Pay & Benefits

  • Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and the GSA inspector general released separate, but related, reports that show GSA abused its authority to give Senior Executive Service (SES) members bonuses between 2009 and 2011. GSA official said they have since fixed these problems. McCaskill also found that on average the Labor Department, the Navy and the National Science Foundation handed out more than one bonus per SES employee.

    May 17, 2013
  • The password next week at several federal agencies is this: Come to work and we fire you. Don't dare show your face on Friday or else, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 17, 2013
  • When you're on a vacation trip or long drive, do your kids keep asking "Are we there yet?!" Now, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says, suppose you are Uncle Sam and you've told your 1.8 million kids they are going on a sequestration vacation. If they keep asking are we there yet, what do you tell them?

    May 16, 2013
  • Federal News Radio's Francis Rose and Jim McElhatton from the Federal Times join Mike Causey to talk about the impact of sequestration and what happens next. May 15, 2013

    May 15, 2013
  • For many federal workers, the threat of sequestration-triggered furloughs seems to be fading, at least a bit. But for some federal contractors, sequestration has meant layoffs, with perhaps more to come, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So how's sequestration treating you?

    May 15, 2013
  • A funny thing happened on the way to work last week, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. We got hacked but, as you can see, we are back. As setbacks often do, this one has made us smarter and stronger. Glad to be back.

    May 14, 2013
  • In a May 10 memo sent to the heads of departments and agencies, President Barack Obama tasked the Office of Personnel Management with studying how agency practices contribute to pay inequalities between men and women and with formulating a governmentwide strategy to tackle the gender pay gap.

    May 10, 2013
  • Thinking of retiring within the next 12 to 18 months? Tired of traffic, being beaten up by politicians and facing a furlough? And who knows when the current three-year pay freeze will ever end? So call it a day, right? Put in your papers and everything will be okay, correct? Wrong, wrong wrong. Are you nuts? Retiring is not the answer for everyone, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 10, 2013
  • Citing unacceptable delays by its contractor, the Pentagon waives the requirement for preauthorization of specialty care for military members, families and retirees in TRICARE's western region.

    May 10, 2013
  • Back in the day, there were two classes of federal worker. Either you were essential or you were nonessential. Most were nonessential. Thanks to political correctness, the term of art now is emergency or nonemergency, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what impact does that have when furloughs come a knocking?

    May 10, 2013
  • The Office of Personnel Management has made steady progress chipping away at a longstanding backlog of retirement claims. But Oversight Committee lawmakers and other government watchdogs remain concerned that the absence of a long-term plan to overhaul the mostly paper-based process combined with across-the-board budget cuts and a lack of strong leadership within OPM could stall or derail the progress the agency has made.

    May 09, 2013
  • Federal workers have dodged a lot of legislative bullets over the years. Plans to cut and save surface, then disappear. But there is one blueprint out there that has traction, and its No. 1 target is the federal retirement system, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 09, 2013
  • Host Mike Causey will discuss the OPM retirement processing backlog with NARFE Legislative Director Jessica Klement and the Federal Times' Stephen Losey. May 8, 2013

    May 08, 2013
  • Sequestration came in like a lion ... While there have been some furloughs, politicians on both sides of the aisle have learned that furloughing air traffic controllers, meat inspectors and FBI agents is not popular, even with fed bashers, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So, is sequestration heading for a soft landing?

    May 08, 2013