News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

RETIREMENT DILEMMA--Agency retirement enrollment errors during the mid-1980s have left some employees with diminished prospects. While some are critical that OPM can fix the problem and is not moving fast enough, "OPM officials reject such criticism, saying they are near the end of a complicated study that involves the IRS, SSA and the Thrift Savings Plan. The underlying philosophy of the study is to do the right thing and protect the financial security of federal employees in their retirement years" (The Washington Post).

CFC--An area fund-raiser claims that government shutdowns have caused CFC contributions to slip, and OPM, which oversees the charity drive, agrees that federal job cuts were a factor in declining donations. However, OPM Deputy Director Lorraine Green noted, that not all the trend lines are headed down because, "the people who are in the work force are more generous than in the past" (The Washington Post).

THE FEDERAL DIARY--A new law will soon make changes to rules governing withdrawals and borrowing from the Thrift Savings Plan(Tuesday)..."If Republicans keep control of Congress, some federal union leaders may need new identities," since most unions have endorsed the Clinton-Gore ticket (Sunday)...Reader's voice concern over federal employee unions endorsing one party and shutting out another (Monday).

REINVENTION--A new report from the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee claims that despite the "reinventing government" initiative, many government programs are worse off than before (The Washington Times).

PERFORMANCE--"The new wave in compensation comes with its own language. New Pay features a new set of rules that govern how and when you'll be paid. Criteria focus more closely on the individual skills and performance of the worker and move away from larger economic and industrywide standards"(USA TODAY).

WOMEN--"Women outscore men in many management categories in a study which used supervisor, peer and self-evaluations to rate strengths and weaknesses."(USA TODAY).

OF INTEREST--Bell Atlantic's at-work child care program helps parents out during surprise school closings (The Washington Post)...Computer software is revolutionizing the hiring process by helping human-resource managers scan resumes and investigate candidates (The Wall Street Journal, Work Week).