Pay & Benefits

House Democrats Urge Leadership to Begin Paid Parental Leave for Feds Early

A group of 12 lawmakers said the new benefit for federal workers, currently slated for implementation in October, should apply retroactively to December.

Pay & Benefits

House Legislation Would Protect Feds’ Unused Leave During Coronavirus Pandemic

Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., has introduced a bill that would ensure that federal workers who are unable to take a vacation due to the COVID-19 outbreak will not lose their paid leave.

Pay & Benefits

Trump Moves to Replace TSP Board Members, Prompting Concerns of Politicization

The nomination of three new board members follows months of lobbying by Republican lawmakers and advocacy groups to stop the Thrift Savings Plan from changing its international fund to include investments in Chinese companies.

Pay & Benefits

Labor Department Lowers the Bar for Some Feds to Prove Workplace COVID-19 Exposure

Federal workers in jobs like law enforcement and health care who contract the novel coronavirus will automatically qualify for workers compensation benefits, the department said.

Pay & Benefits

Bipartisan Senate Group Urges Hazard Pay for Feds

Nineteen senators encourage authorization of a 25% pay increase for frontline federal workers during the coronavirus pandemic, along with more guidance enhancing telework, leave and other protections for employees.

Management

What Feds Can Do if Called Back to an Unsafe Workplace

As some in the Trump administration push toward “reopening the government,” a federal employment lawyer said worried workers might find solace in existing leave policies and the whistleblower protection statute.

Pay & Benefits

TSP Portfolios Bounce Back after March Losses

All funds in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted gains last month, as the stock market began to rebound from a historic fall.

Pay & Benefits

Lawmakers Prepare New Legislation to Protect TSA Employees During Pandemic

House Democrats will push to pass bills guaranteeing health care and workers compensation benefits for part time transportation security officers.

Oversight

Senate Democrats Demand Answers from OPM on COVID-19 Response

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said that for the last six weeks, the federal government’s HR agency has stonewalled requests for briefings related to its work responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pay & Benefits

House Republicans Propose Federal Hiring, Pay Initiatives to Combat COVID-19

The Republican Study Committee said Congress should streamline the hiring process for federal workers, as well as change the pay system to allow higher compensation for “high skilled” workers.

Management

Federal Employee Union Proposes Preconditions to Returning to Government Work Sites

The American Federation of Government Employees last week called the Trump administration’s recently unveiled plans for “reopening” the federal government “premature and imprudent.”

Pay & Benefits

USDA Resists Providing Extra Flexibilities During the Pandemic for Forest Service Employees with Children

U.S. Forest Service workers said they are burning through personal leave juggling telework and child care, but that their agency has declined to provide additional time off as others have done.

Pay & Benefits

Democratic Lawmakers Want Hazard Pay, Union Protections in Next COVID-19 Relief Bill

Letter to House leadership supports extra compensation, weather and safety leave, and other rights and benefits for frontline federal workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pay & Benefits

OPM Issues Guidance on Additional Paid Sick Leave for Feds During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The federal government’s human resources agency confirmed this week that most federal workers are eligible to take up to two additional weeks of paid sick leave this year related to COVID-19.

Management

Administrative Law Judges' Association Joins Other Unions in Legal Fight Against Impasses Panel

Yet another lawsuit challenging the legality of how members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel are appointed comes just days after the panel imposed a largely pro-management contract on SSA administrative law judges.

Management

Despite Coronavirus, ‘The Machinery Continues’ at Immigration Courts

Immigration judges and employees at the Executive Office of Immigration Review said the agency’s informal policy to keep offices and courts open puts deportations over workers’ safety.

Management

Impasses Panel Imposes Steep Cuts to Official Time, Other Rights for Administrative Law Judges

Union that represents administrative law judges at the Social Security Administration vowed to take “all necessary legal action” to protect members, as multiple lawsuits proceed.