Management
Federal Panel Strips VA Worker Rights in Latest Pro-Management Decision
Although the Federal Service Impasses Panel scolded VA for its overbroad reliance on management rights to eviscerate its contract with a labor union, the panel still ruled mostly in the department’s favor.
Management
Rolling Back Trump Workforce Policies Won’t Be As Simple As Rescinding Executive Orders
President-elect Biden has vowed to rescind on his first day a series of Trump-era directives aimed at weakening federal labor unions and politicizing the civil service, but repairing the damage could take much longer.
Management
Union: Social Security Biased Against Minorities in Performance Ratings
Although more than half of SSA’s frontline workers are minorities, they have accounted for less than 40% of top performance ratings doled out by the agency in recent years.
Management
FLRA Overturns Its Own Regional Director, Busts Immigration Judges’ Union
The lone Democrat on the board of the agency tasked with administering federal labor law accused his colleagues of “sophistry” and “facetious” reasoning to strip more than 450 federal employees of their collective bargaining rights.
Management
Coalition of 28 Labor Groups Urges Congress to Block Trump Order Creating Schedule F
Federal Worker Alliance sends a letter to Democratic appropriators urging them to include language in the next round of spending legislation to rescind President Trump’s executive order.
Management
‘Stunning’ Executive Order Would Politicize Civil Service
President Trump signs directive that would potentially pull thousands of federal employees in "policy-making" positions out of the competitive service, making them at-will employees.
Management
Impasses Panel, Union Debate Appellate Court Decision’s Impact on Appointments Challenge
Government attorneys cited a recent D.C. Circuit Court decision in support of the argument that appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel should not require Senate confirmation.
Management
OPM Finalizes Rule on Trump Executive Order to Ease Firing and Discipline of Feds
Regulations set to go into effect next month will implement several key provisions of President Trump’s executive order.
Management
White VA Employees Twice as Likely to Be Promoted as Black Workers
The American Federation of Government Employees said Thursday that new data it obtained via the Freedom of Information Act underscores its allegations of systemic racism pervading the Veterans Affairs Department.
Pay & Benefits
OPM Seeks to Limit Back Pay Awards for Employees, Unions
Officials at the Office of Personnel Management want to upend a nearly 40-year-old set of regulations, restricting which actions are subject to grievances under the Back Pay Act, and banning unions from being awarded attorney's fees when their members win their cases.
Management
Civil Rights Groups Pressure VA Ahead of GAO Racism Audit
GAO has agreed to investigate the prevalence racism at the Veterans Affairs Department after a survey revealed that the vast majority of bargaining unit employees had either experienced or witnessed acts of discrimination on the job.
Pay & Benefits
GovExec Daily: The State of the Payroll Tax Deferral
Erich Wagner joins the podcast to discuss the latest pay and benefits news.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Revive Push to Make Feds’ Payroll Tax Deferral Optional
The effort to pressure the Trump administration into allowing federal employees to opt out of the controversial initiative to delay collection of Social Security taxes until next year is now bipartisan.
Management
Labor Authority Abandons Decades of Precedent, Eviscerates Union Bargaining Rights
Across multiple decisions on Wednesday, the agency that governs federal sector labor law removed unions’ right to midterm bargaining and made it harder for unions to demand agencies bargain over changes to working conditions.
Pay & Benefits
More Feds Subject to Mandatory Payroll Tax Deferral Than Initially Thought
The National Treasury Employees Union on Friday said that the Trump administration failed to clarify that the controversial initiative applies to those making $4,000 or less after several pre-tax deductions, not their gross pay.
Management
Unions Dispute Government’s Latest Effort to Dismiss Impasse Panel Challenges
The Trump administration on Tuesday cited a federal appellate court decision affirming that claims against the president’s workforce executive orders must go through an administrative process to support dismissing lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Federal Service Impasses Panel appointments, but unions say the cases are unrelated.
Management
Arbitrator Finds Trump Workforce Orders Violate Law
An independent arbitrator ruled that the president cannot reduce the scope of bargaining between an agency and a labor group “by fiat.”
Pay & Benefits
Union Asks OPM to Loosen Restrictions on Paid Parental Leave
Some requirements of the new benefit program are overly burdensome, particularly if a baby is born prematurely.
Pay & Benefits
Payroll Tax Deferral Will Be Mandatory for Eligible Feds, Service Members
The Trump administration has ignored calls to allow federal employees to opt out of the planned deferral of Social Security taxes from lawmakers and federal employee groups.
Pay & Benefits