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.
OPM "SECRETS"--"Accomplishments at OPM [outlined in Best Kept Government Secrets] include decreasing the workforce by 43 percent and cutting administrative costs by 17 percent, reducing the number of supervisors from one for every 7.8 employees to one for every 12 employees, decentralizing government job recruitment and hiring, assisting agencies in providing career transition services, eliminating the 10,000 page Federal Personnel Manual, and cutting red tape in applying for government jobs. OPM also created an employee-owned company to perform government background investigations, the first government privatization of its kind that will save $25 million in five years" (Government Employee Relations Report, September 23)
THE FEDERAL DIARY--According to one benefits expert, "anyone retiring near the end of this year--or any year--should be aware that their payment for unused annual leave will be adjusted to reflect the increased rate of pay that takes effect in the new leave year" (The Washington Post).
AROUND GOVERNMENT--"Congressional Republicans have agreed to cut the budget for the Internal Revenue Service but have apparently eased fiscal pressures that would force widespread layoffs at the start of next year" (The Washington Post)..."Republicans and the White House moved toward agreement on an omnibus spending bill required to keep most of the government operating in the new fiscal year beginning Tuesday" (The Wall Street Journal).
PARTNERSHIPS--A presidential mandate to streamline the federal government has led to dozens of successful labor-management partnerships, according to a report released by the American Federation of Government Employees Sept. 13 (Government Employee Relations Report, September 23).
OTHER VIEWS--Pilot program tracks federal contracts awarded to small firms (Business Journal, Charlotte, NC, August 5; Pacific Business News, Honolulu, HI, August 12; Jacksonville Business Journal, Jacksonville, FL, August 16).
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