Pay & Benefits

  • Is Prohibition, which ended in 1933, coming back to federal offices? Will root-beer-based martinis be the new drink of choice of federal party-goers? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders: Has it already started?

    May 14, 2012
  • If you ask the typical federal/postal worker what his or her greatest job-related fear was, many would answer they are afraid Congress will change their retirement rules and base their benefits on their highest five-year average salary. Yet the likelihood of losing the current high-three system is small compared to other, more real threats, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 11, 2012
  • The GOP-controlled House passed legislation Thursday requiring federal workers to contribute more toward their retirement. The Sequester Replacement Act of 2012 proposed gradually increasing federal employees' pension contributions by 5 percent over five years as an alternative to sequestration.

    May 10, 2012
  • Are naughty, stupid or arrogant federal workers any different than their private-sector counterparts, who have also been known to do naughty, stupid or illegal things while on the job? The short answer: It depends, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 10, 2012
  • Host Mike Causey is joined by Federal Times Senior Writer Stephen Losey and Paul Forte and Mary Lou McGuiness with Long Term Care Partners. May 9, 2012

    May 09, 2012
  • As part of a cost-savings plan designed to halt the closings of rural postal facilities, the U.S. Postal Service said it would offer $20,000 buyout incentive payments to 21,000 full-time postmasters.

    May 09, 2012
  • What if we elected a Congress that fought all the time, couldn't agree on anything and where Democrats could hardly stand to be in the same building as Republicans, and vice versa? Well, fortunately, for federal workers we may have done that, and it could save you from taking a major pay cut over the next five years, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    May 09, 2012
  • The number of federal workers who retired last year was up big-time. Many experts thought the long-awaited retirement tsunami was upon us, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Until last month when it slowed dramatically. So what does that mean for you?

    May 08, 2012
  • A plan to avoid automatic cuts to discretionary federal spending, including the Defense Department's, advanced in the House, passing the budget committee and heading to the House floor for a vote later this week. Among the $300 billion in alternative cuts approved by the committee, in a 21-9 party-line vote, is a provision requiring federal employees to pay more for their retirement benefits.

    May 07, 2012
  • The Air Force is re-branding its personnel services and human resources website. AFPERS will now be known as myPers and be modeled after the myPay model the Defense Department now uses.

    May 07, 2012
  • As part of the annual Defense authorization bill, House lawmakers will take up a provision designed to let federal employees gain experience and share expertise while working temporarily in other agencies.

    May 07, 2012
  • When government workers foul up we know their name, rank and serial number, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. But when someone in the media makes an inexcusable 'mistake' his — or her — name is kept secret for privacy reasons. So, what's wrong with this picture?

    May 07, 2012
  • The Thrift Savings Plan's Roth option rolls out today. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has been preparing for the new program for two years now, but despite the big push today many federal employees will actually have to wait to enroll in the new program. One of the largest federal payroll processors needs more time to upgrade its systems in preparation for the Roth option. Find information about which agencies are affected, as well as the five things feds should know about the Roth TSP below.

    May 04, 2012
  • Are the recent GSA and Secret Service scandals the tip of the iceberg or just business as usual? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey asks. Is Uncle Sam, in reality, more like Charlie Sheen than an Eagle Scout?

    May 04, 2012