Jon Etherton, president of Etherton and Associates, Inc., joins host Roger Waldron for a wide ranging discussion of the issues affecting contractors. July 9, 2013 (This program originally aired on July 2, 2013)
Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale says the Pentagon has the legal authority to furlough DoD civilians paid out of working-capital funds. Hale was responding to an earlier letter from Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), and more than two dozen other lawmakers, who wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month requesting the legal rationale for furloughing working-capital fund employees.
What's the difference between an elected politician and a career civil servant? When politicians take time off they get paid, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says, whereas feds who don't work don't.
Furloughs for civilian Defense Department employees officially kicked off this week. That has many employees singing the blues -- literally.
House members with constituents impacted by budget cuts to the Patent and Trademark Office and Department of Defense are taking steps to ease the effect of sequestration and furloughs.
Approximately 85 percent of the Defense Department's civilian workforce -- more than 650,000 employees -- will be staying home Monday, as the first of DoD's cost-cutting furlough days goes into effect. The furloughs were put in place to offset automatic, across-the-board spending cuts implemented by sequestration. DoD estimates the furloughs will save between $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion.
The annual appropriations process is a complex and arduous Washington practice. But sequestration has snarled the process this year. As appropriators work to set agency funding, the House and the Senate disagree about how to account for the cuts in next year's spending plans.
OPM processed just 8,683 claims last month — about 2,800 fewer than it had initially expected to. That's the second month in a row OPM fell behind in processing monthly claims according to new OPM data. The agency was forced to eliminate overtime for employees in its Retirement Services operation at the end of April because of the automatic budget cuts.
Thousands of federal employees at four separate government agencies are required to take an unpaid furlough day July 5. Meanwhile, employees at two government agencies could see a diminished impact of furloughs.
If traffic is a little light today, don't credit it entirely to the weather or people on alternative work schedules. In many places you can chalk it up to the presence of the F-word, which is becoming part of the deal if you work for Uncle Sam, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Jon Etherton, president of Etherton and Associates, Inc., joins host Roger Waldron for a wide ranging discussion of the issues affecting contractors. July 2, 2013
In an exclusive Federal News Radio survey, agency chief human capital officers said the hiring reforms instituted by the Obama administration are working. Most respondents said it now takes their agencies 46 to 100 days, on average, to hire new employees. Hiring reforms also have improved diversity at agencies and the ability to bring on more talented employees. At the same time, CHCOs said sequestration is impacting their ability to train and complete HR projects.
A new memo from the Defense Department tells field commanders and managers not to shift workloads onto military personnel or contractors, and not to require civilians to work longer hours to make up for productivity losses during mandatory furlough days.
The sad truth is that a lot of you aren't going to be around this time next week. You will be away. Not that kind of away, but away from the office, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. And we'd like to be home with you.
Calling all government contractors. Federal News Radio wants to know if sequestration is impacting you. Take our anonymous survey today.