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--Open season for health insurance this year runs from November 11 through December 9. "Careful shoppers can easily save hundreds of dollars next year (by picking the right plan) yet still get the best coverage..."...also...Open season for the Thrift Savings Plan will run from November 15 to January 31 (The Washington Post).
DEMO PROJECTS--"Results of demonstration projects are still brewing for pioneering agencies who have been testing alternative pay and hiring systems since the early 1980s." Many believe that the projects have allowed creativity in solving personnel problems. "Agencies struggling to remake themselves in the turbulent 1990s often find themselves handicapped by personnel systems restrictions. For them, a liberalized demonstration project process may be a tool worth considering" (Government Executive, October)
PARTNERSHIPS--"The Clinton Administration's National Partnership Council recently honored the efforts of seven federal agencies and their labor unions to establish labor management partnerships" (FPMI Communications, October).
OTHER VIEWS--Two local residents served on an OPM panel which helped selected the federal government's top executives for the 1996 Presidential Rank Awards (White Bear Press, White Bear Lake, MN, September 4)...Ban on abortion coverage revived (San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, CA, September 12)...Project ABLE will match disabled with government positions (Southern Standard, McMinnville, TN, September 15).
OF INTEREST--"Downsizing is not an illness but a symptom of one of the most profound transformations ever in our economy" (The New York Times, OP-ED)...How to handle those nightmare employees. You know the ones: the Subversive Sniper; the Busybody; the Goldbricker; and the Constant Complainer (The Wall Street Journal, Management)...Is it a good idea to hide a camera in your home to videotape the person watching your children? (The Wall Street Journal, Work & Family).
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