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Top News
- IRS to pay $70M in bonuses, Grassley says
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings
- Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet
- Fed pens new furlough song
- Web guru Dorris brings new life to government websites
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
What can feds learn from private-sector in proposed reorganization?
John Powers, a principal with Deloitte Consulting, specializes in the company's mergers and acquisitions practice. JoAnn Boutelle is a former deputy chief financial officer with the Defense Department and is now a partner at Deloitte & Touche. Along with former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.),. Powers and Boutelle joined In Depth with Francis Rose for a discussion of the proposed federal reorganization as well as the role the private sector can play in those consolidation efforts.
Senators ask OMB to intervene in retirement backlog
A new letter, signed by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), calls on the Office of Management and Budget to take on the "urgent matter" of processing federal retirements. The letter comes a week after a Senate subcommittee hearing in which the Office of Personnel Management was taken to task for its handling of the longstanding backlog.
OPM strategy for clearing retirement backlog not just IT issue
The overwhelmed retirement claims backlog at the Office of Personnel Management is only partly a technology problem. John Salamone, a managing consultant at FMP Consulting and the former executive director of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss the potential complications for OPM ahead.
Survey: Telework still elusive at many agencies
Many agencies are not as gung-ho on telework as the Obama Administration or lawmakers would have it, according to a recent Congressional Research Service survey. The Department of Veterans Affairs allows just one-tenth of its employees to telework. At other agencies, most workers who are eligible to telework do not.
New policies to open up federal internship programs
The Office of Personnel Management is implementing a new law designed to bring structure to the confusing web of federal internship programs. Meanwhile, the agency is finalizing regulations for Pathways, President Barack Obama's attempt to streamline young candidates' entry into the federal workplace.
Senators take OPM to task over long wait for pensions
The Office of Personnel Management has a new strategy for tackling its backlog of 62,000 retirement applications. But, after 25 years of hearing such promises, lawmakers are skeptical. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Subcommittee on Oversight brought agency director John Berry to Capitol Hill to explain why this strategy is different.
Senate committee to vet OPM annuity processing strategy
The Office of Personnel Management's new strategy to catch up on its backlog of retirement claims will be vetted publicly during a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management.
BLS: Public sector union membership 5 times higher than private sector
In 2011, more than 28 percent of federal employees were union members. That's in contrast to less than 7 percent of unionized employees in the private sector.
Feds need to develop a strategy to ease retirement path
The Office of Personnel Management received more the 15,000 new retirement applications this month. Ed Zurdorfer, registered employee benefit consultant, offers some advice on how federal employees can make the road to retirement less stressful.
VA's Blue Button technology extending to rest of feds
The e-health records technology pioneered by the Veterans Affairs Department will soon be available to the rest of federal employees in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
Lawmakers spar over proposed federal retirement cuts
Lawmakers should keep their hands off federal employees' retirement plans, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Director of Retirement Benefit Services David Snell said at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy. The subcommittee is considering a slew of bills aimed at reducing federal pensions for both lawmakers and rank-and-file workers.
Washington freezes, San Diego sneezes
When there is a major weather event in the Washington, D.C., area, feds in other cities watch, in horror and/or amusement. Like Monday when OPM tested its brand-new foul weather policy, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
OPM: Fixing retirement backlog 'vitally important'
It's not the easiest time to tackle the growing backlog of retirement applications from federal employees. The Office of Personnel Management has received more than 15,000 new applications this month, which is more than double the normal load, said Retirement Services Director Ken Zawodny.
OPM to extend viewpoint survey to all feds
All federal employees will have the opportunity to participate in this year's Employee Viewpoint Survey. The Office of Personnel Management's annual survey of federal workers' opinions often is used to set administrative policies at agencies. In past years, only a third of the workforce had been asked to participate.
Washington's weather wimps bite back
Monday's weather delay for the D.C. region has people in Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh wondering why we are such weather wimps. But it may be their fault too, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
OPM online training course aims to make telework more accessible
The Office of Personnel Management has updated the telework training offered through Telework.gov. Agencies must provide telework training to employees who are able and willing to work outside the office before the two parties sign a telework agreement. The upgrades will allow agencies to track which employees use and complete the training, according to the memo.
OPM: Delayed arrival Monday for D.C. feds
Federal government offices will open to the public at 11:00 a.m., due to expected icy conditions Monday morning.
The long gray line: Your retirement
If you've retired in the last year, you know all about the long wait to get a full annuity payment. OPM has declared war on the backlog, but how does it win? Some experienced feds suggest you can help your own case, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Custer's last stand and your retirement
Why is your decision to retire someday, or take a buyout right away, something like the problem Gen. Custer faced during the Battle of the Little Big Horn? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey explains.
Federal health plans to offer Blue Button digital health-record access
All health insurance options in federal health plans will soon allow members to download a digital version of their health records using a technology called Blue Button, the Office of Personnel Management announced. The adoption of the Blue Button technology, whose use was spearheaded by the Veterans Affairs Department, will make it easer to share digital records with family members and physicians.
