Author Archive
Workforce
Employee group urges centralized response to increase in doxxing and threats against federal workers
The Department of Justice Gender Equality Network urged department leadership to create a centralized “triage” team to better tackle instances where members of the public doxx or threaten employees online.
Pay & Benefits
An employee group is miffed by the new Postal Service insurance program’s Medicare Part D coverage
OPM said that they were restricted in how they provide prescription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible enrollees in the new Postal Service Health Benefits Program, but at least one employee association disagrees.
Workforce
OPM issues guidance for agencies to implement anti-Schedule F regulations
The effort to insulate the federal civil service from former President Trump’s plan to replace potentially tens of thousands of career employees in “policy-related” position with loyalists could be short lived if the Republican nominee wins the election next month.
Management
OPM announces a program to make it easier for ex-interns to get full-time federal work
A new feature within USAJOBS’ Agency Talent Portal will allow agencies to hire former interns from other agencies into term or permanent federal positions.
Management
Without budget anomaly, SSA hiring is restricted and overtime is at 'historic lows'
Congress’ refusal to provide additional funding for the Social Security Administration in September’s two-month continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown is kneecapping two tools that are key to combatting the agency’s customer service crisis.
Workforce
Biden says Trump's civil service plans make him unfit for office
The president cited his predecessor’s support for reinstating Schedule F, a controversial plan to make tens of thousand of federal workers at-will employees, as he campaigned for Vice President Harris' White House bid.
Pay & Benefits
A Senate bill targeting teleworkers’ locality pay now has its companion in the House
Legislation introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., would bar federal workers from receiving locality pay if they telework at least once per week, a move that could amount to a 30% pay cut for many feds.
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Workforce
Labor Dept. to require workers to spend half of work time in-person, angering union
The National Council of Field Labor Locals said Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su shirked her collective bargaining responsibilities by reducing telework while the union’s negotiability appeal is still pending before the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Oversight
GAO: Agency HR offices need better communication with officials in remote posts
Federal officials in Alaska, Hawaii and the United States’ various offshore territories said they struggle to combat high attrition at federal jobs in the non-contiguous U.S., despite some agencies’ efforts.
Pay & Benefits
OPM sets up leave transfer program for feds impacted by Milton
Federal workers will soon be able to donate unused leave to their colleagues who need time to recover after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday.
Pay & Benefits
Cost-of-living adjustments will decline for federal retirees again in 2025
For the second straight year, former federal workers will see a smaller increase to their defined-benefit annuities in January, with FERS retirees set for a 2% increase and CSRS annuitants a 2.5% bump.
Oversight
OPM’s retirement backlog has fallen off the agency’s list of top management challenges
The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general last month reported that the federal government’s dedicated HR agency faces taller tasks in the form of launching a health insurance program for postal workers and verifying enrollees’ eligibility for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Pay & Benefits
OPM moves to standardize General Schedule, blue collar locality pay areas
For years, federal employee unions have bemoaned that the pay systems’ differing maps of high-cost regions created pay inequity within agency workforces.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers consider making military leave more equitable for feds with non-traditional work schedules
Currently, the annual cap on paid leave available to federal employees associated with their service in the National Guard is 15 days, which advocates say works well for traditional weekday work schedules but not for employees who frequently work weekends.
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Pay & Benefits
Labor Department sets 2025 federal contractor minimum wages
In a pair of filings in the Federal Register Monday, Labor Department officials set the range of minimum wages for contractors between $9.30 per hour for tipped workers to $17.75 per hour, depending on the job type.
Pay & Benefits
OPM announces leave transfer program for feds affected by Helene
Federal employees will soon be able to donate unused leave to their colleagues who need time to recover after Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction across the Southeast.
Pay & Benefits
TSP continues upward trek for third straight month
Each portfolio within the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program saw modest gains in September.
Management
SBA’s inspector general will serve double duty in acting Social Security role
The appointment of Small Business Administration Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware to perform the same job at the Social Security Administration comes after embattled Inspector General Gail Ennis retired last summer.
Workforce
House Dems reintroduce bill to expand VA health care employees’ union rights
The VA Employees Fairness Act would extend full federal collective bargaining rights to Title 38 health care workers at the Veterans Affairs Department, though its chances of passage are slim.
Pay & Benefits
Federal workers will see the largest increase to their health care premiums in recent memory next year
In a year where insurers have expanded coverage for multiple medical treatments, federal employees will see their Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums increase by an average of 13.5% in 2025.
