The director of the Phoenix VA hospital and two other employees are on administrative leave following allegations that the hospital delayed medical treatment to veterans. Note: they have not been fired. Legislation moving through Congress would make it easier for the VA secretary to give the boot to senior executives. Susan Tsui Grundmann is chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which hears appeals from federal employees on personnel issues. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to explain how the law could change. Read related article by Federal News Radio's Shefali Kapadia.
NARFE's Jessica Klement and Andy Medici from the Federal Times discuss a number of issues affecting feds, including proposed changes to the federal retirement program and the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. June 11, 2014
EEOC CIO Kimberly Hancher and Mike Cerniglia from MicroPact discuss how cloud computing, and open sourcing reduced her agency's IT costs. June 10, 2014
The Office of Personnel Management now says it hopes to have regulations governing phased retirement finalized by October. That can't come soon enough for many federal employees on the cusp of retirement who are caught in the regulatory limbo.
Jenny Mattingley hosts a roundtable discussion of legislation on Capitol Hill that impacts federal workers. June 6, 2014
The Office of Special Counsel is investigating more than three dozen claims of whistleblower retaliation at the scandal-rocked Veterans Affairs Department. The 37 cases OSC is investigating span VA facilities in 19 states. They include VA employees who say they've been retaliated against for disclosing a range of misconduct, including improper scheduling practices, the misuse of agency funds and inappropriately restraining patients, according to OSC.
When you try something 32,000 times, including 1,600 times in one 8-hour period and fail, there is a lesson there. And the lesson is that despite what you've read, heard and been taught, failure is an option. Especially if you work for the government, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
So far, all of the initial decisions stemming from the Merit Systems Protection Board gigantic caseload of furlough appeals have "affirmed the furlough action taken by the agency," according to MSPB's annual report for fiscal 2013 released last week.
The door to come back to government and get paid for it is still open for federal retirees or current employees getting close. The House passes an amendment to the fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Act so federal agencies can keep re-hiring federal retirees without cutting into their pensions. Jessica Klement, legislative director of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to explain the details of the provision and what it means for current and future federal retirees.
Jon Desenberg from the Performance Institute, Bethany Blakey of the Performance Improvement Council, and Hudson Hollister of the Data Transparency Coalitition will participate in a roundtable discussion of federal performance management and the DATA Act. May 23, 2014
Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act Friday, calling for a 3.3 percent pay increase for federal employees for calendar year 2015. Federal employee union leaders praised the proposal, which would raise feds' pay more than the 1 percent President Barack Obama introduced in his 2015 budget proposal. The bill is similar to one introduced in March by House Democrats.
NARFE's Chris Farrell joins host Mike Causey to talk about some of the bills introduced in Congress that affect federal workers. May 21, 2014
Your agency's deadline for a Whistleblower Certification Program is June 1. Congress created the program in 2002 and the Obama Administration wants federal agencies to finish making it a standard part of their workforce policies. As part of our special report Trust Redefined: Reconnecting Government and its Employees, Shirine Moazed, chief of the Washington field office for the Office of Special Counsel, tells In Depth with Francis Rose how the certification program works and offers five steps to meet the deadline.
Under the Hatch Act, federal employees face a number of restrictions when it comes to their political activity on and off the job. The law was originally designed to protect feds from political coercion.
The heads of both the Office of Special Counsel and Merit Systems Protection Board tell Federal News Radio as part of our special report, "Trust Redefined: Reconnecting Government and Its Employees," that their increasing workloads could actually be a sign of progress, and that more employees feel protected enough to make whistleblower disclosures. However, an exclusive Federal News Radio survey reveals a wide chasm of trust remains when it comes to feds blowing the whistle at work.