TSP's G Fund Helps Delay Debt Ceiling
CBP Could Escape Furloughs
Feds Flock to TSP's L Funds
EIG 2013 as Told by Your Tweets
Boldly Go Where No Fed's Gone Before
The Big Squeeze: Defense Under Sequester
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Brittany Ballenstedt
Blogger
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
Senate panel moves to scale back Pentagon personnel system
May 25, 2007 A Senate panel on Thursday approved language that would significantly limit the implementation of a controversial personnel system at the Defense Department and authorize a 3.5 percent 2008 pay raise for members of the military. In a markup of the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill that began Wednesday afternoon, the ...
Union criticizes report backing NASA workforce flexibilities
May 24, 2007 A federal labor union has taken issue with some recommendations in a congressionally chartered organization's report on reshaping NASA's workforce to meet a new mission. In a May 21 letter to National Academy of Public Administration Fellow John G. Stewart, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers highlighted a ...
New job search site aims to enhance federal recruitment
May 23, 2007 An online job search company has unveiled a Web site dedicated to matching job seekers with opportunities in the federal government. WorkforAmerica.com, launched May 7 by CareerBuilder.com, aims to help expedite the federal government's recruitment process by connecting job candidates interested in public service with key federal agencies. To develop ...
Lawmakers grill GAO chief over pay decisions
May 22, 2007 At a joint hearing Tuesday, members of House and Senate subcommittees overseeing the federal workforce questioned a compensation study Government Accountability Office chief David M. Walker used to make pay determinations. Walker has argued that the study by Watson Wyatt indicated some GAO analysts were overpaid, providing the grounds for ...
Universities propose alternative to public service academy
May 21, 2007 Increasing collaborative research and public service training at universities may be the most effective way to groom and recruit talented students for federal jobs, the head of an educational association said last week. In a letter sent May 16 in response to newly introduced legislation to establish a public service ...
Lawmakers hear concerns on potential health premium increases
May 21, 2007 Increased enrollment in consumer-directed health plans could result in higher premiums and reduced benefits for federal employees and retirees signed up for more comprehensive, traditional offerings, a witness told lawmakers at a hearing Friday. Alan Lopatin, legislative counsel for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, told members of ...
Appeals court allows Pentagon to limit collective bargaining
May 18, 2007 An appeals court on Friday reversed a district court ruling that had struck down the labor relations portions of the Pentagon's new personnel system, holding that the law creating the system grants the agency temporary authority to curtail the collective bargaining rights of employees. The decision, issued by a panel ...
Funding, technology cited as key to speeding security clearances
May 17, 2007 Adequate funding and broader use of technology are essential to improving the process of screening security clearance applicants, government officials told lawmakers Thursday. At a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on the federal workforce, panelists noted that the Defense Security Service, in particular, has much ...
Union negotiates foreign language pay for customs, border officers
May 16, 2007 Customs and Border Protection officers who use their foreign language skills on the job have the opportunity to earn monetary awards equaling up to 5 percent of their base pay, under an agreement reached with a labor union last week. The American Federation of Government Employees' CBP Council 117 reached ...
More than 200 GAO employees to petition for back pay
May 15, 2007 More than 200 active and retired employees at the Government Accountability Office are planning to file petitions with the agency's Personnel Appeals Board Wednesday, seeking pay and benefits they claim to have lost since the implementation of a new personnel system. In a May 4 e-mail, a group of GAO ...
