As a new administration prepares to set up shop in Washington, significant budget cuts are being discussed. Here is a summary of what some of these proposals might be and how they would potentially impact federal employees.
Should federal employees be “at will” employees? It is unlikely changes of this magnitude outlined in a recent bill will be implemented as there will be fierce opposition. Here is a summary.
The author says there are at least four issues in the current labor relations system which need correcting to make government work more efficiently and effectively. He outlines each issue as he sees them and what his suggestions are for fixing them.
A bill to require OPM to provide annual information on the amount of official time used by federal employees engaging in union activity has been sent to the House for consideration.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) fired off numerous letters late last week to various federal agency leaders requesting data on federal employees’ use of official time.
GAO analyzed a recent OPM report on official time usage by federal employee unions. It found significant discrepancies in the data but OPM noted that providing more accurate data “is not a priority at this time.”
The author says that much has been written about the number of hours of official time used by the government, but from the perspective of Congress, OPM and others. She instead suggests looking at the subject from the perspective of federal employees in the workplace.
One of Lois Lerner’s emails that was recently uncovered in the ongoing IRS investigation details how the union prevented disciplinary action from being taken on a non-performing but highly paid IRS employee. The revelation has the House Subcommittee on Oversight concerned about the value the IRS is getting for what it spends on union activity.
Do you think providing full pay and benefits for federal employees representing unions a good policy? Take this survey and express your opinion.
A House Committee chairman has released information from the IRS showing how much time agency employees were spending on official time.
