|
Brought to you by IBM
Join IBM on 10/21/04, for a complimentary leadership seminar, "Open Source Software Security ... Ready for Government?" Government and industry speakers will discuss security and policy aspects around open source based initiatives in government. Observe a lively discussion with a thought-provoking panel of experts who will answer your toughest questions on this topic. To register, visit: www.ibm.com/federal or call 1 800 333 6705. |
1. House votes to grant agencies hiring, pay flexibility
By David McGlinchey
The House passed legislation Wednesday that would give agencies several new options for hiring and compensating employees.
Top federal personnel officials have long said that federal agencies need more flexibilities to recruit and retain quality employees. The bill provides a number of these authorities, including permission for agencies to pay bonuses of up to 100 percent of annual pay over four years. The measure also requires agencies to focus training programs around their strategic goals, create management succession programs, and provide training to assist managers in dealing with poor performers.
The Senate passed its version of the bill, known as the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act (S.129), in April. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced the measure. The House gave its assent Wednesday on a voice vote.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100704d1.htm
2. Civil rights group decries shortfall in EEOC funding
By Amelia Gruber
Over the past two decades, Congress has deprived the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of funds necessary to remain adequately staffed, a civil rights group said in a recent report.
Between fiscal 1980 and fiscal 2004, the EEOC's workforce dwindled by 943 full-time employees, the Federal Sector Task Force of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People reported, using statistics collected from the agency. The decline is largely attributable to Congress' consistent failure to meet the agency's budget requests, said Leroy Warren Jr., chairman of the task force.
At current staff levels, the EEOC is unable to provide timely service to federal employees filing discrimination complaints, Warren said. The task force called upon Congress to address the problem by granting the agency's full fiscal 2005 budget request.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100604a1.htm
3. Thrift Savings Plan funds continue steady growth
By Daniel Pulliam
Thrift Savings Plan funds continued to gain value in September, according to Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board figures released Monday.
After a rough July, three of the funds—C, S and I—experienced modest gains in August. The G Fund saw no change, while the F Fund dropped less than a quarter of a percent in September.
All five funds have increased in value over the past 12 months. The I Fund led the way with a 21.6 percent gain, while the F Fund trailed the pack with a 3.6 percent rise.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100604dp1.htm
4. Housing agency works with personnel officials to overhaul hiring
By David McGlinchey
The Housing and Urban Development Department is joining forces with the Office of Personnel Management to revamp the housing agency's hiring process, officials said two weeks ago.
According to an OPM news release, HUD personnel officials appealed for help with their recruiting and hiring practices.
Officials from OPM and HUD are working together to cut the time it takes to hire federal workers. Officials also conducted focus groups and surveys with HUD employees nationwide to collect information about the hiring process and staffing problems at HUD.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100504d1.htm
5. Treasury bureau, union reach settlement on unpaid overtime
By Chris Strohm
Hundreds of employees in the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could receive compensation for unpaid overtime under an agreement reached two weeks ago.
After more than a year of negotiations, the OCC and the National Treasury Employees Union reached a settlement granting workers back pay and damages for improperly paid overtime covering more than two years.
The union estimates that as many as 500 employees will be eligible for compensation. OCC has identified 43 employees so far who are entitled to back pay, agency spokesman Dean Debuck said. Additional employees might be identified, he added.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100504c1.htm
Brought to you by IBM
Join IBM on 10/21/04, for a complimentary leadership seminar, "Open Source Software Security ... Ready for Government?" Government and industry speakers will discuss security and policy aspects around open source based initiatives in government. Observe a lively discussion with a thought-provoking panel of experts who will answer your toughest questions on this topic. To register, visit: www.ibm.com/federal
or call 1 800 333 6705.
6. Executives' association challenges conflict-of-interest interpretation
By Shawn Zeller
The Senior Executives Association has written to the Office of Government Ethics to protest a policy that limits the ability of SEA board members to implement policies at their agencies on which the SEA has taken a position.
The issue arose earlier this year when a senior executive contemplating a position on the SEA board contacted the government ethics office to ask whether he could then continue to work on the implementation of new Senior Executive Service pay-for-performance rules at his department. The SEA has been critical of some aspects of Office of Personnel Management regulations implementing those rules.
The senior executive was advised that if he took the board position, he would have to recuse himself from playing a role in the pay-for-performance implementation, or would violate a criminal statute, according to SEA General Counsel William Bransford.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100404sz1.htm
7. Probes take their toll on Iraq contractor
By Peter H. Stone, National Journal
Even Pentagon auditors waved red flags about Halliburton early this year—but they apparently went unheeded. On January 16, the Texas oil services giant won a $1.2 billion contract to help repair Iraq's devastated oil infrastructure. Three days before, the Defense Department's principal auditing agency had sent a memo to the Army Corps of Engineers that faulted the company's cost-estimation systems for "significant deficiencies." And the day after that, on January 14, the auditing agency called on the Defense Department's inspector general to open a criminal probe into at least $61 million that Halliburton had overcharged the government on its gasoline imports into Iraq.
But Halliburton got the new contract anyway. And ironically, the $1.2 billion contract was intended to quell a firestorm of criticism about an earlier Halliburton contract for Iraq—the giant, no-bid deal that could have been worth up to $7 billion but was capped at $2.5 billion. The original contract, first made public in March 2003 on the eve of the war, was also for fixing Iraq's damaged oil industry. The second Halliburton contract, which did go through a competitive bidding process, was the larger of two that the Army Corps of Engineers awarded to replace the original sole-source contract.
Some outside analysts say it's unusual for a company facing government scrutiny to win a new contract. "In government contracting, we usually disqualify companies that are in the midst of multiple investigations," says P.W. Singer, a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Corporate Warriors.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100404nj1.htm
8. This week's column: Pay and Benefits Watch
The Reformation
Will performance pay and other personnel reforms spread to the rest of the government? No one really is sure.
Full column: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1004/100704pb.htm
9. Quote of the Week:
"There are probably people unhappy with the fact that the sun comes up as well."
— Rear Adm. James Godwin, newly-installed top official at NMCI, saying that some unhappy users are to be expected with any system.
FREE HOMELAND SECURITY NEWSLETTER
Click here to see the latest issue and sign up for your copy at: www.govexec.com/email.
You can also view this newsletter at: http://www.govexec.com/email/workforce.htm
To unsubscribe from Workforce Week e-newsletter visit this link http://govexec-media.com/uzAAHObAAABugBNote: It may take our system up to two business days to process your unsubscribe request and during that time you may receive one or two more newsletters. Thank you for reading GovExec.com.
This message was sent from GovExec.com to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
