Summary -- Effect of Van Wersch and McCormick

Van Wersch v. Department of Health and Human Services, 100 FMSR 7005, 197 F.3d 1144 (Fed. Cir. 1999), and McCormick v. Department of the Air Force, 102 LRP 24759, 307 F.3d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2002), pointed out a contradiction between 5 USC 7511(a)(1) and the Office of Personnel Management's regulations at 5 CFR Part 752 over how to determine whether probationary requirements have been met. In 2008, OPM amended its regulations to address the contradiction.

The following points summarize the effects of these two key decisions on the handling of probationary employees.

Effect of Van Wersch and McCormick