Survey of Appeal and Grievance Systems Available to Federal Employees

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the various appeal and grievance systems available to Federal employees, including: (1) whether consolidation of existing systems would save time and money; (2) whether some systems are more effective than others; and (3) how employees perceive their rights under different systems.

GAO found no strong evidence that consolidating existing systems would result in significant savings of time or money. Further, the systems were established to serve specific needs, and nothing suggested that these needs no longer exist. Although the systems are not problem-free, most problems might best be addressed within the individual systems themselves. GAO noted that, since employee grievances result from systemic rather than structural problems, information on employee perceptions of individual systems was not generally available.