Workforce
OPM Highlights Mental Health Resources for Feds
The federal government is setting up a new listserv to provide federal employees with mental health information, events and tools to boost mindfulness.
Pay & Benefits
Feds Could Soon See Better Child Care Options Under a New Executive Order
A plan to revamp federal employees’ access to child care came Tuesday as part of a broad effort by President Biden to improve the affordability of care services for children and adult family members, as well as boost care workers’ compensation.
Oversight
A Bill Would Repeal an Expensive Tax Rule For Public Servants
Rep. Abigail Spanberger joins the podcast to discuss her plan to put money in feds' and retirees' pockets.
Pay & Benefits
Spanberger Touts Feds’ Support for Repeal of Controversial Tax Rule Affecting Retirees
More than 2,500 people responded to an informal survey about the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset conducted by the lawmaker’s office within the first 48 hours of its posting.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Starts the Process of Booting USPS Employees to a New Health Care Program
Health care premiums will likely go down for feds across the board as Medicare absorbs more costs, Biden administration predicts.
Workforce
Improved Fertility Coverage from FEHB Plans Is Coming
Kevin Moss joins the podcast to discuss what's in the recent Office of Personnel Management annual carrier call letter.
Pay & Benefits
Feds Can Expect to See Improved Fertility Coverage from FEHB Plans in 2024
Compared to existing fertility benefits, this is a significant expansion.
Pay & Benefits
How Changes to Medicare Part D Will Impact Federal Annuitants
The new reforms might be worth giving it a second look, one expert says.
Pay & Benefits
Bill to Boost Federal Firefighters’ Retirement Benefits is Back
Rep. Gerry Connolly’s legislation would include mandatory overtime hours in calculations to determine federal firefighters’ pension benefits.
Pay & Benefits
Federal Prisons Employees Aren’t Entitled to COVID Hazard Pay, Appeals Judges Rule
In a 10-2 decision, the appeals court said OPM regulations around hazardous duty pay only address the handling of “virulent biologicals” in a laboratory setting, not “ambient” exposure to infected individuals.
Pay & Benefits
A Bill to Fix a Customs and Border Protection Retirement Snafu Is Revived in the Senate
More than 1,000 Customs and Border Protection officers were mistakenly promised enhanced retirement benefits, only to have them taken away once the agency realized its error.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Try Again to Standardize Cost of Living Raises for Federal Retirees
Federal employee groups have long decried the fact that retirees enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System receive lower annual annuity adjustments than their peers.
Pay & Benefits
A Bipartisan Proposal to Give Feds 12 Weeks of Paid Family Leave Is Back
The bill would grant federal workers additional paid leave to deal with chronic health issues, a sick family member or in connection with a family member on active military duty.
Pay & Benefits
A Senator Is Once Again Trying to Keep TSP Investments Out of China
The TSP Fiduciary Security Act would require the agency that administers the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program to consider national security issues as part of its decision-making process.
Pay & Benefits
Biden Instructs Agencies to Expand Some Forms of Paid, Unpaid Leave for Feds
A memo to agency heads urges them to support federal workers who need to take paid or unpaid leave for a family matter or to escape from domestic violence and other dangerous situations.
Pay & Benefits
Oversight Republicans Demand Answers from OPM on FEHBP Fraud Risk Report
House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer claimed, without evidence, that the insurance program for federal employees is “riddled” with ineligible participants.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Should Do More to Prevent Improper FEHBP Payments
The Government Accountability Office on Monday reported that OPM has no fulsome way to monitor the eligibility of participants in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
Workforce
Here’s the Workforce Provisions that Did and Didn’t Make It Into the Final Defense Policy Bill
Did TSA employees get access to the General Schedule pay scale? No.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Will Suspend Long Term Care Insurance Applications as a Sizeable Premium Increase Looms
The deadline to apply for the program before a two-year suspension is Dec. 19, but officials want applicants to go in with “eyes wide open” that rates will likely increase substantially.
Pay & Benefits