Voices: Brittany Ballenstedt

Brittany Ballenstedt

Blogger

Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.

Results 1501-1510 of 1633

from govexec

Health Savings Shortfalls

June 28, 2007 President Bush has championed high-deductible health care plans and the savings accounts that accompany them as a viable solution to escalating medical costs. But now, two years after the option was added to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, employees have not yet warmed to the idea. High-deductible health plans ...

from govexec

House backs 3.5 percent civilian pay raise

June 28, 2007 The House on Thursday approved a bill granting civilian federal employees a 2008 pay raise of 3.5 percent, a figure equal to the adjustment already authorized in the House for members of the military. The House approved the raise as part of the fiscal 2008 financial services appropriations bill. The ...

from govexec

Stronger training urged for front-line supervisors

June 26, 2007 Investing in training for front-line supervisors at federal agencies will significantly improve employee performance and help agencies meet growing challenges, a public administration specialist said Tuesday. James Thompson, an associate professor of public administration at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said front-line supervisors have a bigger influence on employees' day-to-day performance ...

from govexec

High court ruling protects feds from racketeering lawsuits

June 26, 2007 The Supreme Court ruled Monday that six Bureau of Land Management employees are not subject to individual damage claims related to actions they took as part of their official duties. In a 7-2 decision written by Justice David Souter, the high court ruled that a Wyoming rancher cannot sue the ...

from govexec

Report touts progress linking execs’ pay, performance

June 25, 2007 Agencies have improved since 2004 in linking senior executives' salaries and awards more closely to job performance, according to a new report by the Office of Personnel Management. The report highlights fiscal 2006 rating, pay and awards data for Senior Executive Service employees working under pay-for-performance systems in more than ...

from govexec

Union files unfair labor practice charge against GAO chief

June 22, 2007 A federal labor union on Thursday filed an unfair labor practice charge against the head of the Government Accountability Office, claiming he has made inappropriate statements interfering with employees' rights to unionize. The charge, delivered to Comptroller General David M. Walker by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, ...

from govexec

Payband Balancing Act

June 21, 2007 Whether or not pay-for-performance systems can work effectively across an entity as large and varied as the federal government remains an open question. And it's also not clear whether federal employees -- many of whom have grown accustomed to nearly automatic pay raises each year -- would ever view such ...

from govexec

State Department urged to beef up mental health support

June 21, 2007 The State Department should make debriefings mandatory for civilian employees returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, in an effort to head off potential post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems, members of a House subcommittee said Tuesday. At a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East ...

from govexec

TSP board rejects divestiture proposals

June 19, 2007 The board that oversees the federal employee Thrift Savings Plan on Tuesday expressed strong opposition to legislative proposals that would require divestiture of companies that do business in countries supporting genocide and terror. At their monthly meeting, members of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board expressed concern over the precedent ...

from govexec

Auditors uncover fraud in federal benefit programs

June 18, 2007 Recent investigations into health insurance and prescription drug providers for federal employees have uncovered improper charges, illegal kickbacks and other cases of fraud, resulting in the recovery of more than $106 million for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The Office of Personnel Management inspector general's semiannual report, which was ...