Welcome to the website of Personnel Appeals Board (PAB), U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The Personnel Appeals Board is an independent entity established in 1980 as part of a separate personnel system Congress created for GAO. The Board’s founding grew in large part from concern over the inherent conflict of interest in GAO’s role as auditor of executive branch agencies that maintained regulatory responsibility over GAO’s personnel system. Congress granted the GAO broad authority to manage its own workforce but also sought to guarantee the constancy of civil service protections and employee rights by establishing an independent, internal board to enforce and adjudicate those rights.

The Board performs the adjudicatory functions of its executive branch counterparts: the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA); the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB); and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  In addition to  adjudicating disputes, issuing decisions and ordering corrective or disciplinary action, where appropriate, in cases involving employee appeals, prohibited personnel practices, discrimination, and prohibited political activity, the Board has authority over cases involving a decision of an appropriate unit of employees for collective bargaining, the election or certification of such a collective bargaining unit, and resolution of unfair labor practice cases.