Under current Family and Medical Leave Act policy, signed by President Clinton, federal employees can take up to 12 weeks off to care for a new child, but that leave is unpaid. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., want to change that. They have vowed to work together on bills to make the federal government a better employer for families. Earlier this year, Maloney introduced the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act, which she touted at the hearing as a way to boost the morale of the federal...

President Obama has announced a proposed rule that would increase the threshold for salaried workers eligible to receive overtime pay from the current standard of $455 a week to $970 a week, or approximately $50,440 a year. The Department of Labor is finishing the first draft of the proposed rule, which is expected to be on the Federal Register for comment sooner than later. The rule would also peg the threshold to consumer indexes to keep up with inflation. Federal employees are now wondering if they would be included...

The personal information of at least 4.2 million current and former feds was compromised in the first data breach that hit an OPM personnel system. The agency is offering those affected individuals credit monitoring services and identity theft insurance for the next 18 months, free of charge. How many people were impacted by a second breach on the government’s security clearance database still isn't clear and it has not been determined whether those people will also be offered the same type...

Your basic annuity is computed based on your length of service (which includes unused sick leave if you retire on an immediate annuity) and “high-3” average pay. To determine your length of service for computation, add all your periods of creditable service, and the period represented by your unused sick leave, then eliminate from the total any fractional part of a month. Your “high-3” average pay is the highest average basic pay you earned during any 3 consecutive years of service. Generally, your basic...

Payroll offices must adjust errors in withholdings and contributions on a subsequent payroll and must include the adjustments in a subsequent withholdings and contributions report. Your employing office must ensure that your individual payroll record shows not only the regular (current) deductions for health benefits withholdings, but also the adjustments. Where annual appropriations are involved and the fiscal year changes between the processing of the erroneous withholdings and/or contributions and the processing of the adjustment,...

News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 04, 2015 Contact: Sam Schumach Tel: (202) 606-2402 OPM to Notify Employees of Cybersecurity Incident WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has identified a cybersecurity incident potentially affecting personnel data for current and former federal employees, including personally identifiable information (PII). Within the last year, the OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture, adding numerous...

Commissary employees are currently paid on the government services (GS) or wage grade (WG) government compensation systems, depending on their job. The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC), a group tasked by Congress with examining military benefits, suggested earlier this year that commissary employees be moved from those systems to non-appropriated funds (NAF) status as a cost savings measure. A government employee union says moving forward with a such a plan "raises profound concerns for civilian...

Yesterday, House Republicans released their 2016 budget proposal which includes a measure that would increase the amount federal employees must contribute to their retirement. "In keeping with a recommendation from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, this budget calls for Federal employees — including Members of Congress and congressional staff — to make greater contributions toward their own retirement," the proposal states. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.)...

Payroll offices must adjust errors in withholdings and contributions on a subsequent payroll and must include the adjustments in a subsequent withholdings and contributions report. Your employing office must ensure that your individual payroll record shows not only the regular (current) deductions for health benefits withholdings, but also the adjustments. Where annual appropriations are involved and the fiscal year changes between the processing of the erroneous withholdings and/or contributions and the processing of the adjustment,...

President Obama is directing federal agencies to offer their employees 240 hours of advanced sick leave at the request of an employee and under “appropriate circumstances.” This leave would be for the birth or adoption of a child or for other eligible uses of sick leave. The White House memo states that leave policies should be updated “as soon as possible and no later than January 1, 2016.” The memo directs the Office of Personnel Management to issue guidance regarding the new leave policies...