Federal Managers Association

Press Release

• FMA Supports FY 2022 NDAA Despite Objection to Probationary Period Change at DOD - December 28, 2021

• Alexandria, VA – On December 27, 2021, President Biden signed the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The House passed it on December 7, and the Senate followed on December 15. The final bill includes repeal of the two-year probationary period at the Department of Defense (DOD), despite the fact that a study Congress ordered on the efficacy of the policy is still pending. FMA National President Craig Carter issued the following statement about the NDAA:

  “As I said when the House passed the conference report earlier this month, FMA is disappointed the final bill reduces the current two-year probationary period at DOD to a single year. However, we are overall supportive of this critical bill, and welcome President Biden signing it into law.

  "FMA supports the pay raise for the uniformed military, the extension for the authority to grant allowances, benefits, and gratuities to civilian employees on official duty in a combat zone, and many other policies.

  "We remain disappointed the bill reverts the Department of Defense probationary period back to one year, beginning in 2023. In the FY2020 NDAA, Congress ordered a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the current policy, which only took effect in 2016. The report has not been completed and Congress has not received the results of the study. FMA urged Congress to not take premature action, and to wait until it could make an evidence-based decision using actual data. Acting now makes zero sense.

  "We expect the results of the study to be submitted to Congress in the coming weeks or months. In the spirit of the Biden administration’s promise in the President's Management Agenda to be guided by science and data on these decisions, we urge Congress to reconsider a two-year probationary period in the FY 2023 NDAA if the data supports it.”

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