I-2020-29
| Effective Date: | Expiration Date: | Chapters: |
| Dec. 18, 2020 | When Superseded | 1 |
In continuation of the District government’s paperless initiatives, and to increase the ease and accessibility of the regulations and procedures contained in the Electronic District Personnel Manual (E-DPM), the D.C. Department of Human Resources (DCHR) has migrated the E-DPM to a web-based platform, and has simplified the E-DPM into two parts: regulations and issuances.
The E-DPM provides regulations and guidance for District government personnel and agencies under the Mayor’s personnel authority. The E-DPM does not have a direct impact and applicability to agencies deemed “independent” by law. However, independent authorities may choose to adopt any or all the guidance contained in the E-DPM.
Previously, the E-DPM contained three parts:
DCHR has combined Parts 2 and 3 of the E-DPM. Documents and guidance which have been categorized in Part 2 or Part 3 are now exclusively referred to as “issuances.” In addition, the E-DPM is no longer divided into formal “parts,” and is instead referred to contain 1) Regulations, and 2) Issuances.
Regulations (also known as “rules” or “chapters”) within the E-DPM are based on the regulations found within Title 6-B, Government Personnel, of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations. Rules and regulations can be formally defined as an agency’s statement designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy; or to describe the agency’s organization, procedure, or practice requirements.
The authority of an agency to promulgate rules derives explicitly or implicitly from a statute (law). The authority to promulgate the District government’s personnel rules derives primarily from the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 (CMPA).
As rules are derived from statute, they are generally deemed as having the effect of law (see D.C. Official Code § 2-501 et seq.).
Rulemaking authority is oftentimes vested by law to the Mayor, who may delegate that authority by Mayor’s order to an agency head. The Mayor has delegated the authority to promulgate rules to the Director of DCHR (see Mayor’s Order 2008-92).
Rules are published in the D.C. Register as emergency, emergency/proposed, proposed, and final rules. When a rule adopted by DCHR becomes final, DCHR incorporates the contents of the final rule into the pertinent E-DPM chapter.
Each chapter of the E-DPM contains an Addendum at the bottom of the page which details effected amendments to the chapter’s provisions, and the date effected.
Issuances are generally based on the regulations contained within the E-DPM, and provide agencies with implementing guidance and procedures, as well as operational directives. Issuances may provide permanent guidance as well as temporary guidance which expires on a designated date. The E-DPM web platform will only display issuances that are currently effective. However, all issuances are archived and can be accessed if required.
DCHR publishes issuances and assigns each issuance an identifying number. DCHR assigns identifying numbers in chronological order based on the issuance’s publish date. For example, Issuance 2020-01 is the first issuance published in the year 2020, Issuance 2020-02 is the second issuance published in 2020, 2020-03 is the third published issuance in the year, etc.
For archival purposes, issuances that have been published as an instruction or bulletin prior to the adoption of the web-based E-DPM platform will have their identifying numbers remain the same. Some of these issuances remain effective.
The E-DPM is accessible by visiting edpm.dc.gov. Specific chapters and related issuances can be accessed by referring to the Chapters index on the main page.
The E-DPM also features live full-text search that will look for queries in all active published materials. Users can enter search terms into the search box, and upon pressing enter, can see additional results. Issuances are displayed first, and chapters can be displayed by clicking the button on the results page.
Issued by Director Ventris C. Gibson, D.C. Department of Human Resources on Dec. 18, 2020, 10:15 a.m.