Digital Government

OPM Issues Guidance on Additional Paid Sick Leave for Feds During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The federal government’s human resources agency confirmed this week that most federal workers are eligible to take up to two additional weeks of paid sick leave this year related to COVID-19.

Digital Government

House Lawmakers Accuse GSA of Breaching Ban on Implementing OPM Merger

Oversight panel leaders say newly uncovered emails confirm that the General Services Administration’s pending revocation of the Office of Personnel Management’s building operation authority is part of the plan to abolish the HR agency.

Digital Government

OPM and Defense Dept. Issue Guidelines for Civilian Employees on Coronavirus

New memos spell out expanded telework flexibilities, leave policies, alternative work schedules and more.

Digital Government

Senators Call on OPM to Ensure Feds and Contractors Are Protected as Coronavirus Spreads

The lawmakers pushed for expanding telework and preventing agencies from imposing disciplinary actions or pay cuts that could impede health precautions.

Digital Government

OPM Issues Additional Coronavirus Guidance, Encouraging Telework, Reduced Travel

The federal government’s HR agency orders all agencies to include telework in contingency plans, and encourages them to reduce “non-essential” travel.

Digital Government

Unions Report No Sign of Telework Flexibilities Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Although both OPM and the CDC have strongly encouraged allowing employees to work remotely to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, several agencies have yet to respond to those recommendations.

Cybersecurity

OPM CISO Seeking a Small Business to Help Monitor Agency Cybersecurity

The winning vendor will help the government’s HR department track incidents across 1,000 servers and more than 10,000 devices.  

Digital Government

OPM Proposes Making It Easier to Rehire Former Feds

Under a new plan from the Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies would be able to rehire former federal workers at a higher pay grade than their previous job, provided they were high performers.

Cybersecurity

Watchdog: OPM is At Risk of Not Being Able to Restore IT Systems Post-Disaster

The massive 2015 data breaches that exposed personal information of current and former federal employees are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. 

Digital Government

Congress Moves to Block OPM-GSA Merger

A provision in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act would first require an independent study of the challenges facing the Office of Personnel Management.

Digital Government

Watchdog: Proposed OPM-GSA Merger Continues to 'Evolve' Despite Lack of Legislation

Officials have continued to examine moving portions of OPM to GSA piecemeal, and still lack documentation for the legal authority and cost benefit analyses, the inspector general said.

Digital Government

The Agencies that Saw the Biggest Gains—and Losses—in Employee Happiness in 2019

Smaller agencies saw the widest swings in employee morale this year, as measured by the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

Digital Government

Efforts to Reform Federal Hiring Already Showing Results

Administration officials said that performing pass-fail interviews earlier in the hiring process led to a faster turnaround, better candidates and more hires from public job announcements.

Modernization

How OPM Cut the Paper Out of the Performance Review Process

So far, the USA Performance app tracks more than 35,000 federal employees—a number expected to more than double in 2020.

Digital Government

Senate Appropriators Join House in Blocking OPM-GSA Merger

Senators go with Trump's latest proposal for a 2.6% civilian pay raise for 2020 but no locality increase, while the House has approved an average 3.1% raise.

Digital Government

Trump Administration Seeks to Quash Lawsuit Over OPM Hack

Government says feds are not entitled to damages as hackers intended to use the personal information they gathered for spying, not identity theft or fraud.