Workforce
Republicans look to 'dismantle' DEI efforts at federal agencies
New bill would strike down President Biden's diversity efforts and create strict rules preventing such initiatives.
Workforce
Agencies’ best tool in closing talent gaps: Diversity, equity and inclusion
COMMENTARY | By keeping DEI at the heart of recruitment and retention strategies, government leaders can address some of the complex challenges our country faces day in and out.
Management
Federal documents don’t provide enough checkboxes for all AAPI ethnicities. That may be about to change
AAPI researchers are celebrating the federal government’s new standards for collecting more detailed race and ethnicity data, in which respondents are able to report their country of origin.
Management
OPM guidance details when agencies can ask about applicants' criminal history
Though the federal government had already implemented a form of “ban the box” administratively, the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act necessitated an update of the policy.
Workforce
How transforming federal workforce culture can enhance safety and productivity
COMMENTARY | It takes more than annual check-the-box training and motivational posters to bring about change.
Management
Top women officials say there’s more work to do on gender balance in government tech
Women seem to be far more common in government’s top tech leadership positions than they used to be, but “we are far from done,” one such leader warns.
Management
Biden administration finalizes first demographics data standards update in nearly 30 years
No longer will “race” and “ethnicity” be bifurcated into separate questions in federal datasets and questionnaires such as the U.S. Census, and people of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry will have their own distinct category.
Management
Biden just signed the largest executive order focused on women’s health
From maternal health to menopause, federal agencies will study the health issues that emerge across a woman’s lifespan.
Pay & Benefits
How diverse candidates can better navigate the security clearance process
COMMENTARY | Simple steps can make the security clearance process less of a barrier to keeping diverse candidates out of government careers.
Management
USDA's equity commission urges 'sweeping and generational change'
The independent commission’s report also included some to-do items for lawmakers.
Oversight
Agencies need to beef up sexual harassment training for employees, GAO says
Selected federal agencies and components of the Defense Department have only partially implemented an array of training practices aimed at preventing sexual harassment and do not sufficiently evaluate the effectiveness of their existing training programs, the watchdog found.
Management
The new FAFSA was supposed to be easier to use. Technical glitches have made it anything but
Marginalized students may have the most to lose as the Education Department’s rollout of the new college financial aid application has hit several bumps.
Workforce
OPM’s 2024 equity goals aim to expand data-based approach
The federal government’s HR agency plans to expand the use of data to analyze recruitment barriers for underserved communities as well as outreach at minority-serving educational institutions in the coming year.
Workforce
OPM offers guidance for agencies implementing salary history ban
Federal agencies will have until October to excise the solicitation and use of job candidates’ past compensation when setting pay for new hires.
Pay & Benefits
Biden administration to extend salary history ban to federal contractors
Officials said that new proposed regulations, released in conjunction with a final rule barring federal agencies from soliciting job applicants’ salary histories, will reduce pay disparities and improve the effectiveness of the federal contract workforce.
Pay & Benefits
OPM: Federal salaries won't be tied to private sector pay histories
Agencies can’t use non-federal salaries to help set pay for new or returning federal employees, under a new rule from the Office of Personnel Management.
Pay & Benefits
Trans veterans were promised access to gender-affirming surgeries — but it never happened
The Transgender American Veterans Association filed a lawsuit on Thursday over the Veterans Affairs Deparment’s failure to act after years of inaction.
Workforce
In milestones, Black women from South Carolina and Indiana confirmed as federal judges
To date President Biden has nominated 170 judges confirmed by the Senate.
Management
Biden’s chief diversity officer is headed to the private sector
Janice Underwood, who serves as the governmentwide chief diversity officer and as director of the Office of Personnel Management’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility office, will be vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion talent outreach and development at Disney.
Workforce