(b) The principal functions of the Board's headquarters offices are as follows: (1) Office of the Administrative Law Judge and Regional Operations. The Administrative Law Judge hears Hatch Act cases, disciplinary and corrective action complaints brought by the Special Counsel, actions against administrative law judges, appeals of actions taken against MSPB employees, and other cases that the Board assigns. The office also manages the appellate functions of the MSPB regional and field offices. (2) Office of Appeals Counsel. The Director, Office of Appeals Counsel, prepares proposed decisions that recommend appropriate action by the Board in petition for review cases and other cases assigned by the Board. (3) Office of the Clerk of the Board. The Clerk of the Board enters petitions for review and original jurisdiction cases onto the Board's docket and monitors their processing. The Clerk of the Board also does the following: (i) Gives information on the status of cases; (ii) Manages the Board's records, reports, and correspondence style and control programs; and (iii) Answers requests under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts at the Board's headquarters. (4) Office of the General Counsel. The General Counsel provides legal advice to the Board and its headquarters and regional offices, represents the Board in court proceedings, coordinates legislative policy and performs congressional liaison, coordinates the Board's public affairs function, and plans and directs audits and investigations. (5) Office of Policy and Evaluation. The Director, Policy and Evaluation, conducts special reviews and studies of Federal merit systems, including reviews of the significant actions of the Office of Personnel Management. (6) Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. The Director, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, manages the Board's equal employment programs. (7) Office of Planning and Resource Management Services. The Director, Office of Planning and Resource Management Services, develops and coordinates internal management programs and projects, conducts agencywide management reviews, and manages the Board's three administrative divisions: Financial and Administrative Management; Information Resources Management; and Human Resources Management. (c) Regional and Field Offices. The Board has six regional offices and five field offices located throughout the country (See Appendix II to 5 CFR part 1201 for a list of the regional and field offices). The regional and field offices enter initial appeals onto their dockets and decide these cases as provided for in the Board's regulations. [59 FR 65233, Dec. 19, 1994] 1201.172 Organization of Special Panel; designation of members. 1201.173 Practices and procedures of Special Panel. 1201.174 Enforcing the Special Panel decision. 1201.175 Judicial review of cases decided under 5 U.S.C. 7702. Subpart F-Enforcement of Final Decisions and Orders 1201.181 Authority and explanation. 1201.182 Petition for enforcement. 1201.183 Procedures for processing petitions for enforcement. Subpart G-Savings Provisions 1201.191 Savings provisions. APPENDIX III TO PART 1201-APPROVED HEAR- AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 1204, and 7701 unless otherwise noted. SOURCE: 54 FR 53504, Dec. 29, 1989, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A-Jurisdiction and Definitions § 1201.1 General. The Board has two types of jurisdiction, original and appellate. § 1201.2 Original jurisdiction. The Board's original jurisdiction includes the following cases: (a) Actions brought by the Special Counsel; (b) Requests, by persons removed from the Senior Executive Service for performance deficiencies, for informal hearings; and (c) Actions taken against administrative law judges under 5 U.S.C. 7521. § 1201.3 Appellate jurisdiction. (a) Generally. The Board has jurisdiction over appeals from agency actions when the appeals are authorized by law, rule, or regulation. These include appeals from the following actions: (1) Reduction in grade or removal for unacceptable performance (5 CFR part 432; 5 U.S.C. 4303(e)); (2) Removal, reduction in grade or pay, suspension for more than 14 days, or furlough for 30 days or less for cause that will promote the efficiency of the service. (5 CFR part 752, subparts C and D; 5 U.S.C. 7512); (3) Removal, or suspension for more than 14 days, of a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service (5 CFR part 752, subparts E and F; 5 U.S.C. 7541-7543); (4) Reduction-in-force action affecting a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service (5 U.S.C. 3595); (5) Reconsideration decision sustaining a negative determination of competence for a general schedule employee (5 CFR 531.410; 5 U.S.C. 5335(c)); (6) Determinations affecting the rights or interests of an individual or of the United States under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (5 CFR parts 831, 842, and 844; 5 U.S.C. 8347(d)(1)–(2) and 8461 (e)(1)); (7) Disqualification of an employee or applicant because of a suitability determination (5 CFR 731.103(d) and 731.501); (8) Termination of employment during probation or the first year of a veterans readjustment appointment when: (i) The employee alleges discrimination because of partisan political reasons or marital status; or (ii) The termination was based on conditions arising before appointment and the employee alleges that the action is procedurally improper (5 CFR 315.806, 38 U.S.C. 4214(b)(1)(E)); (9) Termination of appointment during a managerial or supervisory probationary period when the employee alleges discrimination because of partisan political affiliation or marital status (5 CFR 315.908(b)); (10) Separation, demotion, or furlough for more than 30 days, when the action was effected because of a reduction in force (5 CFR 351.901); (11) Furlough of a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service (5 CFR 359.805); (12) Failure to restore a former employee to employment following military service, or following partial or full recovery from a compensable injury (38 U.S.C. 4324, 5 CFR 353.211 and 304); (13) Employment of another applicant when the person who wishes to appeal to the Board is entitled to priority employment consideration after a reduction-in-force action, or after partial or full recovery from a compensable injury (5 CFR 302.501, 5 CFR 330.209); (14) Failure to reinstate a former employee after service under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (5 CFR 352.508); (15) Failure to re-employ a former employee after movement between executive agencies during an emergency (5 CFR 352.209); (16) Failure to re-employ a former employee after detail or transfer to an international organization (5 CFR 352.313); (17) Failure to re-employ a former employee after service under the Indian Self-Determination Act (5 CFR 352.707); (18) Failure to re-employ a former employee after service under the Taiwan Relations Act (5 CFR 352.807); (19) Employment practices administered by the Office of Personnel Management to examine and evaluate the qualifications of applicants for appointment in the competitive service (5 CFR 300.104); and (20) Removal of a career appointee from the Senior Executive Service for failure to be recertified (5 U.S.C. 3592(a)(3), 5 CFR 359.304). (21) Reduction-in-force action affecting a career or career candidate appointee in the Foreign Service (Pub. L. 103-236, sec. 181(a)(2), to be codified at 22 U.S.C. 4011). (b) Appeals involving an allegation that the action was based on appellant's "whistleblowing." Appeals of actions appealable to the Board under any law, rule, or regulation, in which the appellant alleges that the action was taken because of the appellant's "whistleblowing" [a violation of the prohibited personnel practice described in 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(8)), are governed by part 1209 of this title. The provisions of subparts B, C, E, F, and G of part 1201 apply to appeals and stay requests governed by part 1209 unless other specific provisions are made in that part. (c) Limitations on appellate jurisdiction, collective bargaining agreements, and election of procedures: (1) For an employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement under 5 U.S.C. 7121, the negotiated grievance procedures contained in the agreement are the exclusive procedures for resolving any action that could otherwise be appealed to the Board, with the following exceptions: (i) An appealable action involving discrimination under 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1), reduction in grade or removal under 5 U.S.C. 4303, or adverse action under 5 U.S.C. 7512, may be raised under the Board's appellate procedures, or under the negotiated grievance procedures, but not under both; (ii) Any appealable action that is excluded from the application of the negotiated grievance procedures may be raised only under the Board's appellate procedures. (2) Choice of procedure. When an employee has an option of pursuing an action under the Board's appeal procedures or under negotiated grievance procedures, the Board considers the choice between those procedures to have been made when the employee timely files an appeal with the Board or timely files a written grievance, whichever event occurs first. (3) Review of discrimination grievances. If an employee chooses the negotiated grievance procedure under paragraph (c)(2) of this section and alleges discrimination as described at 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1), then the employee, after having obtained a final decision under the negotiated grievance procedure, may ask the Board to review that final decision. The request must be filed with the Clerk of the Board in accordance with §1201.154. [54 FR 53504, Dec. 29, 1989, as amended at 56 FR 41748, Aug. 23, 1991; 59 FR 65235, Dec. 19, 1994; 61 FR 1, Jan. 2, 1996] § 1201.4 General definitions. (a) Judge. Any person authorized by the Board to hold a hearing or to decide a case without a hearing, including an attorney-examiner, an administrative judge, an administrative law judge, the Board, or any member of the Board. (b) Pleading. Written submission setting out claims, allegations, arguments, or evidence. Pleadings include briefs, motions, petitions, attachments, and responses. (c) Motion. A request that a judge take a particular action. (d) Appropriate regional or field office. The regional or field office of the Board that has jurisdiction over the area where the appellant's duty station was located when the agency took the action. Appeals of Office of Personnel Management reconsideration decisions concerning retirement benefits, and appeals of adverse suitability determinations under 5 CFR part 731, must be filed with the regional or field office that has jurisdiction over the area where the appellant lives. Appendix II of these regulations lists the geographic areas over which each of the Board's regional and field offices has jurisdiction. Appeals, however, may be transferred from one regional or field office to another. (e) Party. A person, an agency, or an intervenor, who is participating in a Board proceeding. This term applies to the Office of Personnel Management and to the Office of Special Counsel when those organizations are participating in a Board proceeding. (f) Appeal. A request for review of an agency action. (g) Petition for review. A request for review of an initial decision of a judge. (h) Day. Calendar day. (i) Service. The process of furnishing a copy of any pleading to Board officials, other parties, or both, either by mail, by facsimile, by personal delivery, or by commercial overnight delivery. (j) Date of service. The date on which documents are served on other parties. (k) Certificate of Service. A document certifying that a party has served copies of pleadings on the other parties. (1) Date of filing. A document that is filed with a Board office by personal delivery is considered filed on the date on which the Board office receives it. The date of filing by facsimile is the date of the facsimile. The date of filing by mail is determined by the postmark date; if no legible postmark date appears on the mailing, the submission is presumed to have been mailed five days (excluding days on which the Board is closed for business) before its receipt. The date of filing by commercial overnight delivery is the date the document was delivered to the commercial overnight delivery service. [54 FR 53504, Dec. 29, 1989, as amended at 58 FR 36345, July 7, 1993; 59 FR 65235, Dec. 19, 1994] Subpart B-Procedures for Appellate Cases GENERAL § 1201.11 Scope and policy. The regulations in this subpart apply to Board appellate proceedings except as otherwise provided in §1201.13. The regulations in this subpart apply also to appellate proceedings and stay requests covered by part 1209 unless other specific provisions are made in that part. These regulations also apply to original jurisdiction proceedings of the Board except as otherwise provided in subpart D. It is the Board's policy that these rules will be applied in a manner that expedites the processing of each case, with due regard to the rights of all parties. § 1201.12 Revocation, amendment, or waiver of rules. The Board may revoke, amend, or waive any of these regulations. A judge may, for good cause shown, waive a Board regulation unless a statute requires application of the regulation. The judge must give notice of the waiver to all parties, but is not required to give the parties an opportunity to respond. § 1201.13 Appeals by Board employees. Appeals by Board employees will be filed with the Clerk of the Board and will be assigned to an administrative law judge for adjudication under this subchapter. The Board's policy is to insulate the adjudication of its own employees' appeals from agency involvement as much as possible. Accordingly, the Board will not disturb initial decisions in those cases unless the party shows that there has been harmful procedural irregularity in the proceedings before the administrative law judge or a clear error of law. In addition, the Board, as a matter of policy, will not |