Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service
Record date: 2025-04-29
Executive Order 14284 of April 24, 2025 Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 3301 and 3302 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Purpose. The American people deserve a Federal workforce that is high-quality, efficient, dedicated to the public interest, and no larger than necessary. Probationary periods (for employees in the competitive service) and trial periods (for employees in the excepted
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2025-07469
- Publication date
- 2025-04-29
- Citation
- 90 FR 17729
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
Executive Order 14284 of April 24, 2025 Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 3301 and 3302 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Purpose. The American people deserve a Federal workforce that is high-quality, efficient, dedicated to the public interest, and no larger than necessary. Probationary periods (for employees in the competitive service) and trial periods (for employees in the excepted service) have provided a longstanding critical tool to assess the fitness of newly hired Federal employees before finalizing their appointments to Federal service. The Government Accountability Office has documented, however, that agencies have not been using probationary and trial periods as effectively as they could to remove appointees whose continued employment is not in the public interest. As a result of this failure to remove poor performers, agencies have often retained and given tenure to underperforming employees who should have been screened out during their probationary period. Conditions of good administration require that agency approval should be required before probationary employees become tenured Federal employees. As the Merit Systems Protection Board recommended in its 2005 report The Probationary Period: A Critical Assessment Opportunity, there should be “procedures so that a probationer does not automatically become an employee in the absence of agency action.” And in the absence of agency certification that the probationer will be an asset to the Government, “the probationer's employment should automatically terminate upon the expiration of the probationary period.” This order directs this commonsense change. Further, the regulations at subpart H of part 315 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations , which purport to limit agency action with respect to employees serving a probationary period, are not statutorily required, place undue burdens on agencies in terminating probationary employees, and deter managers from undertaking that effort. To ensure that agencies make better use of probationary and trial periods, this order issues a new Civil Service Rule XI that will supersede subpart H. Under Civil Service Rule XI, agencies will have to affirmatively determine that the continued employment of individuals serving probationary or trial periods would benefit the Federal service before such appointments are finalized. Sec. 2 . Repeal of Civil Service Rule 2.4. Civil Service Rule II is amended by removing section 2.4 of part 2 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations . Sec. 3 . Civil Service Rule XI. A new Civil Service Rule XI is added following Civil Service Rule X, to read as follows: “PART 11—PROBATIONARY AND TRIAL PERIODS (RULE XI) Sec. 11.1 Scope 11.2 Probationary Period; When Required 11.3 Trial Period; When Required 11.4 Crediting Service 11.5 Completion of Probationary or Trial Period ( printed page 17730) 11.6 Appeals § 11.1 Scope This rule applies to probationary periods in the competitive service and trial periods in the excepted service, except where provided otherwise by statute. It has no application to probationary periods in the Senior Executive Service. § 11.2 Probationary Period; When Required (a) The first year of service of an employee who is given a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service under the Civil Service Regulations is a probationary period when the employee: (1) Was appointed from a competitive list of eligibles. (2) Was reinstated (including reinstatement from a Reinstatement Priority List), unless during any period of service that affords a current basis for reinstatement the employee completed a probationary period of at least 1 year or served with competitive status under an appointment that did not require a probationary period; provided that the date of reinstatement begins a new 12-month probationary period if one is required under paragraph (a) of this section. (b) A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned in accordance with the Civil Service Regulations before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position. (c) Upon noncompetitive appointment to the competitive service under the Postal Reorganization Act ( 39 U.S.C. 101 et seq. ), an employee of the Postal Career Service (including a
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