# Writing Conduct and Performance Letters Course

Canonical URL: <https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/writing-conduct-and-performance-letters>

## Overview

This course prepares federal employees to write clear, legally sufficient conduct and performance letters that support appropriate personnel actions. Topics include due process, progressive discipline, regulatory requirements, charge and specification drafting, penalty analysis, employee rights and procedures, performance-based actions, medical documentation, and settlement-related correspondence. Participants strengthen their ability to produce compliant documentation grounded in federal requirements and relevant case law.

## What you'll learn

- Describe and write legally sufficient conduct and performance letters
- Describe and write a performance improvement plan (PIP)
- Identify case law that pertains to adverse action documentation
- Define and apply a penalty analysis
- Describe the role of the deciding official
- Describe and write a settlement agreement
- Describe and write letters pertaining to medical issues
- Describe and write last chance agreements

## Curriculum

#### Module 1: Due Process
 
- Define due process and the property interest in continued employment; distinguish probationary vs. non-probationary rights.
- Identify violations (biased deciding official, ex parte communications, lack of authority) and their consequences.
- Draft probationary pre- and post-employment removal letters and outline available appeal/EEO channels.

 
#### Module 2: Progressive Discipline: The Initial Steps
 
- Use counseling as the informal first step; know what belongs in a counseling memo.
- Write a legally sufficient Letter of Reprimand and understand OPF retention and grievance language.
- Decide when to start informally vs. move directly to formal action.

 
#### Module 3: Important Regulatory and Other Factors
 
- Cite controlling authorities in letters: 5 CFR Parts 752/432/315/731; 5 U.S.C. 7513; crime provision; CBA references.
- Apply “efficiency of the service,” nexus, and just-cause principles (including the seven just-cause tests).
- Comply with the Privacy Act when collecting information that may drive adverse determinations.

 
#### Module 4: Charge, Element, and Specification
 
- Define and differentiate the charge, element, and specification in the body of a proposal letter.
- Avoid pitfalls: legal charges with higher burdens, piling/stacking, compound charges, and adding new charges post-proposal.
- Write specifications using the “who/what/where/when/why” to prove the element.

 
#### Module 5: Penalty Analysis
 
- Apply all twelve Douglas factors and document your analysis.
- Use (but don’t be bound by) tables of penalties; ensure consistency and notice.
- Avoid “zero-tolerance only” reasoning and include aggravating factors in the proposal.

 
#### Module 6: Rights and Procedures
 
- Provide due process: notice, access to evidence, reply opportunity, and a neutral/authorized deciding official.
- Manage duty status and consider options such as administrative leave or indefinite suspension where appropriate.
- Explain appeal, grievance, OSC, and EEO avenues; understand harmful procedural error.

 
#### Module 7: The Decision
 
- Role of the deciding official: weigh the record and reply, avoid ex parte input, and exercise independent judgment.
- Draft a defensible decision letter (charges sustained, Douglas analysis, penalty rationale, and rights notice).
- Set effective dates and implement remedies while preserving the record.

 
#### Module 8: Medical Removal
 
- Prepare medical inability to perform letters and distinguish them from conduct/performance actions.
- Gather and evaluate medical documentation consistent with privacy and RA obligations.
- Address reassignment/last-chance options and document interactive-process efforts as applicable.

 
#### Module 9: Performance-Based Actions
 
- Establish elements and standards; structure and administer a PIP.
- Choose Chapter 43 vs. Chapter 75 appropriately and meet the correct evidentiary standard.
- Draft proposal and decision letters tied directly to failed critical elements.

 
#### Module 10: Settlement Agreements
 
- Draft clear, enforceable terms (scope of waiver, consideration, non-admission, confidentiality where permitted).
- Address special rules (e.g., age claims/OWBPA review periods) and last-chance agreements.
- Document compliance and close-out actions to prevent future disputes.

 
#### Module 11: Directed Assignment
 
- Explain the purpose and requirements of directed (re)assignments and business justification.
- Write the notice, outline consequences of refusal, and cover relocation/logistics as applicable.
- Identify employee response and grievance/appeal options.

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $0