News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

THE FEDERAL DIARY--White-collar federal workers outnumber their blue-collar counterparts here about 10 to 1. Most blue-collar employees are with Defense Department, and are paid hourly rates. New minimum and maximum pay rates were recently issued for blue-collar workers (The Washington Post).

GAY BIAS ILLEGAL--"Nearly 650,000 federal workers -- almost a quarter of the nation's 2.77 million-member federal worker force -- have yet to be formally notified that sexual orientation discrimination against civilian federal employees is illegal," a Washington Blade survey of federal agencies has found" (The Washington Blade).

AROUND GOVERNMENT--The TVA Chairman said he didn't want his public corporation's annual $106 million federal subsidy anymore, which surprised many (The Washington Post)...In a bid to prompt more people to pledge organ donations, authorities will send 70 million U.S. households organ donor cards tucked in the envelope along with their tax refund this year (The Washington Post, In Brief).

THE FEDERAL TIMES--Draft legislation, now circulating among agencies and unions, provides a model for agencies to use to spin off some operations and free them from many financial, procurement and personnel rules so they can operate more like businesses...Companies are tapping into the World Wide Web to search for people who have posted their qualifications on line (The Federal Times, February 10).

REINVENTION--Federal agencies are finding that the Internet's World Wide Web is the place to be to offer information and services to their customers. OPM's entry at http://www.opm.gov lists federal jobs among other things (Reinvention Roundtable, Winter 96/97).

OF INTEREST--Workplace accidents can mean criminal charges for executives...The number of breakfasts eaten at the office has doubled since 1990 (The Wall Street Journal, Work Week)...You can get a job in a high-tech firm with low-tech skills (The Wall Street Journal, Managing Your Career).