Pay & Benefits

Biden signs order finalizing 5.2% pay raise for feds in 2024

The measure confirms that the federal workforce will see its largest pay increase in more than 40 years.

Oversight

Conservatives bemoan disappearance of OPM official time docs

Officials at the federal government’s HR agency said a webpage housing sporadic reports on agencies’ official time use did not survive a recent website redesign, but suggested tweaks are ongoing.

Management

OPM encourages federal supervisors to make better use of probationary periods

The federal government’s HR agency urged agency managers to remove poor performers before most removal protections kick in, as well work more closely with new employees early in their tenure to help them succeed.

Pay & Benefits

OPM retirement backlog hits six-year low for third time this year

The number of pending federal employee retirement claims fell under 16,000 for the second time since 2017 in November.

Workforce

A new rule may help land management temps get permanent federal gigs

The Office of Personnel Management is set to publish final regulations establishing a pathway for current and former temporary workers at land management agencies to apply for permanent posts through merit promotions procedures.

Workforce

OPM launches a cyber rotational program for feds

The new rotational program is an outgrowth of 2022 legislation backed by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Management

OPM unveils its latest tool to accelerate the federal hiring process

The federal government’s HR agency added new functionality to USAJOBS to allow agencies to find candidates who had already been certified for federal employment elsewhere in government.

Pay & Benefits

OPM finalizes new locality pay areas ahead of 2024 pay raise

The combination of creating four new locality pay areas and a broad update to underlying maps means that around 33,300 federal workers will see larger pay raises beginning next year.

Oversight

Diversity in the federal workforce has improved slightly over the last decade

But Latino representation among federal employees continues to lag behind a nationwide benchmark.

Pay & Benefits

OPM proposes making it easier to approve some recruitment and relocation incentives

Under proposed regulations, the federal government’s HR agency would no longer need to approve waivers of traditional incentive payment caps in advance, potentially speeding up the hiring and relocation processes.

Workforce

OPM issues guidelines on military spouse executive order

Telework, leave policies and “compassionate transfers” between agencies should all be utilized to recruit and retain spouses of members of the military and reserve services, officials said.

Workforce

Union coalition throws support behind OPM’s anti-Schedule F rules

A group of 14 labor organizations led by the National Treasury Employees Union urged the federal government’s HR agency to adopt its proposal to hamstring future efforts to strip feds’ job protections “promptly.”

Workforce

OPM: Federal workers’ morale, engagement rebounded in 2023

Preliminary data from the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey indicates that federal agencies have improved on employees’ engagement, job satisfaction, as well as issues of diversity and inclusion.

Pay & Benefits

OPM begins prep for annual retirement surge

The federal government’s centralized HR office is urging federal agencies to be proactive in ensuring federal workers’ retirement applications are submitted without errors to streamline processing during the annual spike in claims.

Workforce

Agencies have hired nearly 5,500 feds to implement Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law

The Biden administration has surpassed its infrastructure law hiring goals, and plan to bring on another 1,000 personnel next year.

Pay & Benefits

The federal retirement backlog just hit another recent record low

The Office of Personnel Management’s inventory of pending retirement claims from former federal workers reached its lowest level since 2017 for the second time this year.

Management

OPM reminds agencies of new telework reporting requirements

As agencies prep to increase in-person work this fall, the federal government’s HR agency is calling on officials to collect better data on telework and remote work usage in their workplaces.

Management

OPM announces expansion of ‘continuous vetting’ security clearance process for current feds

After a successful pilot, the federal government’s HR agency and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency set a goal of enrolling all employees in non-sensitive public trust positions in the new process for reviewing existing security clearances by the end of fiscal 2024.

Workforce

OPM extends flexible hiring of military spouses

Interim regulations will allow federal agencies to hire the spouses of military service members outside of the traditional competitive hiring process through 2028.

Pay & Benefits

Report reveals differing federal employee insurance withholding information between USDA, OPM 

An OIG audit found differences of federal employee withholding reporting between the two agencies, leading to several employees being charged incorrect life insurance amounts and another wrongly waived from coverage.