What to Maintain in a Disciplinary Action Case File
1. Any document relied upon to take or propose the action (supporting documentation), such as:
- signed witness statements and/or affidavits;
- time and attendance records (if leave/AWOL is an issue);
- supervisory memos for the record and notes;
- any documentary evidence (e.g. investigative reports, leave requests, etc.);
- any pertinent medical documentation or reports;
- copies of correspondence between the employee and agency officials;
- pertinent regulations, including applicable Agency and OPM regulations, NIH Manual Issuances and IC policies (in particular, any cited in the document);
- copies of any prior counseling or discipline.
2. A signed, dated copy of the warning, reprimand, or proposal notice. If the employee's signature acknowledging receipt is not on the document, signed certification of delivery must be included (signed witness acknowledgement; or, if the document must be mailed, signed certification that the document was posted through both regular U.S. mail and certified mail, including a copy of the Certificate of Mailing for regular mail and the receipt for certified mail).
3. The employee's written designation of representative, if any.
4. Copies of any requests and grants/denials of extensions for the reply period.
5. A copy of the employee's written response, if any, and/or a copy of the summary of the oral response. Oral reply summaries should be signed by the employee or his/her representative to acknowledge accuracy.
6. A signed dated copy of the decision notice, including the employee's signature acknowledging receipt or mail certification as described in item 2 above.
7. A copy of the SF-50 effecting the adverse action. Case files for actions appealable to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) should also contain a copy of the employee's SF-50 that establishes that he or she meets the definition of "employee" as defined in 5 USC 7511 (a).
