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U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
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    Merit System Principles
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    Search & Site Index Merit System Principle 7:  Training
	"Employees should be provided  effective education and training in cases in which such education and training  would result in better organizational and individual performance."
	**What is the intent behind the   seventh Merit System Principle?**
		The Civil Service Reform Act of   1978 (Reform Act) which codified the nine Merit System Principles, including   this training imperative, was enacted to create “a civil service that is worthy   of the public and its confidence:  One in which hiring, promotion, and pay are   truly based on merit and one in which those who cannot or will not perform their   jobs well will not perform at all for the Federal Government.”  Remarks of   Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff, II House Committee on Post Office and Civil   Service, 95th Cong. 1st Sess., Legislative History of the Civil Service Reform   Act of 1978 at 1606 (1979).  In furtherance of the accountability inherent in   this vision, this training imperative is designed to ensure that employees   receive the training they need to perform their jobs; that training plans are   integrated into organizations’ overall strategic plans; and that funds are   available to accomplish necessary training.  As jobs evolve, agencies should   invest in the training necessary to assure their employees possess the skills to   adapt and excel—even, and perhaps especially, in hard budgetary times.  By   including training as a Merit System Principle, Congress sought to better assure   that employees, who are to be held more strictly accountable for their   performance than in the past, are properly trained to achieve successful   performance.
    **What is the Merit Systems   Protection Board’s (MSPB) adjudicatory role in training matters?**
      When adjudicating an employee’s   removal or demotion for performance deficiencies, the Board may be called upon   to determine a claim that the action violated this Merit System Principle.  However, the Board lacks authority to examine  independent claims of the denial or inadequacy of training because alleged  violations of the merit system principles are not, alone, appealable to the  Board.
    **Are there decisions from the   MSPB relating to the seventh Merit System Principle?**
      The Board set forth the   analytical framework for determining whether an agency has violated the seventh   Merit System Principle in *Wright v. FAA*, 40 MSPR   355, 360-62 (1989), a decision involving a developmental air traffic controller   in an established “up or out” training course:
    A literal reading of 5 USC 2301(b)(7) suggests that “effective training” is   designed to advance two interests:  the overall performance of the organization   and the employee’s individual performance.  While an agency’s training program   should ideally promote both interests to the maximum extent, it would be a rare   case in which an employee could not show that additional or different training   might have led to some improvement in her performance, even though at a   prohibited cost to the agency, considering the benefit derived.  To allow   employees to determine the extent and nature of the training to which they are   entitled would ignore the paramount interest of agencies in setting goals and   priorities and in allocating funds accordingly.  Yet this is essentially what   the AJ did in this case, by reversing the appellant’s removal based on his   finding that the agency failed to provide her with training that “would have   helped [her] to improve her performance.”  In doing so, he failed to consider   whether providing appellant with such training would have also served the   agency’s interest in promoting better organizational performance.
      We hold that, in order to establish   a 2301(b)(7) violation, an employee must show that she did not receive at least   the minimum training reasonably calculated to give her the skills and knowledge   required to do the job; that additional or different training would have   provided those skills; and that such training could have been provided in a   cost-effective manner in light of the agency’s mission and its need to apportion   limited resources among its numerous programs and objectives.  Agencies must   have the freedom to establish their priorities within the confines of budgetary   restrictions, and the Board must give maximum deference to such managerial   decisions.  Thus the Board will find a violation of 2301(b)(7) only when an   appellant can show that, with respect to her training, the agency’s action   amounted to an abuse of discretion.
    Subsequent Board decisions have   referenced *Wright* and this abuse of discretion standard, though *Wright* itself was reversed because of the Board’s misapplication of the   burdens of proof to the specific facts in that case.  900 F.2d 1541.
    **Has the MSPB studied the issue of training?**
In February 2011, the MSPB issued a report titled: Making the Right Connections: Targeting the Best Competencies for Training. The report discusses trends in agency training practices and makes recommendations to encourage agencies to use their training resources most efficiently.
    **Has the Office of Personnel   Management (OPM) issued any guidance to help agencies comply with the seventh   Merit System Principle?**
      The OPM maintains a Training and Development Policywebsite replete with training information and resources.    It contains guidance, fact sheets, and relevant regulations.


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