Pay & Benefits
Employee Groups Decry Hikes in What Typical Feds Will Pay in Heath Care Premiums, and More
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Pay & Benefits
Feds Will Pay 4.9% More Toward Health Care Premiums Next Year
The Office of Personnel Management said Wednesday that it has revamped its online plan comparison tool and encouraged greater transparency from insurance carriers to tamp down on surprise billing.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Seeks to Limit Back Pay Awards for Employees, Unions
Officials at the Office of Personnel Management want to upend a nearly 40-year-old set of regulations, restricting which actions are subject to grievances under the Back Pay Act, and banning unions from being awarded attorney's fees when their members win their cases.
Management
Opioid Use Among Injured Federal Workers Fell Sharply Since 2017
The director of the Labor Department’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs says that efforts to mitigate dependence on addictive pain medication are paying off.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Protect All Feds’ Leave Following COVID
Although OPM’s current policy only waives the 30-day annual leave cap for essential employees who are unable to use their leave due to their duties responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats in Congress want to extend the waiver to all federal workers.
Pay & Benefits
Feds’ Most Valuable (and Perhaps Undervalued) Benefit
And how not to lose it in retirement.
Pay & Benefits
Biden Vows to Raise Federal Employees' Pay and Protect Benefits
In a questionnaire published by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the former vice president said he would abandon efforts by the Trump administration to force federal workers to contribute more to their defined benefit retirement accounts.
Pay & Benefits
GovExec Daily: The Future of Pay and Benefits Under Trump or Biden
Erich Wagner joins the podcast to discuss how the two major-party candidates would approach the federal workforce if elected.
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