Pentagon takes steps to fire civilian workers with 'speed and conviction'

A day before the federal government shut down this month, a senior Pentagon official signed a memo that could make it easier for the Defense Department to fire employees.

In the Sept. 30 memo, titled “ Separation of Employees with Unacceptable Performance ,” Anthony Tata, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, outlined new guidelines that directed supervisors and human resources personnel to “act with speed and conviction” to facilitate separating poor-performing employees from the Defense Department.

"Supervisors will work with HR to issue the written notice of proposed removal detailing specific performance deficiencies and consistent failures of an employee to meet quality standards, deadlines, or productivity targets," the memo says.

The Washington Post first