Pay & Benefits
Bill to Boost Federal Firefighters’ Retirement Benefits is Back
Rep. Gerry Connolly’s legislation would include mandatory overtime hours in calculations to determine federal firefighters’ pension benefits.
Pay & Benefits
Federal Prisons Employees Aren’t Entitled to COVID Hazard Pay, Appeals Judges Rule
In a 10-2 decision, the appeals court said OPM regulations around hazardous duty pay only address the handling of “virulent biologicals” in a laboratory setting, not “ambient” exposure to infected individuals.
Pay & Benefits
A Bill to Fix a Customs and Border Protection Retirement Snafu Is Revived in the Senate
More than 1,000 Customs and Border Protection officers were mistakenly promised enhanced retirement benefits, only to have them taken away once the agency realized its error.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Try Again to Standardize Cost of Living Raises for Federal Retirees
Federal employee groups have long decried the fact that retirees enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System receive lower annual annuity adjustments than their peers.
Pay & Benefits
A Bipartisan Proposal to Give Feds 12 Weeks of Paid Family Leave Is Back
The bill would grant federal workers additional paid leave to deal with chronic health issues, a sick family member or in connection with a family member on active military duty.
Pay & Benefits
A Senator Is Once Again Trying to Keep TSP Investments Out of China
The TSP Fiduciary Security Act would require the agency that administers the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program to consider national security issues as part of its decision-making process.
Pay & Benefits
Biden Instructs Agencies to Expand Some Forms of Paid, Unpaid Leave for Feds
A memo to agency heads urges them to support federal workers who need to take paid or unpaid leave for a family matter or to escape from domestic violence and other dangerous situations.
Pay & Benefits
Oversight Republicans Demand Answers from OPM on FEHBP Fraud Risk Report
House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer claimed, without evidence, that the insurance program for federal employees is “riddled” with ineligible participants.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Should Do More to Prevent Improper FEHBP Payments
The Government Accountability Office on Monday reported that OPM has no fulsome way to monitor the eligibility of participants in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
Pay
Here’s the workforce provisions that did and didn’t make it into the final Defense policy bill
Did TSA employees get access to the General Schedule pay scale? No.
Workforce
Here’s the Workforce Provisions that Did and Didn’t Make It Into the Final Defense Policy Bill
Did TSA employees get access to the General Schedule pay scale? No.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Will Suspend Long Term Care Insurance Applications as a Sizeable Premium Increase Looms
The deadline to apply for the program before a two-year suspension is Dec. 19, but officials want applicants to go in with “eyes wide open” that rates will likely increase substantially.
Benefits
Open questions about Open Season
Sorting out options for federal health insurance and Medicare can be tricky.
Employee Policy
Will federal workers get the gift of extra time off at Christmas?
The answer depends on what day of the week that holiday falls on.
Benefits
COVID-19, Anxiety and the Workplace
Labor and employment attorney David Barron joins our partner site podcast to discuss mental heath accommodations in the workplace.
Benefits
More Open Season tips for feds and annuitants
Our partner site podcast hosts Kevin Moss, who discusses health care options.
Benefits
Open Season: A checklist for federal annuitants
For starters, make sure you check if your premium is increasing, so you’re not caught off guard next year.
Benefits
Health insurance options for veterans
There are lots of choices, especially for those who have joined the civilian federal workforce.
Employee Policy