Author Archive
Pay & Benefits
Merit Board Offers Advice to Fix Reskilling Program That Hasn't Translated to Any New Job Placements
A pilot program to train some non-IT workers with technology skills has not resulted in anyone switching jobs, largely because participants would have needed to take a pay cut.
Oversight
Lawmakers Demand Answers on Alleged EPA Ethics Violations
House overseers say they found multiple instances in which officials flouted required ethics pledges and other disclosures.
Workforce
Supreme Court Justices Skeptical of Current Standard for Federal Worker Age Discrimination Cases
Justices appeared to find the Trump administration’s egg-less baking analogy difficult to stomach, but also probed the hypothetical limits of installing a lesser standard to prove age was a factor in personnel actions at federal agencies.
Pay & Benefits
A Paid Leave Update, and a Bill to Improve Feds’ Due Process Rights
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Management
Trump Administration to Expand Hiring Pilot Programs in 2020
Pilot program with simpler resumes and more input from subject matter experts in assessing candidates will reach at least five additional agencies this year.
Management
Labor Authority Beats Back Agency Efforts to Narrow Bargaining Obligations
Since November, the agency that governs labor-management relations in the federal government declined half a dozen different requests for “policy statements” that would give management an advantage in talks with unions.
Management
OPM Implements One of the Few Uncontested Pieces of Trump's Workforce Orders: A Database of Union Contracts
Nearly 800 collective bargaining agreements are now available.
Featured eBooks
Management
Administrative Law Judges Decry Social Security Rule that Would Take Cases Out of Their Hands
SSA argues allowing appeals judges to hear lower-level disability cases will decrease the agency’s backlog, but administrative law judges say the initiative is an effort to undermine their independence.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Reduces Retirement Backlog, and Gas Reimbursement Rates Decrease Slightly
A weekly roundup of pay and benefits news.
Management
With Snow on the Way, OPM Says Feds ‘Must Depart’ No Later Than 1 p.m.
The federal government’s HR agency instructed D.C.-area federal workers to leave work four hours early or by 1 p.m., whichever is earlier.
Pay & Benefits
Feds at Two Major Agencies Would Not Get Paid Parental Leave Under New Law
A law authorizing 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers applies only to Title 5 employees, leaving workers at TSA, FAA and elsewhere fearing they will miss out. Democrats are working to change that.
Management
Arbitrator: HHS Violated Labor Laws Implementing Union Contract
In May, the Health and Human Services Department implemented a Federal Service Impasses Panel decision, despite the fact that it was legally required to first negotiate six union contract provisions with the National Treasury Employees Union.
Pay & Benefits
Pay Agent Approves New Locality Pay Area, Calls for Legislative Changes to All Federal Pay
Federal workers Des Moines, Iowa, and Imperial County, California, will be the next in line to receive raises in the form of locality pay, likely beginning in 2021.
Pay & Benefits
Nearly All TSP Portfolios End 2019 in the Black
Every fund in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program gained value last year.
Featured eBooks
Management
The New Year Brings Good News for Federal Worker Compensation
While health care costs are rising and telework took a hit, everyone will see a decent raise and new parents will soon get paid parental leave.
Pay & Benefits
Trump Finalizes Pay Raise for Feds in 2020
The new pay tables are out: Federal employees will see a 2.6% increase in basic pay next year, with an average 0.5% increase in locality pay.
Management
OPM Proposes Making It Easier to Rehire Former Feds
Under a new plan from the Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies would be able to rehire former federal workers at a higher pay grade than their previous job, provided they were high performers.
Management
Lawmakers Accuse VA of Violating Bargaining Rules in Workforce Order Implementation
More than 70 House Democrats said the department must bargain with its union before it can implement President Trump’s controversial workforce executive orders.
Management
