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The agencies issued draft guidelines on how best to assess non-governmental environmental standards and ecolabels already in the marketplace for use in government. Comments are due in February.
With a staff of about 50 workers, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps American businesses find opportunities overseas. The agency's director says her staff "has buy-in focus on the same mission," which explains their overall sense of satisfaction.
If Congress fails to act by the end of the year, a tax subsidy for commuters who use mass transit is set to drop from a maximum of $245 a month to $130. At the same time, fringe benefits for parking are set to rise to $250 a month starting in January. Two stand-alone measures in the House and Senate would restore parity between the parking and mass-transit subsidies
With the Washington, D.C., area bracing for potential winter weather, federal workers in the region will be able to take unscheduled leave or telework Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management announced late Monday. D.C. federal agencies will remain open Tuesday.
During the 16-day government shutdown last month, more than 14,000 Thrift Savings Plan participants withdrew money from their accounts, the highest number of hardship withdrawals in a single month ever. This may have helped participants weather the financial uncertainty of the shutdown. But, under TSP rules, it also means they'll be unable to contribute to their 401(k)-style retirement accounts for the next six months. Now, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees the TSP, is concerned that not all those participants will take the initiative to restart their contributions when the penalty period expires next spring.
Four senators have introduced a bill to extend to members of the military the same whistleblower protections enjoyed by civilian agency employees. The bipartisan bill already has gained the support of one advocacy group -- the Government Accountability Project.
What do government buyouts have in common with sex education back in the day? The short answer is that you couldn't get much birds-and-bees info then and you can't get much new information on buyouts now, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Emerging technologies like cloud, wireless access and virtualization are making telework an easy -- and economic -- solution for some agencies.
Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has issued a subpoena for records from the Office of Personnel Management, seeking more details on the agency's process for conducting background investigations. OPM's Federal Investigative Services division, which conducts 90 percent of the federal government's background investigations, has come under intense scrutiny since it was revealed earlier this year that the same contractor -- United States Investigation Services (USIS) -- performed background checks of both National Security agency leaker Edward Snowden and Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis.
A new bill introduced this week by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) would ensure blue-collar federal employees receive the same scheduled pay increase in January as General Schedule employees. White-collar GS employees are due to get a 1 percent pay raise in January, under a plan announced in August by President Barack Obama, who has authority to set GS pay levels. However, pay raises for wage-grade or hourly employees require separate legislation. With no action by Congress, pay for these employees would remain flat.
Agencies whose missions include protecting military members from fraud say federal laws against exploiting service members are easily circumvented. But soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines also need more education about avoiding bad financial decisions.
Even stodgy old federal buildings can benefit from the smart design the latest technological advances offer today's building designers.
In this week's edition of Agency of the Month, Dr. Reginald Wells, Deputy Commissioner at the Social Security Administration, discusses the human resources pressures caused by tightening budgets.
Buyouts were a big deal over the last couple of years, but now they seem to have gone away, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Or gone underground. Are you hearing anything about buyouts?