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--Predictions are that President Clinton's budget will suggest delaying civilian retirees' cost-of-living adjustments for three months in each of the next five years (The Washington Post, Monday).

BUDGET--"The Clinton administration, in its new budget proposal, will ask government agencies to worry less about eliminating jobs and put more emphasis on shifting workers into jobs that can improve programs and services, administration officials said" (The Washington Post, Sunday).

WAGE DEMANDS--"Public employees from New York City police to the government of Nebraska want big raises this year. And experts say if their demands are met, public workers could be a catalyst for wage increases in the private sector" (USA TODAY).

LIST--"The vice president's office, in response to a complaint from a group representing senior government career executives, said the administration will not make any use of material gathered by a federal union that identifies civil servants as 'adverse' to White House policies"(The Washington Post, In Brief).

PENMANSHIP--The use of handwriting analysis in employee selection appears to have gained a toehold in American industry (The Sun).

FMLA--President Clinton wants Congress to expand the family and medical leave law to let workers take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave a year to meet family obligations (USA TODAY). . . The Labor Department, which has received more than 6,300 complaints of Family and Medical Leave Act violations, is using the telephone to make the law more understandable. They have set up a toll-free number 1-800-959-FMLA for callers to get a brief explanation of the law and request more detailed information through the mail (The Washington Post, Sunday).

THE FEDERAL TIMES--Congress is still considering cutting cost-of-living adjustments, but many lawmakers are opposed to drastic changes . . . Looking for another federal job or a move to the private sector? The latest tool is the World Wide Web . . . Both large and small federal agencies are embracing electronic-mail as the most cost-effective way to send information . . . A proposed stopgap funding measure would end shutdown threats (The Federal Times, February 10).