OPM highlights workplace flexibilities to avoid Zika-affected areas

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on  Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In today’s Top Federal Headlines, the Office of Personnel Management is reminding agencies of certain ways federal employees can avoid areas where there is a risk of the Zika virus.

• The Office of Personnel Management has emphasized workplace flexibilities available if the Zika virus spreads to other parts of the country. OPM has a new group of agency representatives meeting regularly on Zika to come up with other accommodations agencies can use if the virus spreads. Acting OPM Director Beth Cobert said federal employees should consider teleconferencing to Zika-affected areas. (Chief Human Capital Officers Council)

• Agencies have a few updated online training courses for one of those flexibilities. OPM made a few changes to telework training classes for both employees and managers. Employees have to finish the training before getting approval for a telework assignment. OPM is interested in agencies’ use of telework and their method of reporting on it. (Chief Human Capital Officers Council)

• OPM has asked Congress to update employee benefits. Its legislative proposal asks that civilian death benefits and funeral allowances be increased tenfold. It proposed that the two benefits automatically increase each year along with the consumer price index. The death gratuity has held at $10,000 since 1997. Funeral allowances haven’t risen since the Johnson administration.

• The first bill that could serve as the vehicle for a short-term continuing resolution is at play. A Democratic aide in the House said the hope is the Senate will pass a three-month CR that includes Zika funding. Both chambers are scheduled to spend at least another week on Capitol Hill before leaving town. They have 11 days to avoid a government shutdown before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. (Federal News Radio)

• The Army has resumed work connecting with the intelligence community’s information technology enterprise system. It was held up by questions over the DOD’s application of the federal acquisition regulation. The Army said it will begin implementing common desktop environment pilot next year. That pilot is a pre-cursor for a larger release in 2018 and 2019. (Federal News Radio)

• A new study has found the military has been digging itself a deep research and development hole for the past five years. DoD contract spending overall is down more than 30 percent since 2009 — but an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies finds R&D contracts have fallen more than 50 percent over the same period. That’s a departure from past military drawdowns, when the military has tended to protect research funding, then use that science to build new weapons systems for subsequent military conflicts. The Army’s funding shrunk most significantly — down 60 percent since 2009. (Federal News Radio)

• Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said DoD employees are leading the way in generosity. Work says contributions to the Combined Federal Campaign from Defense Department employees are 67 percent higher than the national average. DoD’s CFC goal this year is to reach $9 million. (Department of Defense)

• The FBI and the Associated Press are at odds on two fronts. Although the AP doesn’t like it, the Justice inspector general has cleared the FBI of wrongdoing when agents posed as reporters. They were able to nail the location of a teenager threatening to bomb his school in a 2007 case. Plus, the AP sued the FBI for details on who it paid and how much for unlocking encrypted iPhones after last year’s San Bernadino shootings. (Department of Justice Office of Inspector General)

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