Pay & Benefits

  • Washington is a place where politicians from all sides are unveiling "new ideas." Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says whether an idea is new or a reinvention of the wheel, there are people out there ready to praise or savage it.

    December 17, 2014
  • Lockheed Martin faces a class-action lawsuit against 120,000 employees for how it handles their 401(k) retirement plans. The case focuses on whether the company's provider made the employees pay higher fees than they needed to and made bad investment decisions. Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says there isn't a direct connection between the Lockheed Martin case and federal employees. But he told Federal News Radio's Sean McCalley they should pay attention to what happens afterward.

    December 16, 2014
  • Federal and postal investors are entitled to feel a little bit smug as they follow what could be a landmark pension management case involving one of the nation's biggest firms. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says so can the people who set up and run the federal Thrift Savings Plan.

    December 16, 2014
  • The Office of Personnel Management wants comments on a new framework to measure the effectiveness of the insurance carriers under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

    December 15, 2014
  • A bill to automatically enroll new federal employees in the Thrift Savings Plan's Lifecycle funds is ready for President Obama's signature. But first your agency needs to hire new people for that bill to make a difference. Tim McManus is Vice President for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he predicted the federal hiring outlook for 2015.

    December 15, 2014
  • Now that Congress has passed the Smart Savings Act, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is programming a new savings default option for those who join the federal government late next year.

    December 15, 2014
  • The passage of five cybersecurity bills by Congress in the past week signals a long-coming and much needed change to how agencies defend their computer networks and hire the people to do that critical work.

    December 15, 2014
  • Congress is capping the pensions of top military officials in 2015. As part of National Defense Authorization Act, pensions for generals and admirals will be trimmed to ensure they make no more in retirement than they did on active duty. That reverses a 2007 law designed to help retain officers during wartime. What effects, if any, will this have on the military's ability to retain its senior officers? Larry Korb is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former assistant secretary of Defense for manpower and reserve affairs. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with a look at this measure.

    December 15, 2014
  • With the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's 500-page report, columnists and politicians are pounding the Central Intelligence Agency. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says maybe the Senate should broaden its inquiry.

    December 15, 2014
  • The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board estimates nearly $10 billion will leave the Thrift Savings Plan this year. The Board will consider offering investment advice because they think some of the money is leaving at the advice of outside financial planners. Tammy Flanagan, senior benefits director for the National Institute of Transition Planning, tells In Depth with Francis Rose why some of those "free" investment planning seminars might have a hidden agenda.

    December 12, 2014
  • The goal of S. 1691, or the 2014 Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act, is to address and streamline Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO), the extra pay agents receive when their work demands they remain on the job beyond scheduled hours.

    December 12, 2014
  • Congress has passed a bill that will automatically enroll new federal employees in the Thrift Savings Plan's Lifecycle Funds (L Funds), rather than the Government Securities Investment Fund (G Fund).

    December 12, 2014
  • Many federal employees were impacted by the 2013 government shutdown. But the negative effect such shutdowns have on some groups, such as government contract employees, often goes unnoticed, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.

    December 12, 2014
  • Office of Personnel Management officials told the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Census about its plan to buy a case management system. The case management system will serve as the foundation for yet another attempt at modernizing the retirement system.

    December 11, 2014