People
Kiran Ahuja's to-do list at OPM
Kiran Ahuja, the recently installed director of the Office of Personnel Management, has a host of long-standing agency issues to deal with, along with helping implement governmentwide workforce policy to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Cybersecurity
Survey: Nearly 3 in 4 Organizations Suffered Data Breaches Due to Phishing
More than half of respondents indicated concerns about hybrid work environments and defending against malicious emails.
People
HHS looks to reset labor relations
Some federal agencies are leveraging a Biden administration executive order to change the tone of labor-management relations but unions say a few departments aren't taking the order to heart.
Digital Government
Social Security 'Overwhelmed' by Mail, Infuriating Customers Seeking Documents
With most employees teleworking during the pandemic, the watchdog faulted the agency for not having a system to track and return customers’ identification documents.
People
Unions press SSA leaders for a new contract, workplace safety plan
Biden ousted top leaders at the Social Security Administration last month, but some union officials say more personnel change is needed further down the ladder.
Acquisition
DOD could face $4 billion in pandemic reimbursement payments for contractors
According to a GAO report, the Defense Department may have $4 billion in eligible reimbursements for contractors under the CARES Act.
Cybersecurity
NSA to National Security Employees: Avoid Working on Public Wi-Fi
The agency offered best practices for remote work using wireless technologies.
People
New OPM guidance addresses locality pay and travel costs for remote workers
A new document addresses a range of considerations for post-pandemic workforce planning in the context of current regulations.
Digital Government
OPM Issues Guidance on Telework, Pay and Travel As Feds Return to Offices
The 38-page document assists agencies with short- and long-term planning.
Digital Government
GPO To Offer Full-Time Telework After COVID
Around one-third of the agency’s 1,500 employees will be able to work entirely remotely, and officials said some will be able to move out of the Washington, D.C., area.
People
OPM grapples with questions about travel reimbursements for remote workers
Officials at the Office of Personnel Management are mulling the potential impacts of an increasingly dispersed federal workforce. One is the question of who foots the bill for remote workers occasionally required to come back to the office.
People
Could increasing telework make government employment more accessible?
The pandemic pushed over half of the federal workforce into telework. Disability rights advocates say maintaining more access to telework could make the federal workspace more accessible.
Modernization
Cloud after COVID
More than a year of pandemic operations has altered government’s view of cloud-centric modernization
Modernization
Survey: Nearly 80% of Feds, D.C. Employees Believe Productivity Increased With Telework
The American Federation of Government Employees survey comes as agency heads decide how to operate in the waning months of a pandemic.
People
Unions seek a new contract at SSA, press Biden to fire Trump holdovers
President Joe Biden reversed much of his predecessor's workforce agenda in the first days of his administration via executive order, but unions at the Social Security Administration are unhappy with the pace of implementation of new policies.
Cybersecurity
Federal job satisfaction continues to lag behind private sector
The annual 'Best Places to Work' report indicates that almost 60% of the federal workforce teleworked full-time during the peak lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cybersecurity
How NGA is handling hybrid telework
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has begun to relax some of its COVID-19 safety procedures, but the challenge has been managing workers across different physical locations, networks and work schedules.
People
VP Harris breaks tie to confirm Ahuja to lead OPM
No Republicans supported the nomination of Kiran Ahuja to lead the Office of Personnel Management.
Modernization
Survey: Technologists Prefer to Keep Working Remotely
Only 17% of technologists nationwide prefer full-time office work.
Modernization