Management
OPM unveils its latest tool to accelerate the federal hiring process
The federal government’s HR agency added new functionality to USAJOBS to allow agencies to find candidates who had already been certified for federal employment elsewhere in government.
Pay & Benefits
OPM finalizes new locality pay areas ahead of 2024 pay raise
The combination of creating four new locality pay areas and a broad update to underlying maps means that around 33,300 federal workers will see larger pay raises beginning next year.
Oversight
Diversity in the federal workforce has improved slightly over the last decade
But Latino representation among federal employees continues to lag behind a nationwide benchmark.
Pay & Benefits
OPM proposes making it easier to approve some recruitment and relocation incentives
Under proposed regulations, the federal government’s HR agency would no longer need to approve waivers of traditional incentive payment caps in advance, potentially speeding up the hiring and relocation processes.
Workforce
OPM issues guidelines on military spouse executive order
Telework, leave policies and “compassionate transfers” between agencies should all be utilized to recruit and retain spouses of members of the military and reserve services, officials said.
Workforce
Union coalition throws support behind OPM’s anti-Schedule F rules
A group of 14 labor organizations led by the National Treasury Employees Union urged the federal government’s HR agency to adopt its proposal to hamstring future efforts to strip feds’ job protections “promptly.”
Workforce
OPM: Federal workers’ morale, engagement rebounded in 2023
Preliminary data from the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey indicates that federal agencies have improved on employees’ engagement, job satisfaction, as well as issues of diversity and inclusion.
Pay & Benefits
OPM begins prep for annual retirement surge
The federal government’s centralized HR office is urging federal agencies to be proactive in ensuring federal workers’ retirement applications are submitted without errors to streamline processing during the annual spike in claims.
Workforce
Agencies have hired nearly 5,500 feds to implement Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law
The Biden administration has surpassed its infrastructure law hiring goals, and plan to bring on another 1,000 personnel next year.
Pay & Benefits
The federal retirement backlog just hit another recent record low
The Office of Personnel Management’s inventory of pending retirement claims from former federal workers reached its lowest level since 2017 for the second time this year.
Management
OPM reminds agencies of new telework reporting requirements
As agencies prep to increase in-person work this fall, the federal government’s HR agency is calling on officials to collect better data on telework and remote work usage in their workplaces.
Management
OPM announces expansion of ‘continuous vetting’ security clearance process for current feds
After a successful pilot, the federal government’s HR agency and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency set a goal of enrolling all employees in non-sensitive public trust positions in the new process for reviewing existing security clearances by the end of fiscal 2024.
Workforce
OPM extends flexible hiring of military spouses
Interim regulations will allow federal agencies to hire the spouses of military service members outside of the traditional competitive hiring process through 2028.
Pay & Benefits
Report reveals differing federal employee insurance withholding information between USDA, OPM
An OIG audit found differences of federal employee withholding reporting between the two agencies, leading to several employees being charged incorrect life insurance amounts and another wrongly waived from coverage.
Pay & Benefits
Federal workers will pay 7.7% more towards health insurance premiums in 2024
Next year, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program will feature new coverage of anti-obesity medication, as well as expanded access to mental health, assistive reproductive technology and gender-affirming care.
Workforce
Science group threatens lawsuit over OPM’s failure to implement limiting involuntary leave for feds accused of misconduct
Although Congress passed a law aimed at preventing federal workers accused of misconduct from being stuck in limbo in 2016, the federal government’s HR agency never issued regulations to implement the measure.
Management
OPM advances skills-based hiring initiative with common competencies update for federal jobs
The federal government’s HR agency said it surveyed more than 90,000 federal workers to update its list of common skillsets needed in federal employment.
Management
What does post-pandemic telework look like during a shutdown?
As agencies begin planning for funding to stop on Sept. 30, federal telework guidance will be tested in a post-COVID environment.
Workforce
Regulations aimed at derailing a Schedule F revival proposed by OPM
An effort to insulate the federal workforce from future efforts to strip them of their removal protections could accelerate an “existential” debate over the nonpartisan civil service system, experts said.
Tech
OPM has a plan to take its tech 'from the Flintstones to the Jetsons'
The personnel agency recently released its first IT strategic plan in nearly a decade.
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