AFSA’s Stance on Department of State’s DEIA Core Precept Changes

On March 19, the Department of State issued an ALDAC titled “2024-2025 Updated Foreign Service Employee Evaluation Report (EER) Guidance: DEIA Core Precept Eliminated,” unilaterally eliminating an entire core precept at the end of the rating cycle without AFSA’s concurrence, in violation of the department’s collective bargaining agreement. We disagree with this unilateral action and will challenge it to hold the department accountable.

As has been done every three years for decades, in November 2021, AFSA and the department negotiated and agreed to the 2022 – 2025 core precepts. Foreign Service members drafted EERs, worked with their supervisors to establish job duties, and sought assignments that best met what they were told would be the basis for their evaluation and promotion.

When a new administration takes office, it has the authority to set federal workplace policies, including those related to hiring and performance evaluations. The incoming administration exercised this authority through executive orders addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The executive orders, however, did not create any legal obligation for AFSA to renegotiate the agreed-upon 2022-2025 core precepts.

In recognition of the administration’s shifting priorities, AFSA engaged in discussions with the department on the messaging of the established core precepts that would keep in line with the parties’ negotiated agreement, protect our members, and align with the administration’s objectives. However, the department outright rejected our proposal by unilaterally declaring that only four precepts (Leadership, Management, Communications, and Substantive and Technical Expertise) will be evaluated for the 2024-2025 rating period.

This decision directly harms employees who relied on the established promotion and evaluation rules. The department’s retroactive, unnegotiated change constitutes a clear violation of the collective bargaining agreement, unfairly disadvantages employees, and is unlawful.

AFSA's Guidance on Navigating the Change

We recommend that employees, raters, and reviewers draft EERs highlighting all the relevant skills demonstrated and the impact achieved during the rating period, avoiding any mention of core precept titles or inadmissible comments. As the ALDAC notes, you should “continue to provide impactful examples for all accomplishments that will help the Selection Boards determine whether the employee has the potential to succeed at the next level.”

Below are a few general examples of what such accomplishments might look like without reference to any specific competency title.

Developed host-country language versions of training materials or official documents to drive efficiency and expand our reach, created programs that facilitated an open exchange of ideas, listened respectfully to other viewpoints.
Hosted training programs for staff based on principles enshrined in U.S. law, mentored entry-level employees, managed conflict, provided guidance to others in challenging times.
Addressed bullying and harassment, ensured reasonable accommodations in the workplace were made, and advocated with the host government to accredit members of our community appropriately.
Cultivated professional relationships, including across organizational lines and with host country contacts, which resulted in a recent bilateral agreement to be effectively executed.

Your Right to File a Grievance

You have a right to file a grievance, but your ability to grieve the precept change is limited. You cannot grieve an EER until it appears in your eOPF, and you cannot grieve the judgment of the Selection or Commissioning and Tenure Boards, i.e., their decision to mid or low rank you or defer/deny tenure, without evidence of a procedural violation. Finally, a grievant must show harm resulting from the department’s actions. In the context of the core precepts, this would mean providing evidence that you were denied promotion or tenure because, for example, you wrote to a negotiated precept. See 3 FAM 4412 for a list of what you can and cannot grieve. AFSA’s grievance guidance can be found here.

Next Steps

AFSA has several legal and administrative avenues to address instances where management fails to negotiate changes in employment conditions or violates a collective bargaining agreement. We will pursue the most appropriate course of action and will update you in subsequent communications. Additionally, we are closely monitoring the implementation of the executive order “Discrimination and Discriminatory Equity Ideology from the Foreign Service.”

For many of our members, this abrupt change adds even more stress to an already stressful time. We’re here to help. If you have questions about what we’ve stated, please send them to ember@afsa.org.