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.

PARTNERSHIPS--"Sixty-five percent of the respondents to the National Partnership Council's 1996 survey said partnership has cut their costs" . . . and . . . The National Partnership Council released a list of accomplishments of labor-management partnerships in 1996 (Federal Human Resources Week, January 6).

WINTER STORM--Yesterday's first winter storm caused federal workers to have the option of taking the day off. "It would come out of their annual leave allotment" (Reuter News Service).

THE FEDERAL DIARY--OPM has approved raises for engineers, effective this month (The Washington Post).

FEDERAL ISSUES--"The staff of the House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on civil service will have to wait for the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee to resolve some personnel matters before establishing a 'mutual agenda' for the civil service in 1997" (Federal Human Resources Week, January 6) . . . "The top priority in 1997 of the OPM Office of the Inspector General is to 'correct the egregious error' made in the health insurance reform law that excluded the FEHBP from certain of its fraud and abuse provisions, the OPM IG said in the office's Semi-Annual Report to Congress" (Government Employee Relations Report, January 6).

THE FEDERAL TIMES--The Senior Executive Association is upset about a November 18 letter from AFGE's president asking for information on career executives..."The bad news for managers dealing with a chronic goof-off employee. There's no magic bullet...The Concord Coalition, a group founded by two former members of Congress, strongly endorses cutting the budget deficit and entitlement spending including civil service retirement and Social Security...Executives get pay raise..."The pattern of life we are moving toward will be dominated by transition, not stability." We can use this to our benefit...Making the transition to a supervisory role (The Federal Times, January 13).