Civil Service Discipline and Application of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

In 1978, Congress passed the Civil Service Reform Act (the Act), which contains detailed and complex provisions regarding the standards and procedures to be applied in federal civil service disciplinary proceedings. The Act also addresses the distribution of duties and powers among the federal agencies that assumed the functions of the former Civil Service Commission, emphasizing the responsibilities of the Merit Systems Protection Board (the Board) as an adjudicatory agency responsible for reviewing agency disciplinary actions.