Federal Manager's Daily Report: Monday, November 8, 2004 FEDweek is the largest information resource in the federal government with now over one million weekly readers. To Subscribe, Go to http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm *********************************************************** Valued Added Service to Our Readers:
Federal Job Search http://www.fedweek.com/Jobs/default.asp Job Bulletin Board http://www.fedweek.com/Jobs/default.asp Unlimited Internet Access for as low as $10.90 http://fedweeknet.com Our Readers Will Get Special Discounted Travel Rates Including, Airfare, Hotels, RV's, Car Rentals, and Special Weekend Getaways--Anywhere in the world http://www.fedweek.com/images/adart/travel_redirect.htm ********************************************************** In This Week's Issue 1. OPM Begins Training on New Human Capital Legislation 2. Highlights of Flexibilty Act 3. Employee Charged for Snow Day While on Leave 4. Brand New Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide Just Published New Publication Announcement: The Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php *********************************************************** 1. OPM Begins Training on New Human Capital Legislation The Office of Personnel Management began training chief human capital officers at the sixth and latest CHCO session on the recently signed human capital legislation, the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004. The act amends current law regarding critical pay authority, agency training activities, annual leave, recruitment and retention bonuses, and compensatory time off for travel. OPM said the meeting addressed a shift in primary responsibility for critical pay authority from the Office of Management and Budget to OPM, which it said would increase the use of "this underutilized flexibility as a means of attracting talented individuals to critical positions in the federal government." OPM trained CHCOs on how to use new personnel flexibilities, adding that the act would allow managers to "accomplish mission critical goals and continue to build a strong civil service by finding and selecting the best possible candidates." The act gives federal agencies more authority within their budgets to pay larger recruitment and retention bonuses, and they will be required to regularly evaluate and modify training programs to promote a more strategic approach to adapting training programs to the overall mission, as well as to provide specific training to develop managers as part of a comprehensive management succession program, according to OPM. 2. Highlights of Flexibilty Act Here are some of their highlights of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act: * Recruitment, Retention and Relocation Bonuses: Federal agencies will have enhanced flexibility, within their budgets, to pay larger recruitment and relocation bonuses based on the length of an agreed-upon service period (capped at 25 percent of annual pay multiplied by years of service, up to a maximum of 4 years of service); agencies may waive the normal cap on recruitment and relocation bonuses because of a critical agency need in order to pay higher amounts over shorter periods of time (not to exceed a total of 100 percent of the employee's starting salary); managers may pay retention bonuses to employees who are likely to leave for other federal positions under conditions prescribed in OPM regulations; and new pay recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses may be paid out in alternative ways, such as in installments or in a lump sum at the end of a service period. * Agency Training: Federal agencies will be required to regularly evaluate and modify training programs or plans in order to promote a more strategic approach to agencies' integration of training programs into overall mission accomplishment, and provide specific training to develop managers as part of a comprehensive management succession program. The flexibility also makes provision to ensure training is provided for managers to effectively handle unacceptable employee performance. * Annual Leave: To enhance efforts to recruit senior executives from outside of the government, members of the Senior Executive Service and senior-level employees will now accrue 8 hours of annual leave each pay period. In addition, managers will be able to offer enhanced vacation leave benefits to new recruits from the private sector. In determining their annual leave accrual rate, newly appointed employees may receive credit for non-federal work experience. Qualified non-federal work experience must have been performed in a position with duties that directly relate to the position to which the employee is being appointed and the agency head must determine that offering the higher annual leave accrual rate is necessary to meet the agency mission or performance goal. * Pay Administration: Several changes to streamline and rationalize the laws on pay-setting will enable OPM to correct a variety of pay administration anomalies, and will ensure that employees receiving locality pay and special rates are treated similarly when pay is set upon reassignment, promotion, and movements between pay systems and schedules. No employee's pay will be reduced as a result of these corrections. 3. Employee Charged for Snow Day While on Leave Finding that employees are required to work at their approved alternate work site on days that the official duty site is closed due to a snow emergency, the Federal Labor Relations Authority denied a woman's attempt to reclaim a day of annual leave that was charged even though her agency was snowed shut. In the decision - 60 FLRA No. 25 -- FLRA deferred to OPM telework guidance, and noted, "the key to this case was that the flexiplace agreement made clear that employees with flexiplace arrangements are not entitled to excused absence for emergency closings that don't affect their reporting for duty at the alternative work location," according to OPM. It said that while on annual leave, the employee's primary place of work was closed for snow on the day she was normally scheduled to work from her alternate site. She was charged leave for that day, but the other employees were not. The American Federation of Government Employees filed a grievance on her behalf to reclaim that day of leave, but an arbitrator denied it, originally finding that "employees are not entitled to excused absence for emergency closings . . . that do not affect their reporting for duty at the alternative work location." The union claimed that the decision was contrary to 5 U.S.C. 6302, and "violated management's right to change employee work schedules, approve leave, and assign work." 4. Brand New Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide Just Published New Publication Announcement: The Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php Passman & Kaplan announces the October 2004 publication of the SECOND EDITION of the Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide. This comprehensive book, first published by Passman & Kaplan in 1999, has been called the definitive how-to guide for enforcing the rights of federal employees. The second edition of the Guide includes 100 PAGES OF ADDITIONAL NEW MATERIAL (now 616 total pages) and useful advice. New features include information on internet legal research, preparing for and conducting a hearing, sample discovery requests, and up-to-date contact information for federal personnel agencies. The Guide also includes a listing of frequently used civil service acronyms and practical appendices of sample forms, charts illustrating appeal rights, and commonly-needed deadlines. As with the first edition of the Guide, Passman & Kaplan has attempted to move away from the "legalese" which so often complicates an already-bewildering array of regulations and policies. Although the Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide, Second Edition is clearly an invaluable resource for practioners, Passman & Kaplan has maintained its commitment to target the book to the average federal employee. *********************************************************** To place your order for The Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide just go to http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php and place your secure order online. The cost of this publication is only $49.95 Plus $6 s&h--Remember, this is a 616 page reference that is chalked full of invaluable information that every federal manager must have! Or you can mail your order with payment of $55.95 to FEDweek, PO Box 5519, Glen Allen, VA 23058. This is a one of a kind book you can't afford to be without! Published by FEDweek 11541 Nuckols Rd. 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