or, in cases where the employee has been removed, demoted, or suspended for more than 14 days, appeal to the MSPB. Employees at the SES level may not file an appeal with the DRB, but each of the other avenues of appeal is available to them.

If the employee files an appeal with the MSPB, the employee must first prove that the appeal is timely, and that the MSPB has jurisdiction to hear the appeal. If the employee meets this initial burden, then the burden shifts to the agency. The agency must prove all facets of the charge against the employee by a preponderance of the evidence, i.e., that the facts underlying the charge occurred, that they constitute misconduct, that the penalty promoted the efficiency of the service, and that the penalty was reasonable given the charges. An employee may appeal the initial decision of the administrative judge to the full MSPB Board, and a final order of the Board to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, if the appeal is filed within 60 days.

Although all of the described protocols focus on the processing of a disciplinary action, the Secret Service is aware that the most important piece of this equation is knowledge by management of the occurrence of an act of misconduct. To this end, the Secret Service provides its workforce a number of internal avenues to report misconduct including the Secret Service's Ombudsman, the Secret Service's Office of Professional Responsibility, the Secret Service's Inspection Division, the Secret Service's Inspection Hotline, the Secret Service's ITG, and externally through the DHS OIG, the DHS OIG Hotline, or the Office of Special Counsel. Additionally, on March 23, 2014, Director Clancy notified all employees that they are required to report incidents of misconduct that became known to them as soon as practicable but no later than at the conclusion of each employee's tour of