Defense
Appropriators block funding for DHS personnel reforms
Congress approved $20 million for the overhaul for fiscal 2007; Bush administration has requested $15 million for next year.
Pay & Benefits
House panel backs 3.5 percent civilian pay raise
Move echoes approval of similar increase for military service members.
Pay & Benefits
Auditors question Pentagon projections for health care savings
Increasing TRICARE enrollment fees and deductibles is unlikely to achieve the $9.8 billion in savings Defense expects, GAO finds.
Pay & Benefits
Advocates sketch plan for public service academy
Blueprint sets academy apart from existing programs, addressing recent criticism that a new institution is unnecessary.
Pay & Benefits
Riskier TSP funds bring greatest gains for May
Fund made up of fixed-income bonds was the only option to lose ground.
Oversight
GAO to challenge eligibility of employees to unionize
Agency is hiring private legal counsel, plans to contest petitions of more than a third of employees who filed for an election.
Pay & Benefits
Labor leader seeks boost in mileage reimbursement rate
Midyear adjustments are unusual, but union official says recent gas price increases merit a higher rate.
Pay & Benefits
OPM pushes to extend locality pay to Alaska, Hawaii
New proposal seeks to gradually replace cost-of-living allowances with locality payments for areas outside the contiguous states.
Pay & Benefits
A Whole Different Kind of Service
A look at the complex rules involving retirement credit for work in nonappropriated fund instrumentalities.
Oversight
FAA, union haggle over performance pay
Employee organization argues formula hurts lower-level workers, with raises contingent on factors beyond their control.
Pay & Benefits
Getting to the SES
Training and leadership programs can help employees get to the top of the civil service ladder.
Defense
Navy rolls out new workforce strategy
Service hopes to set an example for the federal government in recruiting and retaining talent.
Defense
Panel backs whistleblower rights for Defense contractors
An amendment to the 2008 Defense authorization bill seeks to give contract workers the same protections as federal employees.
Defense
Senate panel moves to scale back Pentagon personnel system
Armed Services Committee votes to repeal portions of the Pentagon's personnel system, amid rigorous lobbying from federal labor unions.
Defense
OPM pushes Homeland Security to move on pay for performance
Department has made progress on personnel reforms, but should begin basing pay on quality of work, report says.
Pay & Benefits
Crediting Volunteer Service
How service in prominent federal volunteer programs is treated in retirement computations.
Oversight
Union criticizes report backing NASA workforce flexibilities
Group charges that until the agency receives more funding, its missions and workforce remain at risk.
Pay & Benefits
Model for Health Coverage
Democrats in the 2008 presidential campaign turn to the federal employee program as a health care solution.
Oversight