Workplace Rights and Protections Flashcards
6 cards from real Civil Service FAQ practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Workplace Rights and Protections flashcards as text
What protection does the Civil Service Reform Act's prohibition on prohibited personnel practices provide regarding political affiliation?
Answer: Agencies may not make personnel decisions based on an employee's partisan political affiliation or political conduct
5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(1)(E) prohibits taking or failing to take a personnel action based on an employee's political affiliation. This ensures career civil servants are not hired, fired, promoted, or demoted because of their partisan politics.
Which organization negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of federal employees in the executive branch?
Answer: Exclusive representatives (recognized unions) for bargaining units in individual agencies
Federal collective bargaining agreements are negotiated between individual agencies (or their subdivisions) and the exclusive representative — the union that won a representation election — for each recognized bargaining unit, under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.
What is 'constructive discharge' in the context of federal employment discrimination law?
Answer: When an employer makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable employee feels compelled to resign
Constructive discharge occurs when an employer — motivated by discriminatory intent — deliberately makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's position would feel compelled to resign. Courts treat such a resignation as tantamount to a termination.
Under the No FEAR Act (Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002), what must federal agencies do?
Answer: Pay discrimination judgments from agency operating budgets rather than a central judgment fund, and report EEO and whistleblower data publicly
The No FEAR Act requires agencies to reimburse the Judgment Fund from agency budgets when they lose discrimination or whistleblower retaliation cases, creating a financial incentive to prevent discrimination. It also requires public posting of statistical EEO and whistleblower data.
What right does a federal employee in a bargaining unit have under the 'Weingarten rights' doctrine?
Answer: The right to union representation at any investigatory interview the employee reasonably believes could lead to disciplinary action
Under the federal sector equivalent of Weingarten rights, a bargaining unit employee has the right to request union representation at any investigatory interview that the employee reasonably believes could lead to disciplinary action against them.
Under federal EEO law, which of the following constitutes 'quid pro quo' sexual harassment?
Answer: A supervisor conditioning a tangible employment benefit — such as a promotion or continued employment — on the employee's submission to sexual conduct
Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when a supervisor or other authority figure conditions a tangible employment benefit (hiring, promotion, favorable assignment, avoiding termination) on the employee's submission to or rejection of sexual advances or conduct.