Although federal employees reported a decrease in workplace discrimination over the past 15 years, many say favoritism is still a prominent issue. Favoritism negatively impacts workplace morale and performance.
The number of furlough appeals coming in each day to the Merit Systems Protection Board is steadily decreasing, allowing the board to move forward with consolidating appeals and preparing them for adjudication.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are not entitled to a key civil-service protection under a recent ruling by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington. Andres Grajales, deputy general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees who represented two federal employees in the case, said the ruling gives agencies a weapon against employees.
As Americans, we learn from childhood that all men (and women) are created equal. But as we get older, wiser and more experienced, read George Orwell's "Animal Farm" or go to work for the government, we learn that some people are created more equal than others. So is Uncle Sam running a sort of Animal Farm? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey asks.
Debra Roth hosts a roundtable discussion of how sequestration has affected the judicial branch, justice, and the rule of law. August 23, 2013
The majority of furlough-related appeals the Merit Systems Protection Board has received - 98 percent - have come from civilian employees of the Defense Department. Of the 30,000-plus furlough appeals, MSPB has entered more than 16,000 into its system. The agency says it expects to have most of the appeals docketed shortly after Labor Day.
Due to the flood of appeals coming into its offices, the Merit Systems Protection Board has delayed processing and adjudicating furlough appeals from civilian Defense Department employees. The board will continue to process appeals from non-DoD employees.
The Merit Systems Protection Board has 3,000 appeals from furloughed employees in the pipeline. Board Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann says her staff is working overtime to get them all processed.
Bill Bransford hosts a roundtable discussion of the upcoming Federal Dispute Resolution Conference. July 12, 2013
A federal retirement tsunami has been predicted for years but never quite materialized. In our special report, "Retirement Conundrum," Federal News Radio reexamines the trends and developments that led to the botched predictions and what it means today with a recent uptick in retirements reviving old worries.
For many people involved in the alleged scandals at the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service, the solution is simple: Off with their heads. Fire the offenders whether they are political appointees or career civil servants. But this isn't Paris in 1789, it's Washington in 2013 so things will go a little slower, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
The Office of Special Counsel is "deeply concerned" about the implications of a federal court ruling that stripped low-level Defense Department employees of their ability to appeal suspensions and demotions outside the agency. OSC, which filed an amicus brief earlier this month with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, is worried the ruling could have a chilling effect on whistleblowers.
Paul Prouty, the former GSA Region 8 commissioner, won his appeal of the agency's decision to fire him in the wake of the Western Regions Conference scandal last April. The Merit Systems Protection Board's administrative judge found "no evidence" of wrongdoing by Prouty.
Sequestration? Furloughs? Pay freeze? Fed bashing? Poor leadership? The list of morale killers goes on and on. A new Federal News Radio survey on employee morale and leadership -- part of our special report, Leaders in Federal Service -- shows just how bad people are feeling in the federal workforce.
Sharon Roth of the Merit Systems Protection Board discusses a new survey on federal management. Lt. Cmdr. Jean Marie Sullivan of the Navy Office of Women's Policy talks about the new DoD decision to open up combat jobs to women. Greg Kutz, a senior audit executive with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Audit, talks about a new report his agency released. Keith Lucas, vice president for AFGE Council 228, discusses a new contract his union signed with the Small Business Administration.