New DoD buyouts explained

Diane Disney, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for civilian personnel policy, recently explained new buyout authority that was included in the fiscal 2001 National Defense Authorization Act.

DoD will offer about 1,000 buyouts under expanded authority in fiscal 2001. Unlike existing buyouts, which are unchanged, these will allow DoD to keep vacated positions open to hire new people with new skills that the agency needs for its future workforce. Under the original program, DoD was required to abolish a job every time an employee took a buyout.

"The expanded buyout program will allow us to permit someone to leave, but then allow us to reengineer that position for the skills that we'll need in 2010," Disney said during an Oct. 31 Pentagon interview.

Employees score flexible work schedules

National Center for Health Statistics employees will have the option of more flexible working schedules thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement signed with the National Treasury Employees Union. Executive Order 12871, which instructs federal managers to bargain with unions over workplace issues, was cited in the contract. The workforce issues include the number of jobs, the classification of positions and the technology provided for employees' use. Groups representing federal managers have vehemently opposed permissive bargaining, saying that such issues are traditionally reserved for management's discretion.

IT pay hike revisited

In case you missed it, the Office of Personnel Management announced last week that certain information technology workers will receive pay raises beginning in January. This story, Higher grade IT workers feel cheated by new pay scale, includes charts of the projected new pay scales, links to OPM's Web site on the topic, and contact information for additional questions.