Probationary Removal, Accommodation, and a Due Within-Grade Increase
You are the civilian personnel officer for a 140-person directorate. A GS-7 supply technician is 11 months into a 12-month probationary period. She has missed three of the last eight suspense deadlines and has two substantiated customer complaints. The supervisor's log lists the missed deadlines as 12, 19, and 26 September and the complaints as filed in July and October, but contains no performance expectations, counseling notes, or employee responses. The supervisor wants to remove her before probation ends and has a draft termination notice. The same week, the employee submits a six-week schedule-adjustment request for a medical condition with a doctor's note. Her within-grade increase is due in 45 days. The directorate has no local accommodation procedure beyond the agency's general policy. You have one HR assistant and no on-site attorney; legal is available by phone. The director asks for a recommendation by Friday.
1. The supervisor says probationary employees can be removed for any reason and wants the notice signed Friday. What do you advise?
Read the worked answer
I would advise the director not to sign the notice as drafted. Probationary removal is generally easier than adverse action, but it is not 'any reason' in the sense of no reason: the agency still needs a legitimate, documented basis, and it must not act because of the accommodation request or a protected characteristic.
Problems with the current record:
- The log has dates but no performance standard, no notice of the deficiency, and no employee response.
- The last documented discussion was eight months ago; the employee has not had a fair chance to correct.
- The termination would land days after the accommodation request, creating a retaliation appearance.
Recommendation: hold the notice. Have the supervisor issue a specific expectations memo covering the next three suspense cycles, with review dates and consequences; document the two complaints and any customer impact; contact legal and employee relations before any action. If the performance record is still insufficient at the end of probation, the agency may have other options, but it should not rely on a bare log. Also confirm whether the probationary period can be extended under agency policy rather than assumed.
2. How should the accommodation request be processed, and what effect, if any, does it have on the within-grade increase?
Read the worked answer
Treat the accommodation and the performance issue as related in timing but separate in analysis.
Accommodation:
- Acknowledge the request in writing within one business day and open the interactive process.
- Ask only for documentation limited to the functional limitation and need; do not request the entire medical record.
- Consider the six-week schedule adjustment as a temporary accommodation; determine whether it addresses the limitation and whether it would remove an essential function.
- Document the decision and any alternatives; keep medical information in a confidential file.
- Do not tell the team the reason; tell them only what they need to know about coverage.
Within-grade increase:
- The WGI is governed by the applicable pay rules and the employee's most recent rating of record and any adverse action; a temporary accommodation does not itself disqualify her.
- If the supervisor intends to deny the WGI for unacceptable performance, the file must meet the applicable standard and the employee must receive the required notice. A denial issued now, with this record, would be vulnerable.
- Decide the WGI on the performance evidence, not on the accommodation request or the supervisor's frustration.
Coordinate with legal and HR before communicating either decision.
3. Draft the key points of the memo you would give the director by Friday.
Read the worked answer
The memo should be short, decision-focused, and risk-aware.
Recommendation: Do not sign the probationary termination notice this week. Direct a documented performance intervention and process the accommodation request separately.
Basis: The current log lacks standards, notice, and employee response; the last discussion was eight months ago; the action would closely follow a medical accommodation request.
Actions and owners:
- Supervisor: issue an expectations memo by Tuesday covering the next three suspense cycles, with review dates and consequences; copy HR.
- HR: acknowledge the accommodation request within one business day, begin the interactive process, and document the schedule decision.
- HR and legal: review the draft notice and the WGI file before any action; determine whether probation may be extended.
- Director: decide the WGI on the documented performance record at least 30 days before the due date.
Risk if we proceed as drafted: a retaliation or procedural challenge, reversal, and damage to the supervisor's credibility.
Decision requested: approve the hold and the 30-day intervention plan.