Management
Senior executive standards get first update in more than 15 years
OPM said technological advances necessitated the changes, but some stakeholders argued the modifications still don’t reflect current governmental needs.
Updated
Workforce
VA employees ordered to pay back bonuses over misconduct now have an appeal process
The rulemaking is the result of a 2017 law intended to make it easier to remove poor-performing VA employees, but the Biden administration previously decided not to use it after legal decisions blunted the law’s authorities.
Management
OPM officials tout agency’s transformation under Biden
Leaders at the federal government’s dedicated HR agency said the organization has come a long way since being targeted for elimination by the first Trump administration.
Pay & Benefits
OPM set to finalize rules standardizing General Schedule, blue collar locality pay maps
The final rule implementing the long-requested adjustment to the Federal Wage System’s map of wage areas won’t be published until after President-elect Trump’s inauguration.
Transition
OPM clears Trump’s beachhead teams for landing
Existing authorities allow the president-elect to make certain temporary appointments during the transition to a new administration.
Pay & Benefits
OPM outlines pay, benefits rules for appointees resigning on Inauguration Day
The federal government’s HR agency also highlighted the ramifications of Jan. 20 coinciding with Martin Luther King Day for D.C.-area federal workers.
Pay & Benefits
Feds claims just 7% of available funds from OPM breach settlement, remainder returns to Treasury
Only a few thousand current federal workers, former employees and applicants cashed in from 2015 hack.
Pay & Benefits
Biden finalizes 2% pay raise for feds next month
The president was apparently unmoved by federal employee groups and some House Democrats’ pleas to restore pay parity between the civilian and military workforces.
Pay & Benefits
Your guide to pay and benefits during a shutdown
Congress has just hours to reach an agreement to fund the government past midnight Friday, after President-elect Trump and his confidante Elon Musk scuttled a bipartisan deal earlier this week.
Workforce
OPM finally issues regulations implementing 2016 administrative leave reforms
An environmental advocacy group sued the federal government’s HR agency earlier this year in an effort to prod the federal government’s HR agency to implement a law aimed at ending lengthy periods of paid administrative leave.
Management
Could Biden’s recent strategy to streamline government hiring be scuttled under Trump?
One of the purposes of the administration’s federal hiring improvement plan is to make agencies aware of hiring tools they already have access to.
Updated
Management
Extraordinary senior executives receive presidential rank award
The selective honor comes with a cash award that is up to 35% of the recipient’s annual basic pay.
Pay & Benefits
OPM’s retirement backlog ticked up slightly last month, though other metrics improved
Statistics measuring the federal government HR agency’s performance in processing departing federal workers’ retirement claims remained stable following the backlog’s removal from OPM’s list of top management challenges.
Pay & Benefits
Feds find open season 'unpleasant'—but may miss thousands in savings
Federal enrollees have until Dec. 9 to make changes to their health coverage ahead of substantial premium increases.
Pay & Benefits
An employee group is miffed by the new Postal Service insurance program’s Medicare Part D coverage
OPM said that they were restricted in how they provide prescription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible enrollees in the new Postal Service Health Benefits Program, but at least one employee association disagrees.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
OPM doesn’t have documented customer experience plans for the Postal Service’s open season, OIG says
The HR agency has developed contingencies if there is a surge of customer experience requests during the Postal Service Health Benefits System’s first open season, but a new report claims that those plans aren’t either defined or comprehensive enough for the multi-agency operation.
Workforce
OPM issues guidance for agencies to implement anti-Schedule F regulations
The effort to insulate the federal civil service from former President Trump’s plan to replace potentially tens of thousands of career employees in “policy-related” position with loyalists could be short lived if the Republican nominee wins the election next month.
Management
OPM announces a program to make it easier for ex-interns to get full-time federal work
A new feature within USAJOBS’ Agency Talent Portal will allow agencies to hire former interns from other agencies into term or permanent federal positions.
Workforce
Biden administration launches emergency hiring efforts to support hurricane relief efforts
Federal agencies can quickly appoint new employees, who can serve up to two years.
Workforce