Workforce
OPM claims agencies can ignore union telework contracts
A new memo instructing agencies to cease enforcing union-negotiated telework policies under the guise of “management rights” could portend future assaults on collective bargaining.
Workforce
Trump signs memo that claims to cancel late Biden-era union contracts
Although the president railed against collective bargaining agreements signed at the Social Security Administration and the Education Department shortly before his inauguration, it’s unlikely any of those deals will be upended by the measure.
Pay & Benefits
Figuring out the ‘Fork in the Road’
The Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” offer has federal employees scrambling for answers and facing tough choices.
Workforce
Agencies to soon detail how they will overcome unions, office space issues to bring all staff in-person
The White House and OPM are asking for specifics in how agencies will comply with Trump's return-to-office order.
Workforce
OPM demands agencies comply with Trump’s telework order within 30 days
The State Department has already begun to implement the president’s memo cancelling telework agreements as of March 1 and remote work arrangements July 1, with exceptions for military spouses and employees with disabilities.
Updated
Workforce
Trump: Agencies should fire 'all' bureaucrats
Atop the president’s anticipated actions this week are executive orders moving to reinstate Schedule F, reduce unions’ bargaining rights and broad rollbacks of telework at federal agencies.
Workforce
House Oversight Republicans open Congress with rants against telework, unions
The first hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was ostensibly about telework yet frequently devolved into anti-union rhetoric.
Pay & Benefits
Congressional Republicans dial up multiple bills to cull telework flexibility
The 119th Congress has started early on reintroducing or debuting new plans to reduce telework capabilities at federal agencies.
Workforce
Ernst targets D.C.-area federal workers with trio of bills
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, proposed legislation this week that would force agencies to move 30% of their D.C.-based workforce out of the region, mandate telework tracking, and push agencies to move their headquarters out of the nation’s capital.
Management
Federal telework would be capped under a new House bill
Rep. Andy Ogles’ Show Up To Work Act would limit telework at federal agencies to 25% per pay period and require agency heads to certify performance gains for individual waivers.
Workforce
Ernst’s report documenting telework ‘abuse’ obscures more than it reveals
The Iowa senator and head of a new caucus related to President-elect Trump’s planned government efficiency commission misrepresented key statistics regarding telework’s usage at federal agencies.
Workforce
SSA, AFGE reach deal to lock in current telework levels until 2029
Union leaders said that for many, the workplace flexibility is the only thing preventing a mass exodus of overworked employees from the embattled agency.
Management
Musk, Ramaswamy focus on slashing telework and federal employee attrition in initial meetings with Republicans
The government efficiency commissioners want to work with Congress to cement their reforms into law.
Management
GSA begins process to reduce government’s footprint by 1.5 million square feet
The agency began the process to offload eight federal facilities across as many states as part of the effort to “right-size” the federal government’s physical footprint following telework’s expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Management
Agencies credit telework with recruiting, retention gains, GAO finds
A watchdog report examining telework use at four agencies found best practices still need implementation, but the presence, or absence, of telework as an option has affected their ability to attract talent.
Workforce
Trump’s ‘DOGE’ commission promises mass federal layoffs, ending telework
The incoming administration will handle large-scale RIFs with compassion, Vivek Ramaswamy says.
Workforce
New Senate majority leader ‘excited’ to ‘dismantle federal bureaucracy’
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., also said that he is open to allowing recess appointments, which could let Trump bypass the Senate for certain nominees.
Management
A new report includes calls for modernized federal recruitment and retention efforts
In an updated version of its 2018 report on strengthening the federal government’s organizational health and performance, the National Academy of Public Administration included the tools and best practices agencies can deploy for recruitment and retention in a post-pandemic world.
Pay & Benefits
A Senate bill targeting teleworkers’ locality pay now has its companion in the House
Legislation introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., would bar federal workers from receiving locality pay if they telework at least once per week, a move that could amount to a 30% pay cut for many feds.
Updated
Workforce