Current news and events impacting the federal workforce, both current federal employees and federal retirees.
Congress recently passed a long sought after bill which will change the rules for special category federal employees and their ability to access their TSP accounts. The author describes what the new law does and how it will impact those federal workers to whom it applies.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has informed its members that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is currently interviewing federal contractors to gather their views on policies and processes of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
The appeals court has upheld two arbitration decisions that ruled against a union challenge to the furlough of Army employees brought about by sequestration in 2013.
The Office of Personnel Management has released the full results from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Responses indicate that federal employees are increasingly satisfied with their pay.
The number of new claims received by the Office of Personnel Management in September was the lowest number in months which allowed the outstanding backlog to be reduced by 10%, however, OPM still missed its own estimate for the month.
The author says that in addition to burning the government’s borrowed money, a shutdown will harm businesses large and small, take money out of the pockets of working men and women, reduce tax revenues, disrupt communities, and generally make a mess.
With all the hoopla and controversy about holding Federal employees accountable, a simple straight forward process exists to terminate Federal employees for a number of legitimate reasons within an Agency’s control. The author will provide a brief description of the process and suggest how Agencies that aren’t using it now can take advantage of the option.
Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate to increase the monthly stipend paid to Medal of Honor recipients by 200%.
A resolution has been introduced in the House to impeach Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
A recent poll of FedSmith.com users shows Bernie Sanders in the lead among the Democratic candidates for president and Donald Trump leading on the Republican side. The article provides a complete breakdown of the results for all of the candidates.
