Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

MSPB Sunshine Act Meeting

"It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that the public is entitled to the fullest practicable information regarding the decisionmaking processes of the Federal Government." P. L. 94-409, Section 2

The Government in the Sunshine Act (P. L. 94-409, 90 Stat. 1241) requires that meetings of agencies headed by a collegial body composed of two or more individual members-a majority of whom are appointed to such position by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate-must be open to public observation. In fact, every portion of every meeting of an agency, in which the Members dispose of agency business, shall be open to public observation, unless otherwise provided for in the Act.

On Tuesday, September 16, 2014, MSPB held a Sunshine Act Meeting at the National Courts Building in Washington, DC.  During the meeting, Members discussed the proposed MSPB Research Agenda for 2015-2018 (link below).  The public was invited to attend this meeting and had an opportunity to submit comments regarding the proposed Agenda prior to October 16, 2014.

The MSPB has statutory responsibility to conduct objective, non-partisan studies that assess and evaluate Federal merit systems policies, operations, and practices.  See 5 U.S.C. 1204(a)(3).  These Government-wide studies take a long-term perspective on merit and management of the Federal workforce and provide recommendations to the President, Congress, and Federal agencies on how to manage Federal employees in a way that is both principled and effective.

The MSPB Office of Policy and Evaluation’s studies function complements MSPB's adjudication of individual appeals and authority to review regulations of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  As Chairman Susan Tsui Grundmann stated, "The new research agenda supports MSPB in its role as guardian of Federal merit systems.  The agenda addresses both continuing imperatives, such as achieving a workforce free of prohibited personnel practices, and contemporary issues, such as making the best possible use of advances in technology and the impact of policy changes on the Federal workforce." 

The final research topics have been organized into six broad areas of related research, as shown below, and a full description of these topics and a description of how the agenda was developed are available in the MSPB’s Finalized Research Agenda for 2015-2018.

    1. Defending Merit
    2. Recruitment and Hiring
    3. Pay and Performance Management
    4. Supervision and Leadership
    5. Building an Effective Workforce
    6. Focus on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management