FEDweek Issue: Wednesday, November 10, 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: Post Your Federal or Private Sector Job. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unlimited Internet Access for as low as $10.90 http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/222/0/ Travel Discounts From FEDweek Traveling for the holidays? Check out our low cost travel rates At http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/339/0/ 3.9 cents per minute!--Plus 1000 FREE Minutes Long Distance Minutes http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/37/0/ ************************************************************* In This Week's Issue: 1. Early Marker Set for 2006 Raise 2. Are you getting your money's worth from your health plan? 3. Military Figure a More Reliable Indicator 4. Changes Coming on Bonuses, Travel 5. Policy Guidance Coming 6. Guidance Coming on Travel Comp Time, Too 7. Summary of Federal Workforce Flexibility Act http://www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/default.asp 8. DoD Bill Could Set Precedent 9. Base Closing Process Moving Ahead 10. Some Benefits Changes in DoD Bill 11. Work Progressing on DoD, DHS Systems 12. Experts' View: Calculating Retirement Survivor Benefits http://www.fedweek.com/content/ev/index.php 13. All Five Funds Positive 14. Federal Legal Corner: EEOC Appears to Broaden Sex Harassment Scope http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/338/0/ 15. 2005 CSRS & FERS In-Print Retirement Planning Guides http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php *********************************************************** This Issue is Sponsored by Borland http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/322/0/ PRODUCTIVITY. CROSS-PLATFORM. MANAGEABILITY. With Borland Application Lifecycle Management solutions. http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/322/0/ Developing software for the United States government has a lot riding on it. 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The Borland integrated Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution can help you do it all. http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/322/0/ With cross-platform products, accelerated application development, design, deployment, change management, and process management, the Borland ALM solution gives you the tools for success. http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294975917/821888/322/0/ *********************************************************** 1. Early Marker Set for 2006 Raise An early marker has been set for the January 2006--not 2005--federal pay raise, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the employment cost index measure used for determining the across-the-board component of that raise was 2.6 percent in the pertinent measuring period. Under federal pay law, a half percentage point is supposed to be shaved off that amount in order to keep employees roughly apace with private sector wage growth, and locality pay is supposed to be paid on top of it in order to close local pay gaps. That system has never been implemented as designed, however. According to the latest government figures, a total raise of 13.1 percent would be needed to bring federal pay in compliance with the law. In many years the reduced ECI figure--in this case, 2.1 percent--has been proposed as the total raise and Congress has added a locality pay component on top of that. However, the Bush administration broke with that formula in its last several budget proposals by recommending federal raises based on consumer price inflation, not private sector wage growth, while seeking to link additional raises to employee performance. 2. Are you getting your money's worth from your health plan? This fall, Federal and Postal employees have the opportunity to choose a health plan through the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Health Plan that is worthy of your trust. It's called the Consumer-driven option, and it gives you a lot for your hard-earned dollars. Here's how it works: A Personal Care Account (PCA) is provided for you to use as needed. Benefit dollars in this account cover your first $1,200 (or $2,400 for a family) of healthcare and pharmacy expenses at 100%, with no co-pays. If you don't use all of your PCA funds during the year, the remaining balance rolls over to the next year. So when you have a relatively healthy year, you get to save for your future healthcare needs. And As an added benefit, up to $400 (single) and $800 (family) of PCA funds can be used each year for dental and vision care. When you do need care, the APWU Health Plan Consumer-driven Option is ready to support you with: * Low bi-weekly premiums of $18.40 (single) or $42.85 (family) for Postal employees or $40.89 (single) or $95.23 (family) for Non-Postal employees * A nationwide network with over 450,000 providers * PCA dollars may be used for dental or vision ($400/single, $800/family, per year) * Preventive Care covered at 100% with network providers * No office, drug or hospital stay co-payments * No referrals required for specialists * No upfront deductible * Extensive phone and online resources, including nurse health coach support 24/7 Discover a better health plan with the APWU Consumer-driven option. To learn more, please visit http://www.definityhealth.com/definity?username=APWUHP&password=HPInfo or request more information by clicking this link http://www.definityhealth.com/go/apwuhp/more_info_email.html. Representatives are also ready to answer your questions at 1.866.833.3463. 3. Military Figure a More Reliable Indicator Under a separate pay law for the military, the starting point for raises for uniformed personnel is a half percentage point above the pertinent ECI figure. In recent years the federal raise has been pegged to the military figure in the name of "parity" between federal civilian and uniformed military personnel. The parity figure for purposes of the 2006 federal raise thus would be 3.1 percent, if recent practice is followed. In any case, the actual raise is determined in the annual federal budget process, which can be long and difficult. Congress and the White House have yet to finally determine the January 2005 federal pay raise, although it appears that 3.5 percent, the figure already enacted for the military, is the most likely number. That issue might be settled in a lame-duck session set to begin next week. 4. Changes Coming on Bonuses, Travel While President Bush has signed legislation--the "Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004"--changing several aspects of bonus and travel policies, the changes will not be effective immediately. The new law gives agencies greater flexibility in how they pay relocation, recruitment and retention payments, raises the limits from 25 to 50 percent of salary based on a "critical agency need," and allows payment of retention bonuses to prevent employees from leaving for other federal agencies, but also imposes additional service requirements in certain circumstances. However, the law specifies that the bonus authority changes will not take effect until the first pay period 180 days after enactment, meaning May 1, 2005. 5. Policy Guidance Coming The law gives the Office of Personnel Management authority to issue regulations to carry out the changes, potentially including rules outlining what is a "critical agency need" and rules relating to the repayment of a bonus when the agreed-upon service period has not been completed. OPM has said in a memo to agencies that it will issue the implementing rules before the effective date, although it didn't specify when. It also requires that a service agreement relating to a recruitment or relocation bonus under prior law will remain in effect until its expiration and a retention allowance authorized under prior law will remain in effect until it is reauthorized or terminated, up to one year beyond the effective date of the new policy. 6. Guidance Coming on Travel Comp Time, Too Another major provision of the new law allows federal travelers to receive compensatory time off for time spent on official travel outside their normal duty hours that is not deemed to be paid time--and mostly it isn't. Travel time is paid only if the time spent is within the days and hours of the employee's regularly scheduled workweek, the travel involves the performance of work while traveling, is incident to travel that involves the performance of work while traveling, is carried out under arduous conditions, or results from an event that could not be scheduled or controlled administratively. The law requires OPM to issue implementing regulations in that area as well; OPM said in its memo to agencies that it would issue those rules "in the near future" and that the policy will take effect on the earlier of the effective date of those rules or January 28, 2005. Many federal employees who travel in non-duty time will be watching closely to find out exactly what time will qualify; normal commuting time will not. The law specifies that travel comp time can't be converted to a monetary payment. 7. Summary of Federal Workforce Flexibility Act The OPM memo also summarized the bonus and compensatory time provisions of the law, as well as certain other changes, including some enhancements in annual leave for senior executives and mid-career hirees, as well as some technical corrections to pay law. For a closer look at the new law's provisions, go to http://www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/default.asp in the hot free info section of our website. 8. DoD Bill Could Set Precedent President' Bush's signature of the fiscal 2004 Defense Department budget could help settle ongoing disputes--set to arise again next week when Congress reconvenes for a lame-duck session--over contracting-out policy. The DoD measure requires that for functions where a formal cost comparison study is done, the work must stay in-house unless a saving of at least 10 percent of $10 million can be shown. Similar language was in a prior appropriations bill covering DoD that was signed earlier. However, the authorization bill contains further restrictions: it allows agency "tender officers" (who submit the in-house bids) to file protests on behalf of employees with the Government Accountability Office if the majority of affected employees want one, and requires a report from DoD's inspector general on whether DoD has a sufficient number of adequately trained employees to conduct cost comparisons and to administer any resulting contracts and on whether it has a "comprehensive and reliable" system to track to cost and quality of performance by contractors. Bid protest rights and oversight of the process are among the issues in several appropriations bills still pending, and the Bush administration's willingness to accept restrictive policies in those areas in the context of the DoD bill could signal that it will accept them in those spending bills, as well. 9. Base Closing Process Moving Ahead The DoD bill also keeps on track the current base closing process, which is on schedule to produce Pentagon recommendations to a special commission next year, with the commission then crafting a package that would be submitted to Congress for an up or down vote. Pentagon officials have said that despite prior rounds of closings, DoD still has excess capacity of nearly a quarter, although they have cautioned that that doesn't necessarily mean they will recommend closing a quarter of DoD facilities or even that they will reduce capacity by that much. They add that they want to keep enough available capacity to meet "surge" requirements. However, the process produces a great deal of angst across the DoD workforce and in potentially affected communities. 10. Some Benefits Changes in DoD Bill The DoD bill also carries some changes in benefits policy, including a government-wide provision that extends from 18 to 24 months the period in which agencies may continue to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits program premiums on behalf of their employees who have been mobilized for military duty. It also expands the DoD foreign language proficiency pay program and brings pay for senior executives in DoD intelligence operations and "nonappropriated fund" functions in line with policies affecting senior executives in general. 11. Work Progressing on DoD, DHS Systems Meanwhile, the Defense Department continues to work to issue proposed rules on its new "national security personnel system," which will alter many working rules for the department's civilian employees starting next year. DoD plans to soon announce which components will be part of the first phase, called "spiral one" which will launch in July 2005. The second "spiral" is set for January 2006. DoD also has indicated recently that it might not release those rules--which will only be proposed and which will kick off a public comment period and consultations with unions--by the end of this calendar year as was its target, and that the proposal might slip into January. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security is continuing to work on rules for its own personnel system that will feature changes in many of the same areas, including job classification, compensation, and union and employee appeals rights. The DHS rules, which could come out by the year's end, would be final rules--proposed rules were published earlier this year--although as at DoD, implementation of certain parts would be phased in over potentially several years. 12. Experts' View: Calculating Retirement Survivor Benefits Availability of retirement survivor benefits is one of the best features of federal employment, writes benefits expert Reg Jones. Under either FERS or CSRS, "a full survivor annuity is mandatory unless you and your spouse agree to a lesser amount (or none) in writing," he writes. You'll find his column at http://www.fedweek.com/content/ev/index.php 13. All Five Funds Positive All five Thrift Savings Plan investment funds returned gains in October, with the international stock (I) fund up 3.94 percent, the small company U.S. stock (S) fund up 1.85 percent, the large company common stock (C) fund up 1.52 percent, the bond (F) fund up 0.87 percent and the government securities (G) fund up 0.38 percent. Over the 12 months ending in October, the I fund is up 19.2 percent, the S fund up 11.84 percent, the C fund up 9.39 percent, the F fund up 5.58 percent and the G fund up 4.43 percent. 14. Federal Legal Corner: EEOC Appears to Broaden Sex Harassment Scope In U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Appeal No. 01A35012 (Sep. 22, 2004), the commission decided that a male postal worker was a victim of discrimination on the basis of his sex when he was subjected to ongoing harassment resulting in a hostile work environment. (Incidents of sexual harassment perpetrated against male employees are relatively rare; nonetheless, the panel analyzed the case based on the standard of proof used for all sexual harassment claims.) The employee, at one of the postal service's distribution centers, had discovered a photograph with sexually explicit captions posted on the shop's bulletin board. Captions indicated that the woman in the photograph represented his wife. Later, an explicit cartoon with his name on it was placed in his workstation. After coworkers discovered his home address, his wife received a "valentine" containing lewd references to an alleged sexual affair between her husband and another woman. The harassment continued. After each incident of harassment, he notified his supervisors about it; however, he never received a response. Eventually, he transferred to another postal facility in an attempt to escape the harassment. But the couple continued to receive sexually explicit cartoons in the mail and at work. Though the Postal Service much later declared the problem resolved, he continued to receive the explicit material. Throughout the period of harassment, the Postal Service never identified individuals responsible for the conduct against the couple. When he complained to supervisors, management would conduct "standup talks" with the employees. However, the harassment went on. In its analysis, the commission cited the Supreme Court case of Oncale v. Sundownder Offshore Services, Inc. 523 U.S. 75, 78 (1998), for the proposition that Title VII prohibited discrimination "because of...sex." The commission stated that, in certain circumstances, a male employee subjected to unwelcome sexual conduct or comments by another male employee constitutes a violation of Title VII. However, EEOC warned that anti-discrimination statutes are not a "general civility code." To state a claim of sexual harassment, the conduct must be so objectively offensive as to alter the conditions of the victims or be sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile work environment The commission concluded that when coworkers sent sexually explicit notes and letters to him, he was discriminated against because of his sex. The commission found that the sexually explicit materials were extremely offensive, causing the postal employee to transfer to another facility to escape the harassment. The panel also found that the Postal Service failed to take remedial action to end the harassment. When the standup talks to employees proved ineffective, management failed to consider more effective methods to end the harassment, said EEOC, also finding that responsible management officials failed to make serious attempts at ending the harassment, but instead blamed the victim as being the source of the problem. It's unclear how the commission's decision in this case affects prior law holding that allegations of discrimination based on sexual orientation do not state a claim under Title VII. In the employee's case, the harassment he experienced was not due to unsolicited sexual desire from another male coworker. Indeed, there was no evidence presented as to whether his harassers were men or women. With this decision, the EEOC appears to suggest that, regardless of the gender of the person alleging sexual harassment, so long as the sexual nature of the conduct is severe or pervasive to create a hostile work environment, the complainant has stated a claim of discrimination. ** This information is provided by the attorneys at Passman & Kaplan, P.C., a law firm dedicated to the representation of federal employees worldwide. For more information on Passman & Kaplan, P.C., go to http://www.passmanandkaplan.com. ** Publisher's Note: Passman & Kaplan has produced a brand New Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide The Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php This comprehensive book has been called the definitive how-to guide for enforcing the rights of federal employees. Chalked full of 616 total pages of 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. For more information on this publication and how to place your order go to http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php. 15. 2005 CSRS & FERS In-Print Retirement Planning Guides Now Available to All Federal Employees for Immediate Shipment YOU WON'T FIND THESE RETIREMENT PLANING GUIDES ANYWHERE ELSE, EXCEPT FEDWEEK!) *********************************************************** Brand New 2005 CSRS & FERS Retirement Planning Guides Just Published! To order your CSRS Retirement Planning Guide, go directly to http://www.fedweek.com/csrs.htm. To order you FERS Retirement Planning Guide, go directly to http://www.fedweek.com/fers.htm. ** SPECIAL FREE REPORT: PRESERVING YOUR AMERICAN DREAM ** FEDweek will give you absolutely FREE a valuable Special Report: Preserving Your American Dream to everyone who orders the next 5,000 orders placed for either of these two federal retirement planning guides. (Limited One FREE Book per order) This is one way we can say thank you for alllowing us to serve your needs and we hope to for many years to come!! ***************************************************** The 2005 CSRS Retirement Planning Guide http://www.fedweek.com/csrs.htm The 2005 FERS Retirement Planning Guide http://www.fedweek.com/fers.htm Below you'll find more details about these publications. *********************************************************** The 2005 CSRS & FERS Retirement Planning Guides http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php Now in their seventh year of print (and over 350,000 sold), these CSRS and FERS Retirement Planning Guides truly help you fully understand your federal retirement. These planning guides simplify the retirement planning process, helping you calculate your annuity (with plenty of examples), warn you about possible reductions in your annuity, tell you how Social Security fits into the picture, and what to do about health and life insurance. In short, they contain everything you need to know to make your federal retirement a success. These 2005 CSRS & FERS Retirement Planning Guide are NOT Dot.com downloads or government handouts or pamphlets, they are In-print comprehensive and easy-to-understand planning guides that were written and edited by our veteran-team of federal retirement planning experts in the field. Here are some of the key features and updates that these 2005 retirement planning include: A step by step guide to embarking on the retirement journey A description of the new long-term care program, with explanations of potential traps for those close to retirement A quick reference guide to benefits your survivors would stand to receive on your death A description of how Tricare-for-Life might replace FEHB as your health benefits provider Details on how to carry retirement and other benefits into retirement and how you can change those benefits after retirement An easy to follow guide to understanding annuity statements How the new TSP investment, rollover, withdrawal and other rules will affect you before and after retirement Latest information on COLA rates and policies, payments to survivors and other benefit rates The latest information on Social Security benefit rates and eligibility rules The latest information on FEGLI, FEHB, service crediting for retirement purposes and other vital retirement-related issues ALSO IN THESE 2005 CSRS & FERS RETIREMENT PLANNING GUIDES: How to calculate your annuity (with plenty of easy-to-follow examples) Eligibility requirements Different retirement types (regular, early, deferred, special disability) Credit for military service Deposits and redeposits Cost of living adjustments The effect of divorce on annuities Social Security The Thrift Savings Plan Taking health and life insurance into retirement Annuity taxes Survivor benefits And much more! *********************************************************** Go to http://www.fedweek.com/pub/index.php to place your order now and get your FREE Special Report: Preserving Your American Dream shipped to you immediately. *********************************************************** Other Ways to Order: You may also call our toll-free order line at (888) 333-9335 to place your order for these retirement planning guides: The 2005 CSRS Retirement Planning Guide http://www.fedweek.com/csrs.htm The 2005 FERS Retirement Planning Guide http://www.fedweek.com/fers.htm Special Bonus: We've had such an overwhelming response to this offer we've now extended it to the first 10,000 orders placed for either of these CSRS and FERS Retirement Planning Guides will receive a FREE Special Report: Preserving Your American Dream. 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