Management
Lawmakers Demand Explanation for Social Security Telework Cuts
Friday marked the final day of a six-year-old telework pilot program for roughly 12,000 employees of the Social Security Administration’s operations agencies, after Commissioner Andrew Saul summarily ended it.
Management
Impasses Panel Gives Rare Win to Union on Telework
Just days after the Social Security Administration announced the impending end of a long-running telework pilot program for operations staff, the panel protected employees in the Office of Hearing Operations from a similar fate.
Pay & Benefits
With Winter Approaching, OPM Reminds Agencies of Closure and Leave Policies
The 2018 decision that employees who can work remotely usually cannot take leave due to a weather event has created a complicated web of rules and exceptions.
Management
Social Security’s Justification for Ending Telework Pilot Doesn’t Add Up
The agency has delayed the end until Nov. 23, but management denied the American Federation of Government Employees’ demand to bargain over implementation.
Pay & Benefits
Social Security Ends Telework Program for 12,000 Employees
Workers in all of the Social Security Administration’s operations components have less than two weeks to find alternate arrangements.
Pay & Benefits
Personnel Agency Demands Data on Use of Union Official Time, Telework
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Management
Leadership, Flexible Work Arrangements Key to Success of Employee Health and Wellness Programs
Agencies earning top marks on recent assessment share their secrets.
Pay & Benefits
Survey: Five in Six HHS Employees May Consider Leaving if Telework is Restricted
Department has stripped telework provisions from its union contract, and is expected to require employees to commute at least four days per week.
Pay & Benefits
New Guidance Helps Agencies Assess the Value of Work-Life Balance Programs
The federal government is looking to quantify the costs and benefits of programs such as telework.
Pay & Benefits
House Backs New Benefits for Feds, OPM Offers Heat Guidance and More
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Management
Administrative Law Judge Union Accuses Social Security of Bad Faith Bargaining
The agency’s “last best offer” to the union includes a 90% cut to official time, telework limits and removal of language that ensures due process for disability claimants.
Management
Interior Department Announces Modest Cutback to Telework
Beginning next month, front-line employees with telework agreements will be required to report to a physical office once a week, while supervisors will be eligible only for situational telework.
Pay & Benefits
More than Half of D.C.-Area Feds Say Agencies Aren’t Supportive of Telework Amid Metro Closures
Majority of respondents to a GovExec.com/Government Business Council survey report that the temporary shutdown of six Metrorail stations would have at least a moderate impact on their ability to do their jobs.
Workforce
Some Agencies Reluctant to Offer Telework Amid D.C. Metro Disruption
The Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to encourage the practice during the summer closures of half a dozen Virginia Metrorail stations.
Employee Policy
Group announces Telework Week results
More than 163,000 pledges signed up for Telework Week last month—more than four times the number of workers who pledged to telework during the event in 2011.
Benefits
Telework: Snowstorms boost participation
Federal employees are teleworking more this year than last, with inclement weather—together with existing laws and initiatives—driving participation rates to new highs.
Employee Policy
Thousands pledge to telework next week
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 137,000 workers had pledged to telework next week as part of an annual effort sponsored by Mobile Work Exchange.
Employee Policy
Public-private effort pools resources to measure telework gains
Federal employees who telework are saving the government money—and new a white paper co-sponsored by a leading telework advocacy group aims to help agencies more accurately measure those financial benefits as they design and implement telework programs.
Tech
'Bring Your Own Device' for Beginners
New guidance will help agencies establish policies on using personal devices for work.
Tech