Pay & Benefits

More Than 60 Democratic Lawmakers Want a 5.1% Raise for Feds

The lawmakers asked the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee to override President Biden’s plan to offer an average 4.6% raise for federal employees in 2023.

Workforce

Federal Employees Are Growing Less Engaged and Less Satisfied With Their Jobs

Response rates for the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey also fell 10 points from 2020, amid an abbreviated fall survey period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workforce

The ‘Ban the Box’ Prohibition at Federal Agencies Will Soon Be Expanded

OPM has proposed a rule implementing The Fair Chance Act, which expands a preexisting ban on asking federal job applicants about criminal histories before the conditional job offer phase of the hiring process, and sets up a mechanism for applicants to report violations of the rule.

Pay & Benefits

VA Will Provide Presumptive Disability Coverage to Vets with Respiratory Cancers

Veterans who have developed any number of nine rare cancers associated with burn pits will no longer have to prove that their conditions were caused during their service overseas.

Oversight

USDA Had a Plan for Determining the Best Place to Relocate Two Science Agencies. It Didn’t Follow It.

GAO finds the department's approach to relocating its Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City in 2019 had "significant limitations."

Pay & Benefits

It's Now Easier for Federal Firefighters to File for Workers Comp

For an array of chronic illnesses that have been linked with firefighting as a profession, federal firefighters will no longer have to prove precisely what incident caused their ailment.

Pay & Benefits

Feds Can Now Donate to Ukraine Relief Efforts Directly From Their Paychecks

Between now and June 30, federal workers can pledge to donate to thousands of charities working on relief efforts in Ukraine as part of a special round of the Combined Federal Campaign.

Management

Republican Senators Are Holding Up TSP Board Nominees Over Abandoned I Fund Changes

Three Republican senators have demanded that Thrift Savings Plan board nominees never shift the I Fund’s investments to track a more comprehensive market index that includes Chinese investments.

Workforce

OPM Targets Data and Benefits Education to Improve Equity in the Federal Workforce

The federal government HR agency’s report was one of more than 90 equity action plans released by the Biden administration this week.

Workforce

OPM Issues More Guidance to Encourage Collective Bargaining at Agencies

Building on President Biden’s executive order encouraging more collaborative labor-management relations, OPM strongly encouraged federal agencies to improve unions’ ability to communicate with workers and collect dues.

Workforce

Less Than a Week after Social Security Offices Reopen, Unions Report a Mixed Bag

Although some components reported a more collaborative labor-management relationship, that did not extend to field office employees, who now report feeling physically threatened at work.

Management

Biden’s Management Agenda Update Adds Metrics to Workforce Goals

The White House’s first update to the president’s management agenda, first released last November, lines up tasks for agencies and attaches individual officials to goals.

Pay & Benefits

What Federal Employees Should Know About the New Paid Parental Bereavement Leave Benefit

Thanks to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, federal workers can take up to two weeks off following the death of a child.

Management

OPM’s Goals for the Next 18 Months: Hire, Hire, Hire

The federal government’s human resources agency released a new strategic plan this week aimed at transforming the agency into a leader in governmental human capital management.