Excessive Leave in the Federal Workplace: Disciplining Employees, Proving Charges Before the MSPB

The Merit Systems Protection Board has long held that your agency does not have to tolerate unauthorized absences or even authorized extended absences if they impact the efficiency of the service. But you do have to handle these situations just the right way so your actions aren’t overturned.

Find out how from renowned HR and employee leave expert Marilyn Mattingly. For 90 minutes, she’ll focus exclusively on showing you how to properly charge discipline for the various situations involving leave abuse. You’ll learn:

• Criteria for using the excessive absence charge and cases in which it has been successful
• Various reasons for removing an employee for “medical inability to perform” and the consequences of losing a case
• The basis for removing an employee for inability to maintain a regular work schedule or for irregular attendance
• Different actions which can be taken for sporadic or excessive absenteeism due to medical reasons
• How to deal with reasonable accommodation issues in relation to the different charges and defend against allegations of disability discrimination

      Plus, Ms. Mattingly will discuss McCauley v. Department of Interior and how this recent MSPB ruling overturns decades of case precedent involving excessive leave and how the excessive absence charge can be used now. And because Ms. Mattingly links her practical guidance to specific cases, you have support for your actions and can explain why they are correct — leading to fewer reversals by the MSPB.

This event is an audio conference and can be accessed from the comfort of your office or conference room. Audio Conference registrants will receive an e-mail a few days before the event with complete instructions on how to participate. You'll be given a unique Event I.D. and PIN that entitles you to a single phone-line connection to access the audio portion of the event. The instructions also will include steps to retrieve the speaker's hand-outs.