Workforce
Unions: OPM’s suitability and performance management overhauls assert ‘plenary’ authority over federal firing
A coalition of labor groups sued the Trump administration Monday, arguing recent moves to centralize authority within the Office of Personnel Management and insert subjective criteria into employee evaluations amount to an end-run around the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act.
Unions accuse mediation agency of ‘doublespeak’ in updated lawsuit
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s new policy allowing it to investigate the arbitrability of disputes if an agency objects to participating in them exceeds the “ministerial” agency’s authority, labor groups argue.
IRS CEO’s call to end advanced leave should be ‘null and void,’ NTEU says in lawsuit
The National Treasury Employees Union argues Frank Bisignano running the IRS without Senate confirmation violates the Constitution.
Federal job listings provide clues for next set of Schedule P/C conversions
New analysis from the Partnership for Public Service reveals that agencies have begun advertising positions as Schedule Policy/Career or planned for the at-will job category.
Archives workers granted telework ahead of D.C. IndyCar race
But a union representing employees at the National Archives’ headquarters said the measure should extend past this weekend, as the building is beset by temporary construction associated with the race.
OPM finalizes expanded hazard pay for federal firefighters
Under regulations set to take effect next month, federal wildland firefighters will be eligible for 25% hazard pay in connection with work on prescribed burns.
Exclusive
Statistical agency staffing cuts put federal data under new scrutiny on Capitol Hill
House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott, D-Va., is pressing for a September hearing to examine what staffing losses and leadership vacancies mean for agencies responsible for producing key data.
State Department expands push to reclassify employees as at-will workers
An expanded search for more Schedule Policy/Career conversions is still in its early stages, but a department employee says the effort is “moving relatively fast.”
IRS says a new policy ‘moots’ NTEU’s First Amendment lawsuit. The union isn’t so sure
A new policy allows only “agency-sponsored materials” to be posted on communal office bulletin boards, but agency officials still say they have discretion to approve or deny other documents.
‘We’re still in hell’: A year later, CDC employees remain shaken by headquarters shooting — and angry at agency leaders’ response
The agency is also contending with deep workforce cuts and leadership changes as a new director prepares to take over.
Judge rejects VA’s third attempt to cancel union contracts
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose OK'd a motion to enforce her prior preliminary injunction preserving collective bargaining at the Veterans Affairs Department on the eve of its planned termination of a collective bargaining agreement with AFGE.
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Mediation agency changes how labor disputes move forward
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service says it is clarifying when it can decline to provide arbitrators, a change unions say exceeds its role.
OPM finalizes rules expanding its power over RIFs, employee appeals
Taken together, four regulations set for publication Monday would shift adjudication of several types of adverse action appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management.
Survey shows the toll of USAID’s closure on former employees and their families
Nearly half of survey respondents who were foreign service officers reported that their households experienced dual job loss as a result of the layoffs.
Why treating everything as 'URGENT!' makes government less effective
COMMENTARY | Constant urgency can feel like a mark of commitment, but leaders who know when to slow down often make better decisions, build stronger teams and deliver better results.
VA’s third attempt to scrap union contract heads back to court
The Veterans Affairs Department says it is following the terms of an expiring agreement. AFGE argues VA is ignoring a requirement to keep the contract in place during negotiations.
Staffing cuts are leaving federal statistical agencies stretched thin
The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau have been hard hit by staffing cuts, and experts say replacing lost expertise won't happen overnight.
IRS and Social Security bar employees from taking advanced leave
A union official says advanced leave functions as a sort of short-term or long-term disability insurance program for many federal employees.
New documentary recounts ‘free-for-all attitude of cruelty’ toward axed federal employees
The movie, which was filmed during the start of the second Trump administration, examines the human and societal effects of recent federal job cuts.
AFGE sues over EEOC’s apparent shutdown of class action cases against agencies
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chairwoman Andrea Lucas surreptitiously ordered a halt on all class-action proceedings in which a federal agency is a defendant last December, despite regulations requiring such cases be handled “promptly.”
