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Washington, D.C.—The nation’s largest independent union of federal employees strongly objects to efforts by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to make broad changes in the government’s Standard Form 85P, a longstanding document completed by hundreds of thousands of federal employees who are undergoing a background investigation, its leader said today.

In lengthy comments to OPM, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the union’s overarching concern is that the proposed changes essentially would make “public trust” employees subject to the more detailed—and more intrusive—questions asked in background investigations of national security employees.

In so doing, the NTEU leader said, OPM is rejecting significant reforms implemented in 1995 to the SF 85P and a supplemental background form that recognized the forms should be tailored to the nature of the position and demand no more information than necessary. SF 85P was initially issued in 1990.

“NTEU has very serious substantive concerns regarding the sweep of the proposed changes and the breadth of the information demanded of public trust employees, particularly in light of the lack of justification for the expanded scope” of the form, Kelley wrote.

Among the most significant changes, she said, are a proposed requirement that public trust employees—perhaps the bulk of the federal workforce—answer questions that presently appear only on a supplemental form that can be required of employees only in those instances where an agency demonstrates a specific job-related need for the information.

For instance, NTEU objected to a question asking about undefined negative consequences on work performance arising out of the use of alcohol. “That question is subject to multiple and subjective interpretations and could be construed very broadly,” Kelley said.

NTEU’s comments are sharply critical of a proposed requirement that employees would be required to complete a medical release form in the event someone in the course of the investigation perceives a need for it. “That is not an effective limitation,” Kelley said. “There should be objective standards against which to measure a claimed need for the release.”

OPM also is proposing more detailed questions about the employee’s financial record—for example, covering information about amounts overdue for shorter periods of time than the present form seeks; information about any unmet tax obligations; and any credit counseling the employee may have undergone.

Moreover, the NTEU president said, the proposed changes include new questions about improper use of information technology systems, including a broadly-phrased question about the use of “hardware, software, or media in connection with any information technology system without authorization.”

“We object to certain changes that seem motivated only by OPM’s belief in ‘consistency’ between the forms” for public trust and national security employees, Kelley said.

Her comments object to proposed questions that are overly broad or vaguely phrased, and to OPM’s efforts to compel disclosure by the employee of information the government sees as ‘mitigating,’ such as counseling for alcohol abuse. Kelley argues that making such a disclosure should be optional on the part of the employee.

As the nation’s largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.