There are changes on the horizon for federal travelers. The change in the mileage reimbursement rate is already in place but other changes that will be significant for some readers are in the proposal stage.
A temporary employee applied for a permanent job and was selected–even though the announcement indicated the job was not open to temporary employees. She lost the job as a result so the employee filed an appeal contending that since she was now in a permanent job, she now had full appeal rights. The case went to federal court as the former temp tried to expand the coverage of the federal employee appeal process but the court did not buy the argument.
A recent notice in the Federal Register is the latest step by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to clamp down on frequent trading in TSP funds. The notice makes the argument that the restrictions are necessary to protect the interests of the majority of TSP investors whose financial investments are being put at risk by the actions of those trying to time the market and forcing all TSP participants to accept additional financial risk they did not anticipate. A press release from a group opposed to the changes states that the cost of trading for each TSP shareholder has declined despite the market timing activities of some TSP participants.
A 19-year postal employee with no prior misconduct worked at a Post Office where she supervised clerks and served as the finance supervisor. She was demoted to a part-time job. The MSPB administrative judge sustained the penalty after finding only a lesser charge had been proved. A federal court returns the case as “The agency has not yet articulated what less severe sentence should be imposed when it proved only a much less severe charge.”
Federal employees who perform civil service work year in and year out do not need to have their evaluations tied to the agency’s strategic planning process.
An employee of the IRS told the agency he had never left a job “under unfavorable circumstances.” A background investigation revealed that was not necessarily the case, at least in the agency’s opinion. The employee appealed his removal to the MSPB and to federal court but his legal quest did not get him reinstated.
A former employee of SSA has been indicted on two counts of wire fraud, three counts of bribery and one count of using of a computer to further a fraud. If convicted, the former claims representative is facing a significant prison term.
A recent news article on the FLRA site refers to the absence of an FLRA General Counsel. The site does not indicate where she may be though.
When you leave federal service before being eligible for retirement, what are the implications of taking a lump sum payment? This former Navy employee discovered the answer.
When telephones were invented, the federal bureaucracy was flustered: How can federal employees be trusted with this new device? The issue today is the Internet. The regulators in the Air Force trust people to fly and maintain sophisticated technology–but the cyber command is determined to keep personnel from having access to “dangerous information” delivered by the new technology.
