How did Service First affect the ability of agency heads to fire workers?

How did Service First affect the ability of agency heads to fire workers?

• A. It allowed agency heads to use 'sound discretion' in firing workers, weakening the just cause standard.
• B. It required formal hearings for every termination.
• C. It mandated union approval before any firing.
• D. It preserved the existing just cause standard without change.

Answer: (A)

Service First shifted personnel power toward agency leadership, allowing agency heads to exercise sound discretion in firing decisions. This reduces the rigidity of a just cause standard, letting managerial judgment guide terminations with fewer formal requirements. In effect, terminations could be acted on more quickly based on performance concerns or misconduct, without being bound by a strict, uniformly applied justification process. It did not impose formal hearings for every termination, nor did it require union approval, and it did not keep the existing just cause standard intact. So the best fit is that it expanded discretionary authority for firings, weakening the just cause protection.

Service First shifted personnel power toward agency leadership, allowing agency heads to exercise sound discretion in firing decisions. This reduces the rigidity of a just cause standard, letting managerial judgment guide terminations with fewer formal requirements. In effect, terminations could be acted on more quickly based on performance concerns or misconduct, without being bound by a strict, uniformly applied justification process.

It did not impose formal hearings for every termination, nor did it require union approval, and it did not keep the existing just cause standard intact. So the best fit is that it expanded discretionary authority for firings, weakening the just cause protection.