§ 1–601.02. Purpose.

(a) The Council of the District of Columbia declares that it is the purpose and policy of this chapter to assure that the District of Columbia government shall have a modern flexible system of public personnel administration, which shall:

(1) Provide for increasingly autonomous control over personnel administration by the District of Columbia government;

(2) Create uniform systems for personnel administration among the executive departments and agencies reporting directly to the Mayor of the District of Columbia and among the Council, independent agencies, boards, and commissions in the District of Columbia government;

(3) Create separate personnel management systems for educational employees of the School of Law, the District of Columbia Board of Education, and the University of the District of Columbia;

(4) Insure the efficient administration of this personnel system;

(5) Establish impartial and comprehensive administrative or negotiated procedures for resolving employee grievances;

(6) Provide for a positive policy of labor-management relations including collective bargaining between the District of Columbia government and its employees; and

(7) Establish the means to recruit, select, develop, and maintain an effective and responsive work force consistent with merit principles.

(b) The Career and Educational Services established in subchapters VIII and VIII-A of this chapter shall follow merit principles such as the following:

(1) Recruiting, selecting, and advancing employees on the basis of their relative ability, knowledge and skills, including open and competitive consideration of qualified applicants for initial appointment;

(2) Providing equitable and adequate compensation;

(3) Training employees, as needed, to assure high-quality performance;

(4) Retaining employees on the basis of their performance, correcting inadequate performance, and separating employees whose inadequate performance cannot be corrected; and

(5) Assuring, as provided in this chapter, fair treatment of applicants and employees in all aspects of employment without regard to political affiliation, race, color, national origin, sex, religious belief, age, marital status, personal physical appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, physical disability, or developmental disability. A proper regard shall be accorded all rights of privacy and other constitutionally protected rights of citizens.

(c) Employees are protected against coercion for partisan political purposes and are prohibited from using their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office.