Federal Employees

Here we examine the rights available to federal civil servants.  Note that separate rules apply to the uniformed military and those working in the intelligence community.

The principal statute examined is the federal Whistleblower Protection Act which is administered by both the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and Merit System Protection Board whose respective roles are outlined below.

Also, each major federal agency has its own Office of Inspector General which exercises broad oversight – but no direct operational authority – over agency operations.

In addition, most federal scientists are now covered by Scientific Integrity policies whose provisions vary from agency to agency.  These Scientific Integrity policies are broken down here. 

Finally, we offer a Science Legal Resources Center devoted to laws and rule affecting scientists and scientific work products.