The federal law that protects federal employees from retaliation for disclosing illegal or improper government activities (PL 101-12, 103 Stat. 16 (1989)). The WPA strengthened the definition of whistleblower retaliation as a prohibited personnel practice under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) enforces the WPA. The WPA was amended by the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (PL 112-199, 126 Stat. 1465), which expanded the jurisdiction of the OSC and further strengthened protections for federal employee whistleblowers.

Agency officials may not take, fail to take, or threaten to take a personnel action because of an employee's protected disclosure. To be protected, the employee must have disclosed what the employee reasonably believes is:

(5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8).)

An agency also may not take, fail to take, or threaten to take a personnel action against an employee who:

(5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9).)

Federal employees may disclose government waste or wrongdoing to the OSC and the OSC will protect the employee from retaliation. Complaints of whistleblower retaliation also come before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) through:

For more information, see Practice Note, Whistleblower Protections Under the Whistleblower Protection Act.