Employee Policy
HHS looks to reset labor relations
Some federal agencies are leveraging a Biden administration executive order to change the tone of labor-management relations, but unions say a few departments aren't taking the order to heart.
Employee Policy
OPM head: "More questions than answers" on federal workforce vaccine policy
Kiran Ahuja, the recently installed director of the Office of Personnel Management, has a host of long-standing agency issues to deal with, along with helping implement governmentwide workforce policy to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Employee Policy
Fed workforce equity EO: What next?
On June 25, President Biden signed a sweeping Executive Order on workforce equity. Here's a timeline on how we can expect it to be implemented.
Employee Policy
Could increasing telework make government employment more accessible?
The pandemic pushed over half of the federal workforce into telework. Disability rights advocates say maintaining greater access to telework could make the federal workspace more accessible.
Pay
Biden admin ups pay for fed firefighters
Average annual pay for U.S. Forest Service firefighters is $38,000, versus $70,000 to $88,000 for their state, local and private counterparts. The White House has ordered an immediate modest boost, and bills pending in Congress could lock in this and additional gains for these crucial first responders.
Employee Policy
Federal job satisfaction still lags
The annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Survey, an analysis by the Partnership for Public Service of OPM survey research, shows federal employee engagement, as in previous years, remains lower than in private sector employees.
Employee Policy
Lawmakers spar over paid family and medical leave for feds
Lawmakers are sparring over a bill that would provide feds with paid family and medical leave, most recently in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Employee Policy
Biden nominates MSPB vice chair
The White House has tapped Raymond Limon. a senior HR official at Interior, to serve as vice chair at MSPB.
Employee Policy
DOD watchdog says DDS director didn't mistreat employees
DOD investigators report they did not find evidence to support allegations of workplace bullying by outgoing Defense Digital Service Director Brett Goldstein.
Employee Policy
DHS remaking federal hiring, to confront cybersecurity gap
After an alarming number of recent data breaches striking our shores, DHS is changing policy to speed the hiring of cybersecurity professionals.
Employee Policy
New WH guidance for feds returning to the office
The Biden administration released new guidelines this week, permitting the large-scale return to in-person work across federal agencies, rolling back current COVID occupancy limits but at the same time maintaining maximum telework status in place.
Employee Policy
WH: Agencies shouldn't require vaccinations, or ask for vaccination status
Agencies should not demand that federal employees or contractors be vaccinated to return to the workplace, nor should they demand vaccination status be disclosed, according to guidance from the White House's Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, issued this week.
Employee Policy