Benefits
Some unused leave restored for essential pandemic workers
New regulations will allow workers designated essential during the coronavirus outbreak to have their unused leave restored.
Employee Policy
Agencies ramp up for office reopening
Veterans Affairs, State, Agriculture and other federal agencies are ramping up operations and bringing more workers into the office.
Employee Policy
Unions urge DHS to protect workers on reopening
As the Department of Homeland Security considers the process of resuming normal operations, unions representing agency employees are calling on agency leadership to ensure that personnel have adequate resources to protect against exposure to COVID-19.
Employee Policy
Connolly calls on IGs to check reopening plans for safety
The Government Ops chairman also wants the Pentagon's watchdog to probe a civilian federal worker's death from COVID-19.
Employee Policy
State Department's ex-IG calls out 'bullying'
Steve Linick told lawmakers that he didn't know why he was dismissed from his post, but many Democrats say investigations of Secretary Mike Pompeo played a role.
Employee Policy
Union wins CBP case against FLRA
A federal judge ruled that the Federal Labor Relations Authority went too far in enforcing new working conditions at Customs and Border Protection.
Employee Policy
Agencies report relatively smooth journey to maximum telework
Despite plans to incrementally push workers to return to the office, federal agencies still plan on allowing some employees to continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employee Policy
Bureau of Prisons units deployed in D.C. protests
A former union official says crisis management teams have historically been deployed for crowd control, protecting federal buildings.
Employee Policy
TVA outsources IT jobs
The Tennessee Valley Authority told 62 employees in its information technology workforce that they would be out of a job in 90 days as part of plan to outsource tech to contractors and managed services.
Benefits
AFGE urges Congress to include labor priorities in defense appropriations bill
Priorities include preserving collective bargaining rights, granting paid family leave.
Employee Policy
OPM looks to its own reopening
As Capitol Region local governments are starting to phase in their own reopening plans, the Office of Personnel Management put out a detailed guide for returning its own employees to the office.
Employee Policy
FLRA extends delay on SSA judges' contract
The reversal pauses of the implementation of a new contract while a lawsuit against a subcomponent of the Federal Labor Relations Authority plays out.
Benefits
VA benefits backlog climbs as pandemic drags on
The backlog of initial claims for benefits has been rising in recent weeks, after holding steady amid the 100% telework posture of the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Employee Policy
As numbers of agency HR employees declined, workloads rose, MSPB says
Plans for automation and other technologies to allow for individual HR employees to handle a larger workload haven't panned out.
Employee Policy
Arbitrator finds SSA withheld key information in dispute with judges' union
The decision comes as the Association of Administrative Law Judges is in the midst of a lawsuit against component of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Employee Policy
Unions react to the HEROES Act proposal
Government-employee unions vowed to support the Democrats in the legislative fight to prevent massive jobs loss and protect essential workers.
Retirement
Retirement board reverses on Chinese-linked index fund
the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board decision comes two days after White House asked Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia to intervene.
Employee Policy
$3T HEROES Act pushes telework, extends protections to feds
The House's COVID-19 relief bill appropriates more than $3 trillion on economic rescue for individuals and small business, but it also provides for expanded telework for the federal workforce and contractors during the coronavirus pandemic.
Retirement
White House steps on TSP's index fund including China-based companies
Citing national security and economic risks, senior officials instructed the Secretary of Labor to overturn plans by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to buy a fund that includes investments in China.
Benefits