Management

OPM Appointments Mark a Radical Shift in Agency's Role

The hiring of high-level executives from organized labor marks a return to federal employee unions having a seat at the table in the formulation of federal personnel policy.

Management

VA Rolls Back Trump-era Workforce Policies

The Veterans Affairs Department is restoring its previous contract with AFGE, which allows access to official time and union office space in department facilities.

Management

Social Security Clears Way for Stimulus Checks After Accusations of Malfeasance

SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul argued that the agency was required to wait to provide payment files for beneficiaries because it received no appropriations to fund its work on stimulus payments in the most recent $1.8 trillion COVID-19 relief law.

Management

Biden Names Acting FLRA General Counsel, Ending Critical Trump Era Vacancy

The agency responsible for administering federal labor law has been without a top lawyer for four years, significantly hamstringing its ability to hear labor-management disputes.

Management

TSP Officials Tout Sizeable Improvement in Annual Employee Satisfaction Survey Scores

Employee engagement at the Thrift Savings Plan improved 7 points in 2020, while the agency scored stellar marks on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pay & Benefits

Bipartisan Bill Would Allow Federal Firefighters to Trade Shifts

Agencies often bar trades because in many cases the switch would result in one firefighter seeing his or her biweekly pay reduced, and the other becoming eligible for overtime.

Management

Democrats Push to Grant VA Medical Professionals Full Union Rights

Federal law currently prevents Veterans Affairs Department medical workers from bargaining over matters related to patient care and clinical competence, although much is at the discretion of the VA secretary.

Management

Study: OPM-GSA Merger Proposal Would Not Have Solved Problems It Aimed to Fix

A team of analysts has recommended elevating OPM's role in human capital management and making it less involved in “transaction-by-transaction compliance” activities.

Management

NTEU to Push for Pay, Benefits, and Protections in 2021

National Treasury Employees Union National President Tony Reardon said that he has seen a “mixed bag” in terms of agency efforts to comply with President Biden’s workforce executive order.

Management

Unions Dog SSA Leadership over Perceived Inaction on Workforce Order

More than a week after OPM issued guidance on reopening union contracts negotiated during the Trump administration, Social Security Administration officials are dragging their feet, union officials say.

Pay & Benefits

OPM Announces Special Combined Federal Campaign for Texas Storm Victims

Washington, D.C.-area federal employees exceeded expectations and previous years’ totals, raising more than $37 million for charities in 2020.

Management

OPM Issues Guidance Revoking Diversity Training Ban

The action formally rescinds a directive barring agencies and contractors from conducting certain types of training.

Management

House Democrats Join Chorus Calling for Changes at Social Security

The job security of the Trump-appointed administrator and deputy administrator of the Social Security Administration remains in doubt, as the Biden administration continues to oust holdover appointees elsewhere in the government.

Management

OPM Instructs Agencies to Reopen Trump-era Union Contracts

Departments currently engaged in collective bargaining negotiations are expected to rescind proposals restricting unions’ access to official time, grievance proceedings and to begin bargaining “in good faith.”