Modernization

TMF could help solve records request backlog for veterans, lawmakers say

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House Oversight and Reform Committee wants the National Archives and Records Administration to apply for funding from the Technology Modernization Fund to modernize its IT systems and clear its backlog of 500,000 records requests from veterans.

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

Biden's executive order on federal workforce equity: What happens next

Here's what is due, and when, from President Joe Biden’s executive order on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the federal workforce. Data collection is a key first step, say DEIA government officials.

People

Labor Department seeks funding for staffing surges

During testimony on the hill this week, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh also gave lawmakers insight into the department’s work to combat unemployment insurance fraud.

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

Biden ousts Social Security Administration Leadership

After a recent Supreme Court ruling suggested SSA's top leaders could be replaced before their terms expired, the White House moved late on July 9 to do just that.

People

House bill would add demographics to the Plum Book

Currently there is no single source for summary information about the demographics of political appointees.

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.

Digital Government

Labor watchdog calls out gaps in unemployment fraud reporting

The department says it will update current requirements so that data flagged as potentially fraudulent will be shared with the agency's Office of the Inspector General.

Cybersecurity

DHS workforce sprint brings in nearly 300 cyber employees

Cybersecurity vacancies totaled about 2,000 at the start of the hiring sprint in May.

Digital Government

Lawmakers mull federal response to state and local technology gaps

One potential fix could be for the federal government to harmonize its cybersecurity and data protection rules for state and local partners across federal agencies that interact with state systems.

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.

People

House Dems press for 3.2% pay raise for feds

The House Appropriations Committee is going along with appears the 2.7% raise recommended by the president, but Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and other Democrats say that that isn't enough.

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.

People

Task force clears the way for vaccinated feds to travel

There are no more governmentwide limits on official travel for vaccinated federal employees.

People

Sweeping executive order covers diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility in the federal workforce

An executive order issued last Friday directs the federal government to ramp up diversity training, rethink the use salary history as a basis for pay determinations and supply gender non-conforming and non-binary and transgender feds with employee credentials that reflect their current names, pictures and pronouns.

People

Lawmakers spar over paid family and medical leave for feds

Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee want the federal government to be a leader in providing paid family and medical leave to employees.

People

Biden nominates MSPB vice chair

The agency has lacked a quorum since 2017 and currently faces a backlog of over 3,000 appeals

People

Biden HR strategy features new agency 'talent teams'

New talent teams aimed at bettering hiring strategies are part of the Biden administration's multi-year strategy for the federal workforce, said OMB official on Tuesday.