Informal Grievance Template for Adverse Personnel Actions

There is a limited amount of time to oppose personnel actions. Time is short.

If you have been placed on administrative leave due to the OPM memo on DEIA positions, or have otherwise faced negative administrative actions, you still retain the ability to fight back. But time is limited, so here’s what you should consider doing right now.

In order to preserve your options, you *must* respond in a timely manner through your agency’s grievance process. While each agency has its own defined processes, the first step for almost every federal employee is basically the same: Within 15 days, you must submit an informal grievance to your supervisor or the government officer who specifically placed you in this situation. This action will start a clock for the government to respond, and enable you to file a formal grievance or take further administrative and/or legal action if that becomes necessary.

Note: If you were notified on 22 January, your 15 days to respond will expire on 6 February - this coming Thursday.

Before we go any further, a couple of important notes:

First, members of unions or bargaining units may have their own processes. If this is you, please defer to them and contact your union rep on how to proceed.

Second, this is provided for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice. The information provided herein should not be relied upon without consulting with a qualified attorney regarding your specific situation. No attorney-client relationship is created by this communication.

While an informal grievance can be initiated verbally, it’s always a good plan to have a written record. With that in mind, here’s a sample template that you can revise to fit your specific situation and your agency’s standard procedures. There are things you’ll need to fill in for your specific agency.

Dear (name of superior – must be someone who is not also on admin leave):

I am submitting this informal grievance per (your agency’s dispute resolution/informal grievance guidelines. If you are unable to find them, substitute “I am submitting this per the informal grievance process”).

On 22 January 2025 (or the date you were notified), I was notified by (name the person; was it verbally, by email, in writing) that I would be placed on administrative leave by the end of the work day. (“No further reason was given for this action.” -OR- “The reason stated for this action was ___.”)

(If applicable) My access to the ____ network and work email was terminated at the end of the work day, leaving me without further instructions, and cut off from all official modes of communication with my office and supervisors.

I believe these actions violated my rights as a federal civil servant in the following ways:

• (If applicable) My position and office should not have been included in this action, taken in response to a Presidential Directive, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (January 21, 2025) which was explicitly directed towards employees in DEIA positions.

• Per my position description, my duties are: “XXX”

• I have no direct roles in policy making, training, hiring, conflict resolution, discipline, or any other functions associated with DEIA initiatives.

• (If applicable) Placing me on administrative leave, without any further instructions, and removing my access to normal channels of communication available to every (agency) employee, violates my rights under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 by hindering my ability to contact my supervisor, an ombudsman, or anyone at (agency); or to file a grievance in a timely manner.

• (If applicable, note any other violations here)

(Here, you can choose to make a demand, or not, depending on how you feel about that. Something like: “To rectify these violations, I am proposing an immediate return to my previous duties in a paid status, and a halt to any further job actions under OPM Memorandum, “Guidance Regarding RIFs of DEIA Offices” January 24, 2025.” Or you can leave this out if you don’t have specific demands.)

Per the (agency dispute guidelines), please provide a response to this grievance within (number of days varies, consult your agency guidelines, or write “10”) days of your receipt of this notice.

As ever, I remain eager to discuss the way forward on these issues at your earliest convenience, you can reach me by replying to this email, or at xxx-xxx-xxxxx

Sincerely,

//signed//

Again, I’m not a lawyer dishing out legal advice, just someone who has been in this position speaking from personal experience. Please also make sure you have all your employment paperwork, performance evaluations (if they’ve taken that site down, see if you have copies from your supervisor in your inbox and make sure they’re signed), SF-50s, your current resume, your employee file, and any emails and memos you received about your position. I also recommend keeping contemporaneous notes about everything that is happened. The more documentation you have, the better.

As always, if you receive something you want to amplify but also want to remain anonymous, you can reach us at fedoath@pm.me or on signal at muellershewrote.23.

Finally, I’m so sorry this is happening. I know the stress can be debilitating. Anyone having a mental health crisis can call or text 988 to be connected to live support, 24/7, including separate lines for veterans, Spanish, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, American Indian and Alaskan Native, and ASL.

~AG

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