TSP Performance Up in December 2008 Ending a Dismal Year of Returns
After five straight years of positive TSP fund performance, 2008 was a disappointment. While all of the funds were up in December, all but two of the funds lost money in 2008.
After five straight years of positive TSP fund performance, 2008 was a disappointment. While all of the funds were up in December, all but two of the funds lost money in 2008.
What were the most popular news items on the FedSmith site in 2008? The most popular articles this past year were on the 2009 pay rates for federal employees, employee benefits and retirement issues.
The number of returning veterans with major wounds is likely to be very large, and federal agencies will have to be creative, probably to an unprecedented degree, in coming up with the reasonable accommodations that will be needed. Is there the will in federal agencies to hire them?
The Federal Circuit of Appeals has concluded that the OPM regulation on excepted service positions violates the law. It is “at odds with the statutory protections Congress guaranteed these [30% or more disabled] veterans.”
To make your New Year’s resolutions more successful, break your resolutions into achievable steps, monitor the completion of those steps and celebrate your small successes. Here are suggestions you can use for small resolutions that will help you move toward the larger goal of finding a better job.
We know that the average federal employee will receive a raise of 3.9% in 2008 and federal retirees will get a COLA of as much as 5.8%. What about employees under NSPS? Many NSPS employees in the Washington, DC area will get a higher raise than those under the GS system.
FedSmith.com is now posting to Twitter as another means of sharing our news with readers.
What do readers think about a total ban on smoking in federal buildings? There are plenty of strong opinions ranging from simmering resentment about smokers taking extra breaks to concerns about the lack of “smokers’ rights.” Here are the survey results.
If smoking is not allowed inside a government building, or around the outside of a federal building, where will smokers smoke? Federal employee unions may be working hard on this issue in the next few months as GSA has issued a new bulletin banning smoking.
The President has signed an Executive Order implementing the 2009 federal pay increase. Here is a chart that shows the amount of the pay increase by locality pay area.