Workforce Rights/Governance

  • Depending on whose numbers you believe, federal workers are either overpaid by 34 percent or underpaid by 25 percent compared to the private sector.

    February 22, 2016
  • When Congress voted to restrict appeal rights of Veterans Affairs Department managers, it never counted on what might happen. Namely, that the Merit Systems Protection Board would follow the law to the letter. That's why a series of reversals have hit VA's senior leadership when it tried to fire people for performance. Lynn Bernabei, a partner at the law firm Bernabei and Cabot, which specializes in employee grievance cases, says VA has become a battleground between MSPB and Congress. She joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more details.

    February 18, 2016
  • VA Secretary Bob McDonald and Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson are working with Congress on a proposal that would strip senior agency executives of their rights to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board when they face disciplinary action. But the proposal faces growing criticism from the Senior Executives Association and others.

    February 12, 2016
  • Legislation to boost federal workers' pay by 5.3 percent is set to be introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) The bill comes after President Barack Obama proposed a 1.6 percent increase in his fiscal 2017 budget.

    February 12, 2016
  • The Office of Personnel Management is accepting nominations for the Presidential Rank Awards. The awards honor the employees and their daily work that goes above and beyond standard accomplishments.

    February 10, 2016
  • The next time somebody proposes contracting out something that touches so many of us, maybe somebody should suggest that the politicians making the push should have a little skin in the game.

    February 08, 2016
  • Talent acquisition manager Mike Bruni will discuss job trends in the federal government, the kinds of workers that agencies need, and how to land a job in what is a competitive and challenging federal market. February 5, 2016

    February 07, 2016
  • Two years ago, a federal appeals court ruled against a financial analyst and a military commissary employee who said they’d been summarily removed from their positions without being able to contest their agencies’ decisions before the Merit Systems Protection Board. At issue is a category of federal jobs called “noncritical sensitive.” Even though those workers don’t handle classified information, the government contends that airing their cases before MSPB could expose “sensitive” information — and the label now applies to about 200,000 Defense Department workers, according to two members of Congress who say they need more due process rights. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) introduced a bill this week to make clear that MSPB is allowed to hear those employees' claims. Holmes Norton talked with Federal Drive with Tom Temin by phone about why the appeals court’s ruling needs to be overturned.

    February 05, 2016
  • Democrats and Republicans both agree the Postal Service needs congressional help to better its budget, but getting there is a tougher problem.

    February 04, 2016
  • House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is expected to introduce the Federal Employee Rights Act. The bill would prohibit agencies from deducting labor union dues from federal employees' paychecks. It would also change the way votes are counted among employees in a unit who are deciding whether to join a union.

    February 03, 2016
  • Administration officials confirmed the raise would be included in the President's fiscal 2017 budget, which is due out on Feb. 9.

    February 03, 2016
  • What is the state of the clearance job market in 2016? Find out when Evan Lesser, founder and director of ClearanceJobs.com, joins host Derrick Dortch on Fed Access. January 29, 2016

    January 29, 2016
  • The second round of DoD's Force of the Future initiative focuses on military families. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the reforms would improve the military's ability to retain its best people.

    January 29, 2016
  • The Air Force faces a series of lawsuits alleging a questionable directive had officers canned before they could collect their 401Ks.

    January 25, 2016