Monday federal headlines – October 20, 2014

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com reade...

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows each day. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

  • The Office of Inspector General found unsecured, personally identifiable information at the General Services Administration’s Central Office. The Inspector General’s Office of Forensic Auditing, Evaluation and Analysis conducted an inspection of GSA’s open office space. The IG said GSA managers need to do a better job enforcing PII safeguarding policies. (Federal News Radio)
  • A woman found vomiting Friday in a Pentagon parking lot does not have Ebola. Officials at Arlington and Fairfax counties’ public health departments said they are confident she doesn’t have the virus. The woman set off a scare when she told officials she recently traveled to West Africa. Medical personnel put her in isolation at a local Virginia hospital and set up a quarantine tent in front of the hospital. The Pentagon had suspended all traffic around the south parking lot. It also shut down a building entrance. The Arlington County Fire Department responded with a hazmat team. (Federal News Radio)
  • U.S. troops fighting Ebola in West Africa will earn some extra cash. The service members will receive up to $400 per month in bonus pay. GovExec reports all military members will receive $150 per month for hardship duty. Those with dependents will receive an extra $250 for separation allowance. Almost 4,000 troops are deployed as part of Operation United Assistance. Most of them are in Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The Defense Department said service members are at a relatively low risk for contracting Ebola. (GovExec)
  • The Defense Department is building its own SWAT team aimed at a potential Ebola outbreak. Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered a 30-person medical team for potential use within the United States. Its mission would be to temporarily bolster civilian medical facilities dealing with Ebola. A Pentagon spokesman said the team will consist of 20 critical care nurses, five physicians with expertise in infectious diseases, and five trainers in protocols. The team starts training this week at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The National Institutes of Health has also tightened protocols for dealing with Ebola, saying health care workers treating patients should have no skin exposed. (Federal News Radio)
  • Employees at the Veterans Affairs Department are not too pleased with their senior leaders. The finding comes from the 2014 Employee Viewpoint Survey. A little more than a third of employees said they’re satisfied with senior leaders’ policies and practices. The number is down 3 percent from the year before. Less than half of VA employees agree that management maintains high standards of honesty and integrity, and only 46 percent said they have a high level of respect for their agency’s senior leaders. Employees, however, still think highly of their jobs — 85 percent like the work they do, and 94 percent think the work they do is important. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Federal Salary Council voted to add 13 cities to the list of places where federal employees are paid more. But federal employees in those cities won’t see a pay differential any time soon. That’s because President Barck Obama has frozen locality pay until 2016. The President’s pay agent, a panel of three officials, accepted the council’s recommendation, but took no steps to implement them. New Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers show that federal General Schedule salaries are 35 percent lower than those of people doing similar work in the private sector. (Federal News Radio)
  • The White House wants to improve the security of federal credit card purchases. In a new executive order, President Barack Obama called on agencies to use chip and PIN cards, and to install the required payment terminals in federal agencies. The General Services Administration gets the job of phasing in the high-tech credit cards starting Jan. 1. Treasury has the assignment of making sure the readers are in place by then. Jan. 1 is also the deadline for all agencies to submit plans for improving credit card security. In signing the order, Obama cited four big-box retailers who have pledged to support chip and PIN credit cards. (White House )
  • Temporary and seasonal employees will soon have access to federal health insurance. The Office of Personnel Management’s final rule changed eligibility on the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program. Employees who work at least 130 hours in a month, and for at least 90 days, can enroll in the health plan. They will also get a contribution from their agency. Before this rule, temporary employees with more than a year of service could enroll in the health program, but they didn’t qualify for government contribution. OPM proposed the rule in July, and received 100 comments. The new policy goes into effect Nov. 17. Health coverage for the temporary employees will be effective next January. (Federal Register)
  • Gary Wang will succeed Mike Krieger as the Army’s deputy chief information officer. Krieger will retire after more than six years as the Army’s top IT civilian, and 35 years in military government service. He had been acting CIO several times. Among his biggest accomplishments is leading the service’s move to enterprise email in the cloud. Wang comes to the Army from the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He’s been director of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Infrastructure Division. Wang spent most of his career in the Navy Department. He starts his new job Nov. 1. (Federal News Radio)
  • High-quality work goes unnoticed at the Energy Department — that’s what feds are saying in the 2014 Employee Viewpoint Survey. About 40 percent said Energy employees are recognized for high quality products and services. Less than a third felt that their agency rewards creativity and innovation, and less than a fifth said employees get pay raises based on performance. Energy employees also said they lack the training and resources needed to do their jobs. Less than 10 percent strongly agreed that their resources are sufficient, and that the agency assesses their training needs. (DoE)

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