Pay & Benefits

  • The Office of Personnel Management is in talks with six additional health care providers to join the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, according to John O'Brien, OPM's director of health care and insurance. OPM has been working over the past few years to add plans to the FEHB program in a bid to increase competition, O'Brien said in a keynote address at the 2013 FEHB Carrier Conference in Arlington, Va.

    March 22, 2013
  • Now that the budget battle is over, for now, the next stormcloud on the horizon is sequestration. It kicked in earlier this month, but the effects probably won't be felt until next month at the earliest, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Will it be the nightmare many have predicted or will it fade away as politicians get nervous and the public gets angry?

    March 22, 2013
  • The House voted today to approve a measure to fund federal agencies through the remainder of fiscal 2013. The bill averts a government shutdown but extends the freeze on federal employees' pay through the end of 2013. The bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

    March 21, 2013
  • Believe it or not, not everything you post on Facebook will draw "likes" from all of the people who see it. In fact letting too much hang out on social media could get you in a whole lot of trouble, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    March 21, 2013
  • NARFE's Jessica Klement and Sean Reilly and Stephen Losey from the Federal Times, will discuss pending legislation on Capitol Hill, that affects federal workers. March 20, 2013

    March 20, 2013
  • What do vampires have to do with a long-lived urban myth about a super-secret federal retirement plan? The short answer is that both are very hard to put to rest, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. But here goes, again ...

    March 20, 2013
  • There was a time when no self-respecting federal worker would take an offer to retire early unless it was accompanied by a $25,000 buyout. But after two-plus years of a pay freeze and furloughs in the forecast, attitudes may have changed, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    March 19, 2013
  • Do you know that 75 percent of all full-time federal workers suffer from Jack Benny Syndrome, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what is it, and how do you know if you have it?

    March 18, 2013
  • Evan Lesser, founder and director for ClearanceJobs.com, will discuss the state of hiring in the clear community, and how its being impacted by sequestration. March 15, 2013

    March 15, 2013
  • Suppose your significant other announced that, due to sequestration, romance would be out of the question starting in April. That, in effect, is how many federal agencies are reacting as they roll out furlough notices and service cutbacks as part of the budgetary (and political) process, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    March 15, 2013
  • When it comes to the federal workforce, the competing House and Senate budget plans differ greatly in tone and style. But when it comes to making the federal government run more efficiently and finding cost-savings in federal operations, the two plans are more alike than you might think.

    March 14, 2013
  • Now that sequestration is here, normally upbeat federal agencies are putting their worst foot forward, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. The mantra is unhappy days are here again. They are telling people what they won't be able to do for them, the services they will be missing and how things can only get worse.

    March 14, 2013
  • Federal News Radio's Julia Ziegler, and Sean Reilly and Stephen Losey from the Federal Times, join host Mike Causey to discuss a wide range of issues affecting federal workers. March 13, 2013

    March 13, 2013
  • Although you are paying 2013 health premiums and higher taxes, many feds are doing it at their 2010 salary level. And with furloughs and an extended pay freeze in the offing many people are wondering why they are going to work every day, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    March 13, 2013