Tag: Feds

OPM removes language on back pay for furloughed feds from shutdown guidance

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With a partial government shutdown underway, the Office of Personnel Management has updated its shutdown guidance to remove references to the guarantee of back pay for furloughed federal employees once a funding lapse ends. OPM’s previous shutdown guidance from September 2025 stated that furloughed employees will get paid once a lapse in appropriations ends, at the earliest date possible. The September guidance also referenced the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA), a law meant to ensure retroactive compensation for both excepted and furloughed federal employees during government shutdowns. After…

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Legislation to axe locality pay for teleworking feds gets Senate companion

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Senate legislation targeting locality pay for federal teleworkers now has a companion bill in the House. If enacted, the Federal Employee Return to Work Act would remove locality pay for any federal employee who teleworks at least one day a week. Federal teleworkers would instead only receive their base pay rates. The House bill, introduced this week, comes after Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced the legislation in August. The Republican-led bill is one of many efforts to scale back telework options for federal employees. (Federal Employee Return to Work Act…

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Senate bill would require feds to increase the amount of time they spend in the office

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A pair of senators is looking to get feds back to the office even more. If enacted, the Back to Work Act would require federal employees to spend 60% of their work hours in the office. It would mean a slight increase from the current in-person policy at many agencies, right now at about 50% in-the-office. Lawmakers say the bill is a way to address federal office space concerns, while still allowing for *some telework flexibility. Under the legislation, agencies would also have to monitor teleworking employees. They’d also have…

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‘Telework is not one-size-fits-all’: Agencies defend hybrid work for feds in front of House lawmakers

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Agency leaders are still adjusting their return-to-office plans after the Biden administration called for an increase to “meaningful” in-person work and cuts to telework for the federal workforce. The administration, in large part, has emphasized the importance of using data to measure productivity, engagement and other factors that telework affects, according to the initial return-to-office memo from the Office of Management and Budget in April. But left unsatisfied with the telework data available from agencies, lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee pressed harder on a handful of federal…

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Senate bill would improve death benefits for civilian feds

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) offered up a companion bill aiming to improve death benefits for civilian feds. The new legislation would offer 10 times the current benefit amounts for families of civilian workers who are killed on official duty. The bill would also offer more money to the families to cover funeral expenses. The goal of the bill is to bring benefits for civilian employees in line with what military members and Foreign Service employees already get. Sinema’s bill comes after the introduction of the bipartisan House version earlier this…

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