As shown in table 1, the percentages varied among the practitioner groups. Although headquarters met its guideline less often than the regional offices met theirs, its processing time had been improving until fiscal year 1994. MSPB has established an EEO policy and has taken various actions to implement it. Despite the provisions MSPB has made to protect its employees against workplace discrimination, mismanagement, abuse, and improper personnel practices, a sizeable portion of survey respondents indicated concerns about becoming involved in the processes established for handling EEO complaints and for reporting wrongdoing. Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents expressed the belief that MSPB has been very successful or generally successful in fostering an environment of trust, respect, and fairness. Nearly half (45 percent) of MSPB employees responding to our survey—including many who felt that MSPB has been successful in promoting an environment of trust, respect, and fairness—suggested actions for MSPB top management to take in this regard. Merit Systems Protection Board

The questionnaire can be completed in about 20 minutes. 4. Regional level (120 days) b. N=5 4. 7. 29. Scope and Methodology

	MSPB’s Appeals Process

To assess whether MSPB is accomplishing its statutory mission through the appeals process in a fair and timely manner, we (1) developed a questionnaire and mailed it in April 1994 to individuals who had experience as practitioners with MSPB’s process for adjudicating federal employees’ appeals of agency personnel actions during the 2-year period ending September 1993; (2) analyzed its case processing performance reports to determine whether MSPB abided by its own guidelines in processing cases during fiscal years 1991 through 1994 at the regional and headquarters levels; and (3) analyzed data on the extent to which MSPB’s final decisions were appealed to and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit during fiscal years 1991 through 1994. MSPB’s Accountability Mechanisms

To determine what accountability mechanisms MSPB had in place to provide its employees the merit system protections that MSPB was created to uphold, we reviewed the agency’s EEO and internal oversight activities designed to protect its employees against workplace discrimination, mismanagement, abuse, and improper personnel practices.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Merit Systems Protection Board's (MSPB) performance, management, and operations, focusing on: (1) whether the MSPB appeals process is effectively protecting federal employees against improper personnel practices; (2) the accountability mechanisms MSPB has in place to provide its employees with merit system protections; and (3) the actions MSPB has taken to foster an environment of trust, respect, and fairness.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) the practitioner groups surveyed generally felt that MSPB has been fair in processing employee appeals of agency personnel actions and MSPB is accomplishing its statutory mission; (2) during the 4-year period ending September 1994, 91 percent of the final MSPB decisions appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals were upheld; (3) MSPB regional offices met their 120-day case processing guideline 96 percent of the time during the same period, while MSPB headquarters met its 110-day guideline 61 percent of the time; (4) the differences in the timeliness in processing appeals has been due to the complexity of headquarters' cases; (5) MSPB has established accountability mechanisms and an equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy to protect its employees against workplace discrimination, mismanagement, abuse, and improper personnel practices; (6) two-fifths of MSPB employees surveyed said they would be reluctant to become involved in the processing of EEO complaints; and (7) although MSPB has taken a variety of actions to foster an environment of trust, respect, and fairness, only 29 percent of survey respondents felt that MSPB has been successful.