Pay & Benefits

Administrative law judge union to push for expanded annual carryover leave

Officials with a union that represents administrative law judges at the Social Security Administration said their jobs are more akin to those of senior-level federal jobs than General Schedule positions.

Workforce

Forest Service will partially refund federal firefighters’ rent in government-owned housing

The decision to provide a 50% refund to wildland firefighters at the GS-10 level who reside in government-owned housing will affect roughly 5,500 employees.

Workforce

Republicans block expanded in vitro fertilization coverage for feds in House and Senate

Senate Democrats failed to secure the 60 votes needed to bypass a GOP filibuster, while House Democrats saw a similar provision defanged in appropriations talks.

Workforce

Lawmakers unveil a new plan to revamp federal wildfire prevention and mitigation

The Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act would create a new Middle Fire Leaders Academy to rapidly bolster the ranks of federal wildland firefighters.

Workforce

Put the telework debate to rest by focusing on productivity

COMMENTARY | Civil servants say telework improves productivity, but Congress wants data to prove it. Here’s one way OMB can reconcile the differences.

Pay & Benefits

Senate plans swift action on IVF bill containing new requirements for FEHBP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he had already begun the process of bringing a legislative package aimed at protecting Americans’ access to assistive reproductive technology to the floor for a vote.

Pay & Benefits

OPM’s unfulfilled recommendations include health insurance benefits changes, IG says

The agency is making progress on implementing IG recommendations, but three of its top yet-to-be-completed recommendations included changes that would prevent improper and inaccurate payments within the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.  

Pay & Benefits

New bill would task VA with more actively promoting veteran transition assistance

The Informing VETS Act would require the department to regularly promote programs designed to assist veterans leaving military service and offer more comparison of information on educational benefits. 

Workforce

OPM announces new 'safe leave' for domestic violence victims

Federal workers may now take paid leave to address issues related to their or a family member’s safety or to recover from domestic violence, abuse or harassment, under new guidance from the government’s dedicated HR agency.

Pay & Benefits

Mixed reactions to Medicare Part D in the FEHB

It's been almost five months since Part D was incorporated into many Federal Employees Health Benefit plans. How is it being received?

Defense

House-passed bill would bring parental leave parity to Coast Guard reservists

Members of the Coast Guard reserve currently don’t get the same parental leave benefits as reservists for other armed forces.

Pay & Benefits

Health Savings Account contribution limits to rise in 2025

Federal employees looking for ways to save on out-of-pocket healthcare costs might benefit from using a high deductible health plan with an HSA.

Pay & Benefits

A CBO report raises new questions about Biden’s 2% pay raise plan

Analysis favored by conservatives shows that when comparing workers’ “total compensation,” the private sector has nearly caught up to the federal government’s pay and benefits package for employees.

Pay & Benefits

Most TSP funds took a tumble in April

After two months of sustained gains, only one portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program finished last month in the black.

Pay & Benefits

Are Consumer Driven Health Plans the right FEHB plan for you?

These are one of the lowest cost FEHB plan types for both active federal employees and annuitants.

Pay & Benefits

OPM reminds agencies of pay provisions in 2024 NDAA

The most recent iteration of the annual defense policy bill extends a number of temporary pay and benefits provisions for both civilian and military service members and allows veteran feds to credit active duty service toward paid parental leave requirements.

Pay & Benefits

Are High Deductible Health Plans the right FEHB plan for you?

For most federal employees, HDHPs will be the cheapest FEHB plan type. Here’s how they work.

Pay & Benefits

Congressional Dems urge OPM to fully cover IVF in feds’ insurance program

More than 175 Democratic lawmakers said the federal government must do more to protect access to health services like in-vitro fertilization in light of a recent Alabama court ruling that effectively banned the procedure alongside abortion services.

Pay & Benefits

OPM has new tools to fight improper health insurance enrollments

Watchdog agencies and Congress have previously chided the federal government’s HR agency for the lack of internal controls ensuring that family members of federal workers and retirees remain eligible for the federal workforce’s health insurance program.

Pay & Benefits

Justice Department outlines benefits rule for Havana syndrome victims 

A new interim final rule details how the department would compensate employees and dependents with qualifying brain injuries from anomalous health incidents.