Hatch Act

Need to start filing a complaint with OSC?

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all federal employees covered by the Hatch Act?
May federal employees express their views about current events, policy issues, and matters of public interest at work or on duty?

Videos

http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/ZBwyoLtqZjE/mqdefault.jpg

This video gives an introduction to the Hatch Act, which restricts the political activity of some government employees. The video is from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act, a federal law passed in 1939, limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. The law’s purposes are to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.