Employee Policy
COVID: It's Deadline Day for feds
The Nov. 22 deadline for federal employees to either be vaccinated or obtain a valid exemption finally has arrived, and the Biden administration is touting strong compliance across the government.
Employee Policy
Postal union pushes back on "red ink" story
Postal worker labor organizations are again pushing back against reports of financial losses across the massive delivery operation—reminding the public that the numbers are distorted by "faulty" accounting over impossible future retiree costs and other issues, all of which can only be remedied by the White House and Congress.
Employee Policy
Better, faster research could cut vet suicides
About 17 veterans take their own lives every day, a far higher toll than occurred in America's most recent wars. The think tank RAND Corporation recently presented testimony suggesting that faster collection and publication of data, and associated research, could be used to reduce these horrific losses.
Employee Policy
Shutdown averted, but feds criticize chaos
Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 3, just in time to avoid a shutdown.
Employee Policy
Fed orgs, unions hope to avert shutdown
Major federal employee unions and advocacy organizations are pressing Congress to get on with passing a spending bill before the Thursday night deadline, to avoid the chaos of a shutdown that still looms over federal agencies and the whole country.
Employee Policy
VHA: Bargaining rights within reach
Collective bargaining rights remain denied to tens of thousands of Veterans Health Administration doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. But the VA Employee Fairness Act bill, passed by the House Veterans Affairs Committee, could change all that.
Employee Policy
New COVID protections for some feds
COVID has killed many feds, and sickened untold thousands more, and the disease continues to endanger the workforce into the future. But a new OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard aims to reduce the threat, specifically to healthcare workers.
Financial Planning
Survey: TSP remains popular with feds
The latest survey of 5,500 Thrift Savings Plan participants shows that nearly 9 out of ten federal employees said they are happy with it, though satisfaction dipped a bit -- likely because of the fallout from the pandemic.
Employee Policy
FERS vs. FECA: Best retirement option sometimes hard to call
Some injured or disabled feds may be better off not drawing from the Federal Employees Retirement System but instead electing to continue to draw disability pay under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program, a new Government Accountability Office report says.
Employee Policy
New study points to importance of ventilation to reduce indoor COVID spread
As feds return to the workplace, they may wonder if social distancing, face masks and frequent cleaning of surfaces are enough to keep them safe from COVID-19.
Employee Policy
Proposed Federal Jobs Act would push for greater diversity in senior ranks
The bill aims to bring stronger reporting and review mechanisms to "identify and remove barriers to equal employment opportunity."
Employee Policy
DeJoy reverses course on controversial USPS changes
Moves to slash overtime, delay delivery and remove sorting machines had prompted widespread criticism.
Employee Policy
OSC OKs White House nomination speech -- but Hatch Act dangers loom
While President Trump is free to use 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for politics, most White House employees cannot support such efforts.
Employee Policy
USPS shakeup rattles employee unions and worries retirees, vets
As Postmaster General Louis DeJoy moves ahead with reorganizing the U.S. Postal Service, unions are sounding the alarm over mail delays on a sustained and significant scale.
Employee Policy
Lawmakers, unions join to oppose end to ‘official time’ for EEOC complaints
Federal employee unions -- joined by 185 lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- are clamoring to block the Trump administration from eliminating federal employees’ use of “official time” for managing workplace discrimination complaints.
Employee Policy
Trump pushes agencies to review, reduce foreign hires on federal contracts
The White House this week ordered all agencies to review their procedures to ensure that federal contractors employ U.S. nationals ahead of foreign workers.
Employee Policy
Whistleblower ‘dissent channels’ aren’t working, watchdog says
Although some employees can file complaints without fear of reprisal, many see dissent channels as useless or worse, a new report finds.
Benefits
Report: Rising fed COVID toll now tops 4,000 disabled, 60 dead
To date, more than 4,000 federal employees or their families have claimed disability compensation for COVID-19 contracted at work -- with around 60 more claiming death benefits, according to a new report.
Employee Policy
BLM materials not political, permitted at work, special counsel says
Because Black Lives Matter is not a political organization, literature or other materials displaying the organization’s name or slogans is not, in itself, a violation of the Hatch Act, according to the Office of Special Counsel.
Benefits