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As the Agriculture Department approaches phase three of its reopening plan, Food and Nutrition Service employees are concerned there are simply too many unknowns, inconveniences and worries about returning to a full office, which they say pale in comparison to the benefits of working productively and safely from home.
As expected, employees at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are beginning to receive furlough notices ahead of a possible Aug. 3 action. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget have urged Congress in recent weeks to step in with emergency funding to avoid furloughs for some 13,400 employees.
As Congress and agencies debate reopening plans, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced two bills designed to publicize those plans, as well as provide child care subsidies, hazardous duty pay and other benefits to federal employees working at home and on the frontlines of the ongoing pandemic.
Customs and Border Protection's Office of Field Operations faces a $400 million partial budget shortfall before the year ends. The National Treasury Employees Union said it's concerned field officers could face furloughs without additional appropriations.
The Environmental Protection Agency launched a data-driven "facility status dashboard" to inform leaders' reopening decisions, while other federal agencies have begun their own "phase one" openings this week.
In today's Federal Newscast, the IRS will no longer be giving employees 10-25% pay increase for going into the office during the coronavirus pandemic.
A "dramatic decrease in revenue" during the coronavirus pandemic had initially forced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to consider furloughs for a large portion of its workforce in July.
Unions have filed grievances with both the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs over their implementation of the emergency paid sick leave program.
In today's Federal Newscast, AFGE wants to add a provision in the 2021 defense authorization bill that will protect DoD workers’ bargaining rights.
Phase one of the Energy Department's reopening plan for headquarters facilities in the national capital region will involves 3.7% of its 7,000-person workforce. Those employees will return June 8, while the rest will continue to telework.
Masks aren't required at Office of Personnel Management facilities, and employees with limited transportation or dependent care options will be "encouraged" to telework throughout phases one and two of the agency's reopening plan.
Workforce changes may be coming soon to two subcomponents at the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, where more than half of its employees could face furloughs without emergency supplemental funding from Congress.
The Postal Service is testing a daily temperature check "proof of concept" in Northern Virginia and Oklahoma City for employees reporting for work and returning from quarantine.
The American Federation of Government Employees is seeking immediate injunctive relief in its lawsuit against the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which may soon weigh in on the union's collective bargaining disputes with the Department of Veterans Affairs.