Progress in promoting women to the top levels of the federal civil service has flowed like the mighty Mississippi River in the springtime. Wrong. Lately, it's been more like a leaky faucet in Uncle Sam's kitchen. While men and women are close to being equally represented in the lower grades of the federal workforce, "at the higher levels women are woefully ...

Federal employee groups on Monday questioned the accuracy of a recent news report that claimed from 2007 to 2009 the number of government workers earning more than $100,000 per year spiked. Based on an analysis of federal data, a Dec. 10 USA Today story, said the number of federal workers earning more than $100,000 per year rose from 14 percent in ...

It's been six months since John Berry took over the Office of Personnel Management. With his appointment, and increased attention provided by President Obama's White House, federal personnel issues have gained a much greater profile. More attention, however, doesn't mean Uncle Sam's broken hiring system is fixed, or the confusing employee pay and evaluation structure is suddenly sane, or the federal ...

"When the Senior Executive Service began 30 years ago, all the assistant secretaries for administration in the government," said Carol Bonosaro, "were career executives. Over time, you will now find only two who are career executives and that's because of statute." Which is a real shame, according to the president of the Senior Executives Association. Bonosaro told the Federal Drive that ...

President Obama on Monday signed an executive order designed to boost the number of veterans in the federal workforce. The directive creates Veterans Employment Program offices in federal agencies, to match veterans with job openings and help them navigate the application process. The offices also will give veterans guidance on how to adjust to civilian life after they are hired. "This ...

Hiring reform for the entire federal workforce, not just cyber security positions, is the topic of a public meeting the OPM planned for Friday. Participants have been asked to discuss "whether normal, competitive hiring is an effective avenue for bringing recent college graduates into the federal workforce," according to the Federal Register. The hearing follows a May 11 directive from Obama, ...

WASHINGTON - There will be no cost-of-living increase for more than 50 million Social Security recipients next year, the first year without a raise since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Blame falling consumer prices. By law, cost-of-living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year because of lower energy costs. Social Security payments, however, do not go down ...

Participation in telework rose in 2008, but the percentage of eligible federal employees who took advantage of the alternative work arrangement on a regular basis remained small, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of Personnel Management. Click here to read the report Last year, 102,900 federal employees worked off-site at least once a month, the report stated. That's ...

One of the most common complaints among federal employees who enforce Uncle Sam's laws and regulations is that there are too few of them to properly protect the public. But one area where one would expect that not to be the case, given our nation's recent history, is border protection. Yet testimony before a House subcommittee Thursday painted a picture of ...

This Veterans Day is a bittersweet celebration -- a mix of admiration and appreciation on behalf of all of those who serve in the U.S. military and lingering pain and disbelief about the tragic shooting that left 13 dead and 29 wounded at Fort Hood last week. As the nation mourns the military members and civilians killed and injured on Nov. ...

Lawyers and professional staff at a federal legal aid organization voted on Tuesday to form a union under the auspices of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. "We welcome the union as a new partner and look forward to working together to advance the mission of LSC to provide access to justice for all," Legal Services Corporation President Helaine ...

The Senate on Sunday passed a catchall spending bill that includes a 2 percent pay raise for civilian federal employees in 2010. That figure is in keeping with President Obama's request, but contrary to his Nov. 30 proposal to freeze locality pay, a portion of the raise would vary depending on costs of labor where employees are based. Lawmakers granted civilians ...

There are a lot of questions about pay & benefits that have been cropping up lately, and Senior Correspondent Mike Causey spoke with three experts to get the answers for you. His guests on this week's show were: Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executive Association; Jessica Klement of the Federal Managers Association; and Dan Adcock, legislative director of the National ...

Remember when President Obama said he wanted to make working for the federal government "cool again"? The government's chief human resources officer told lawmakers Thursday that they need to approve a bill that extends full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees to ensure that the government remains competitive with the private sector. "Young people are looking ...

Dismantling the embattled Defense personnel system could spark a reinvention of performance management across government. When President Obama signed legislation that repealed the National Security Personnel System, on a warm day in late October, the Rose Garden celebration seemed like a bit of a letdown. The rollback of the controversial Defense Department pay program was just one of many federal employee ...

The gap between average pay for federal and private sector workers rose 1.25 percent during the past year, the Federal Salary Council reported on Thursday. The council did not recommend a specific pay raise for federal employees in 2010. The pay gap between public and private sector workers increased from 25.17 percent in 2008 to 26.42 percent in 2009. The salary ...

When President Obama signed legislation that repealed the National Security Personnel System, on a warm day in late October, the Rose Garden celebration seemed like a bit of a letdown. The rollback of the controversial Defense Department pay program was just one of many federal employee provisions bundled into the fiscal 2010 National Defense Authorization Act and was largely overshadowed by ...

Six months after he fired their predecessors, President Obama has appointed new members to the panel responsible for resolving bargaining disputes between federal employee unions and agencies. Those appointments to the Federal Service Impasses Panel complete the new team at the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which includes the panel. Agency and union officials said they hope the agency will be able ...

President Obama's nominees to lead the Merit Systems Protection Board on Tuesday told senators that if confirmed they would focus on recruiting talent to replace experienced staffers who are retiring and to meet increasing demands for the agency's services. During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, they also pledged to improve ...

The additional workload associated with administering billions of dollars in stimulus funds has put a strain on the federal government's contracts and grants workforce, according to new findings the Commerce Department's inspector general released last Friday. Although agencies are prioritizing Recovery Act work and, in many instances, hiring more staff or realigning tasks, the increased workload has exacted a price on ...