Pay & Benefits
How to Know if You’re Contributing Enough to the TSP
For some people, $100,000 may be enough; for others, $2 million may not be enough.
Pay & Benefits
Union Asks OPM to Loosen Restrictions on Paid Parental Leave
Some requirements of the new benefit program are overly burdensome, particularly if a baby is born prematurely.
Pay & Benefits
New Federal Rules Could Make It Harder for Parents to Take Paid Leave
New guidelines from the Department of Labor on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act say parents whose children have access to in-person learning are no longer eligible for paid leave.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Demand Answers on Payroll Tax Deferral, and More
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Benefits
OPM streamlines procedures for carrying over leave during emergencies
The Office of Personnel Management is issuing interim regulations to make it easier for agencies to restore annual leave to essential employees whose unused leave was forfeited because of their work in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Employee Policy
FERS vs. FECA: Best retirement option sometimes hard to call
Some injured or disabled feds may be better off not drawing from the Federal Employees Retirement System but instead electing to continue to draw disability pay under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program, a new Government Accountability Office report says.
Employee Policy
DOD issuing new Uniformed Services ID cards
The Next Generation Uniformed Services Identification cards for military family members, dependents, retirees and other eligible card holders will replace the paper cards in service since 1993.
Pay & Benefits
Survey: Vast Majority of TSP Participants Are Satisfied With the Retirement Savings Program
Although satisfaction levels are slightly down compared with 2017, officials with the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program said that is likely due to market volatility at the time of the survey.
Benefits
AFGE pushes for collective bargaining protections in NDAA
The goal is to invalidate a presidential memorandum from early this year that looked to roll back collective bargaining at the Department of Defense.
Management
AFGE Pushes for Workforce Protections in Defense Policy Bill Negotiations
The nation’s largest federal employee union urged lawmakers to include collective bargaining protections and fix a soon to be implemented paid parental leave law.
Benefits
OPM expands 2021 dental, vision plans
The Office of Personnel Management has expanded the number of dental and vision insurance carriers selected to provide coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Program.
Benefits
Connelly wants answers on FEVS delays
In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management’s acting director, Rep. Gerry Connelly (D-Va.) said that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Government Operations is “concerned about the apparent mishandling” of the survey.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Outlines Process for Restoring Leave After COVID
Regulations allowing some to carry over more than 30 days of annual leave into next year will also apply to future emergencies, Office of Personnel Management said.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Issues Regulations for Feds’ Paid Parental Leave
Beginning Oct. 1, federal workers will be entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid leave in connection with the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.
Benefits
AI commission floats idea of digital service academy
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has suggested establishing a national digital service academy to train technical talent.
Benefits
Report: Rising fed COVID toll now tops 4,000 disabled, 60 dead
To date, more than 4,000 federal employees or their families have claimed disability compensation for COVID-19 contracted at work -- with around 60 more claiming death benefits, according to a new report.
Benefits
House-passed NDAA expands paid leave benefit to excluded feds, bans TikTok
Title 38 employees working at the Transportation Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Federal Aviation Administration were not included in the original bill that established the benefit.
Pay & Benefits
Federal Pay is Way Off Track
The General Schedule system is unresponsive to labor market dynamics and agency staffing needs.
Benefits
OPM rule protects feds’ health benefits during shutdowns
The Office of Personnel Management wants to be sure feds keep their health benefits in the event of a government shutdown and has proposed designating features of employee insurance programs as “emergency services.”
Pay & Benefits