Performance Appraisals: Federal

Author: Christine Zebrowski, Overbrook Law LLC

Summary

• Performance appraisals provide an opportunity for employees and supervisors to discuss individual work objectives and progress toward goals, as well as possible career opportunities at the organization. See Performance Appraisals as Development Opportunities.
• Employers can choose from a number of approaches in conducting performance appraisals. See Varying Approaches in Appraising Employee Performance.
• Performance appraisals can be a first step in outlining a performance improvement plan (PIP) if needed or can be used to reward high performing employees. See Defining Areas of Improvement; Structuring Improvement: Performance Improvement Plans and Action Plans.
• The most effective performance appraisals simply review a yearlong documented conversation with employees about performance and goals. See Documenting Performance Reviews.
• Employers must review any potential legal issues in advance and plan accordingly. See The Art of Communicating a Performance Review; The Process of Performance Appraisals; Liability Considerations When Using 360 Degree Performance Evaluations; Employer Liability Regarding Performance Appraisals.
• Employers can guard against charges of discrimination in conducting performance appraisals by ensuring the integrity of the process. See Performance Appraisals and Discrimination.
• Organizations use merit pay increases to recognize outstanding performance and to motivate others to improve productivity. See Performance and Merit Pay Increases.