The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan today ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, the Associated Press said, becoming the second federal appeals court to do so this year. DOMA requires the federal government to define marriage as between one man and one woman, and as a result blocks federal spousal benefits — such as health and retirement benefits — from going to the legally-married same-sex spouses of federal employees. The case in today’s ruling — Windsor v. United States — is not related to federal employee benefits. But other cases challenging DOMA have centered…
Monthly Archives: October, 2012
It’s been a couple of months since a hullabaloo over allegedly illegal money moves at the National Weather Service briefly left several thousand employees at risk of unpaid furloughs. But various inquiries into the affair are still under way, and a recently obtained copy of the original investigative report offers some intriguing details not previously disclosed. For many years, for example, senior leaders at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have viewed the weather service’s business operations model as “unsustainable” because a high level of labor costs eats into management flexibility, according to a heavily redacted copy of the 61-page…
The IRS recently created a policy that would increase the amount of telework at the agency while reducing its real estate requirement. The idea would be that two employees would work 2 or 3 days at home every week, and would share a workstation at the office. The two employees would not both be there at the same time, according to the policy. But the IRS hopes this concept will save them on real estate costs going forward. How do you IRS employees feel about this? Would you give up your desk half the time for more telework? Feel free…
Federal workers are being squeezed by a variety of factors. Pay, reputation and benefits are all being targeted in one way or another. But as agencies work to reduce their real estate footprint and save money on rent, employees are increasingly expected to engage in “hoteling” programs or to share a workstation. The Federal Times wants to hear from all of you about whether you like these programs or if you feel that it is too much. Is your agency offering increased telework in exchange? Feel free to comment below or send an email to amedici@federaltimes.com to complain or to…
Tight money has again led the Social Security Administration to halt the mailing of all paper statements of earnings and benefits to millions of Americans. These are the handy documents that give you an idea of what to expect in terms of Social Security retirement or disability income. The latest suspension, which took effect Oct. 1, results from the “overall budget situation,” including a stop-gap continuing resolution that will leave the agency at last year’s funding levels through March, spokeswoman Kia Anderson said. SSA officials had originally suspended mailing paper statements in April 2011 to save $70 million annually. This…
Security measures intended to prevent the placement of roadside bombs on a major highway in Afghanistan were improperly installed, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a safety alert last week. The “culvert denial systems” were designed to prevent insurgents from placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in roadway culverts, according to the alert, which was sent to the commanders of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. “Through our preliminary investigative work, we estimate that a large number of culvert denial systems might have been falsely reported by Afghan contractors as complete when, in fact, the denial systems…
The U.S. Postal Service is getting plenty of free media exposure today, but probably not the kind USPS execs were hoping for when they ponied up big bucks years ago to be a primary sponsor of cyclist Lance Armstrong’s team. Instead, this is how the organization appears in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s statement on the results of its investigation into Armstrong’s alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs: “The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” That should sell a lot of…
With federal retirements continuing to spike, it’s clear that the long-predicted retirement wave is here. Retirements in 2011 were up 24 percent over 2010 levels. And so far this year, retirements are up another 8 percent. Federal managers, we’d like to hear about what the retirement wave means for you. Are you seeing one valued employee after another walk out the door? If so, how are you dealing with the loss of their years of experience? Are you getting ready for more retirements in the near future? If so, how are you preparing for that? E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com to…
Interested in one of those prestigious Presidential Management Fellowships? A newly launched web site hopes to answer all your questions about the selective program, which offers recent graduate students a paid, two-year stint with a federal agency, followed by the chance for a permanent career. The interactive site is backed by the Robertson Foundation for Government, a nonprofit group that seeks to attract top grad students to federal careers in the foreign policy and national security arenas, and the online social network, GovLoop. The new site offers considerably more material than is available from the official site, including tips and…