Tentative Senate deal reaffirms back pay, reverses RIFs for federal employees

The Senate’s initial agreement toward ending the longest-ever government shutdown includes provisions that would secure back pay for all federal employees, as well as reverse the Trump administration’s recent reductions in force. Though much is still up in the air and subject to possible changes, the early steps in the process indicate that, if the Senate bill’s current language is maintained, both excepted and furloughed federal employees would receive back pay dating to Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began. Federal employees, regardless of whether they are furloughed or excepted,…

Read More...

Lawmakers seek to revise pay, benefits for some federal employees under shutdown

As Congress still appears far from reaching a spending agreement to end the partial government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to miss their first full paychecks this Friday. Many excepted and furloughed federal employees received partial paychecks around Oct. 10, for the pay period that ended Oct. 4 — although they were only paid for workdays through Sept. 30. But while the shutdown drags on, some members of Congress are looking at other options to try to secure pay and benefits for certain employees impacted by…

Read More...

The New Danger in Trump’s Washington: Honoring Federal Employees

In some ways, last night’s Sammie awards—also known as the Oscars for federal employees—proceeded just as they do every year. In a packed auditorium a few blocks from the White House, government luminaries handed out medals to some of the nation’s most talented civil servants, recognizing groundbreaking research, major improvements in customer service, and top-notch stewardship of taxpayer money. The ceremony, however, was unusual in one respect: Hardly any of the honorees took the stage to accept their awards. Instead, they stayed at their seats, away from the cameras. Public…

Read More...

Unions, lawmakers urge federal employees to be cautious, stay in their jobs

Democratic lawmakers, as well as many federal unions and organizations, are urging federal employees to exercise extreme caution in response to the Trump administration’s request for voluntary resignations from the career federal workforce. Many organizations, including the National Treasury Employees Union, are encouraging federal employees to remain in their jobs and reject the Trump administration’s offer of what it called a “deferred resignation program” to the majority of the roughly 2.2 million career federal employees. “The so-called ‘deal’ is a hostile effort to disparage federal employees, weaken agencies and disrupt…

Read More...

9 GOP bills for federal employees to track in the new Congress

At the start of the 119th Congress, lawmakers were quick to introduce a flurry of bills that would have lasting consequences for the federal workforce. Much of the GOP-led legislation will be familiar to federal employees — a majority of the bills have been reintroduced for at least the last couple of years. But now that Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, and with the incoming Trump administration, the prospects for the legislation may be shifting. Here are just a handful of bills from Republican lawmakers in…

Read More...

House VA Committee leader demands ‘airtight case’ for VA IT employees getting pay boost

A top Republican on the House VA Committee is scrutinizing the number of the employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs who are receiving a pay raise meant for hard-to-keep IT and cyber experts. The VA implemented a Special Salary Rate last summer, giving more than 7,000 employees in its Office of Information Technology (OIT) a substantial boost in pay. The SSR resulted in a 17% average pay increase for VA tech and cyber workers in 2210-classified positions. VA OIT has over 7,500 employees in these positions, and they account…

Read More...