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

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

DOD's Commercial Virtual Remote Environment Officially Sunsets

The environment for collaboration that supported telework during the pandemic expired.

People

Is it time to go back to the office?

Steve Kelman considers the pros and cons of continuing maximum telework.

People

New White House guidance for feds returning to the office and the future 'hybrid' federal workforce

A new OMB memo provides instructions on how to bring feds back to government offices on a large scale and asks agencies to consider long-term planning for a drastically different workplace.

Ideas

The Psychological Benefits of Commuting to Work

Many people who have been working from home are experiencing a void they can’t quite name.

Cybersecurity

States Bolster Data Security Technology in Response to Covid-19, Survey Finds

Governments have faced significant technology challenges during the pandemic, with 79% saying they faced major issues adopting and expanding remote work, according to the National Association of State Technology Directors.

Modernization

Lawmakers Want IGs to Include Telework Vulnerabilities in Upcoming FISMA Audits

House Oversight Committee leaders want to know what vulnerabilities remote-access software introduced and whether agencies mitigated them.

Cybersecurity

Army rolls back short-lived IoT telework policy

The Army is "restaffing" the policy, which would have required teleworkers to turn off or remove smart devices, such as Amazon Echo speakers, from their remote workspaces.