Group seeks protections for gay contractors
March 16th, 2012 | Procurement Workplace | Posted by Sarah Chacko
More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition asking the president to issue an executive order ensuring workplace protections for gay federal contractors.
Administration officials will not confirm any action, but Tico Almeida, president of the Freedom to Work advocacy group, said Labor and Justice department lawyers have recommended President Obama issue a policy requiring federal contractors to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Freedom to Work, which seeks anti-discrimination policies for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender workers, created the online petition at Change.org.
More than 16 million employees of federal contractors either work for companies or reside in states that do not provide those protections, according to a February report by UCLA’s Williams Institute, which conducts research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.
Several large contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics, and some states offer specific protections against sexual orientation discrimination, Almeida said. DynCorp International recently added such protections after reports that company officials demoted and transferred an employee who reported being taunted by anti-gay slurs, he said.
Companies without explicit policies prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination may still offer protections for their employees, said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president for the Professional Services Council industry association. However, having those policies in place could help the workforce feel better protected, he said.
“It’s an area worth paying attention to,” Chvotkin said.
Tags: discrimination, executive order, gay, gender identity, LGBT, petition, sexual orientation, Workplace
Blowing the whistle–still not easy
November 15th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Sean Reilly
First, the good news; The percentage of federal employees claiming direct knowledge of waste or illegality in their agencies has dropped by more than one-third during the last two decades, according to a new report on whistleblowing. The bad news: Among those employees who reported alleged problems, there was an increase between 1992 and 2010 in the proportion who said they experienced at least a threat of reprisal for speaking out.
The numbers come from a lengthy report released this week by the Merit Systems Protection Board. The report draws on a wealth of data from MSPB surveys of thousands of feds conducted in those two years. Back in 1992, 17.7 percent of those surveyed said they had personally observed or directly obtained evidence of at least one illegal or wasteful activity at their agencies in the last 12 months. Those activities would include poor program management, using an official position for personal benefit or unfairly giving a leg up to a contractor, consultant or vendor. By last year, the percentage had fallen to 11.1 percent.
Of those who reported their concerns, only about 7 percent surveyed last year said they got any credit from management. About 44 percent said nothing happened, but almost 35 percent said they were either threatened with reprisal or and actually received a reprisal. In 1992, the comparable figure was about 30 percent.
Hilton Worldwide wants Old Post Office Building for new hotel, world-class spa
November 7th, 2011 | Facilities Workplace | Posted by Andy Medici
Federal employees currently working at the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., may find themselves relocated in favor of a Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
In response to a March 24 General Services Administration request for proposals, Hilton Worldwide, which owns the Waldorf chain, has come up with its own plan for the 315,000 square foot historic structure.
From a press release:
The proposal, tendered in response to the General Services Administration’s solicitation for redevelopment of the iconic 112-year-old Old Post Office Building, would create a 245-room Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and feature destination retailers from New York and Paris, as well as a world-class social and meeting space and a premier fitness facility.
To complement the hotel’s fusion of a historic setting with world renowned retail brands, the proposal also includes a world-class spa, a 28,000 square foot premium fitness center, four signature restaurants and 17,000 sq. ft. of function and ballroom space.
“Our project for a revitalized Old Post Office Building will encourage the flow of tourism, further economic vitality and bring new jobs to Washington, D.C., while preserving this historic building for future generations,” said John Vanderslice, Global Head Luxury and Lifestyle Brands, Hilton Worldwide.
The effort to redevelop federal property would force about 370 employees of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and several presidential commissions out of their current offices. GSA expects a new lease would be executed in June 2013. It has not decided on a new location for the federal employees working there.
The National Park Service conducts tours of the historic clock tower, which is not included in the proposal.
On Halloween, don’t let an outlandish costume derail your career
October 31st, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
Dressing up in silly and sometimes-outrageous costumes is part of the fun of Halloween. But the federal employment law firm Tully Rinckey today reminds feds not to let things get too out of hand when suiting up for the office costume party. Feds who go for shock value with their costumes could end up jeopardizing their careers, said attorney John Mahoney:
In an effort to have the best costume, many people get pretty risque or even insensitive with their choice of garb. As explosive and instant as social media has gotten, these photos taken at such parties can be published online in a matter of seconds. Federal employees must be especially careful because they can be, and most often times are, charged with conduct unbecoming of a federal employee. The charge is very broad and supervisors love to use it because it’s easy to prove.
Which means if you act the fool at the party, your boss is likely to choose someone else for that next promotion — or could even get you fired if you step too far out of line.
It’s happened several times in recent years. An offensive costume almost killed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Julie Myers’ confirmation, even though she wasn’t wearing it. (At an ICE Halloween party in 2007, an employee dressed in a black-and-white striped prison jumpsuit, wore a dreadlocked wig and darkened his skin to look black. Myers was one of three judges who dubbed his costume “most original” and posed for a picture with him. Myers’ nomination was quickly put on hold when the photo leaked, but the Senate soon confirmed her.)
And just last week, photos surfaced from the 2010 Halloween party of a major “foreclosure mill” law firm that showed employees dressed up like homeless people or foreclosed homeowners. The law firm of Steven L. Baum denied that its employees dress up in a way that mocks people who have lost their homes, but the pictures sparked outrage toward the firm across the internet.
So if your costume is likely to be featured on one of those “We’re a culture, not a costume” posters, you may want to rethink it — or at least not wear it to the office.
Canada’s ‘Maple Leaf Miracle’ cut civil servants deeply
August 12th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
The Washington Post today takes a look at how other nations have regained their AAA credit rating from Standard & Poors after being downgraded. One of the leading case studies was Canada’s mid-90s turnaround after being downgraded to AA+.
As the Post notes:
The country passed a landmark budget in 1995. The plan tilted heavily towards cutting expenditures but also included some new revenue (the ratio was about $7 in cuts for every $1 of revenue). Canada cut the civil service by about 25 percent and overhauled its pension program. [emphasis added] The plan worked. Canada is now on much more financially-sound footing; S&P restored its AAA rating in 2002. The turnaround is now referred to, in some economic literature, as “The Maple Leaf Miracle.”
Canada’s predicament back then is similar to the United States’ present situation, the Post said. Which is another sign that no matter what, this deficit reduction is going to sting for federal employees.
Tags: deficit reduction
‘Yeeeaaah, I’m gonna need you to come in on Saturday’
June 28th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
"Ahh, I'm also gonna need you to come in on Sunday too, 'kay? We, ah, lost some people this week, and, ah, we sorta need to play catchup." (from "Office Space")
It seems like every time we turn around, another federal agency is freezing hiring or making plans for a buyout. But even though staffing is taking a hit, agencies’ work isn’t going anywhere. And that’s not good news for the employees who remain.
Are tight staffing levels forcing you or your co-workers to work more overtime lately? We’d like to hear from you. E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com to share your story. If you only want to talk anonymously, that’s fine too. ‘Mkay? Yeaaahh…
Tags: overtime, staffing cuts, what do you think?
OPM: Treat transgender employees with respect
May 27th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry today sent a memo to agencies answering common questions about how transgender and transitioning employees should be treated in the federal workplace.
“Managers and supervisors should be aware that not all transgender individuals will follow the same pattern, but they all are entitled to the same consideration as they undertake the transition steps deemed appropriate for them, and should all be treated with dignity and respect,” OPM wrote in its guidance.
There are several stages in the process of transitioning from living as a male to living as a female or vice versa, OPM said. First, an individual starts seeing a mental health provider to decide how they might go about transitioning. The second step is usually hormone therapy. And after a period of time on hormone therapy, the person will then live full-time in his or her transitioned gender role for at least a year before becoming eligible for gender reassignment surgery. This “real life experience” is usually when an employer becomes aware that the employee is transitioning to another gender, OPM said.
At this point, the transitioning employee should be allowed to use restrooms or locker rooms designated for his or her new gender, OPM said. There’s a little wiggle room there. OPM said “a reasonable temporary compromise may be appropriate in some circumstances,” but the transitioning employee should not be required to have undergone or show proof of gender reassignment surgery or other medical procedures to use the facilities. OPM also said a transitioning employee must not be required to use facilities that are unsanitary, potentially unsafe, or unreasonably far away from his or her work station.
And as soon as someone starts openly transitioning, OPM said supervisors and co-workers should start using that person’s new name and the pronoun appropriate for his or her new gender identity. And OPM warns supervisors and co-workers not to purposefully refer to a transitioning employee by his or her old name, gender or pronoun. This “may undermine the employee’s therapeutic treatment, and is contrary to the goal of treating transitioning employees with dignity and respect,” OPM said.
As part of the “real life experience,” transitioning employees start dressing at all times in clothes appropriate for his or her new gender identity. OPM said an office shouldn’t use dress code rules to prevent the employee from living in his or her new gender identity.
Tags: John Berry, transgender
MSPB: Employees fired for suitability reasons can appeal
January 28th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
The Merit Systems Protection Board on Jan. 26 ruled that federal employees who were fired on suitability grounds can appeal their removal to the MSPB.
In Aguzie and Barnes v. Office of Personnel Management, MSPB said that employees’ rights to appeal adverse actions still apply when OPM finds someone is unsuitable for employment and tells an agency to remove him. OPM had argued that those appeals should not be appealed under the usual adverse action procedures.
Federal unions applauded MSPB’s ruling.
“This ruling allows employees, who are highly valued by their agency and who may have worked there for many years, to defend themselves if OPM directs their agency to remove them based on some alleged misstatement in their employment application or in a reinvestigation,” said Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “Until this decision, employees removed as a result of suitability actions had only limited appeal rights.”
Andres Grajales, assistant general counsel at the American Federation of Government Employees said the union was glad to see the decision.
“The MSPB rightly closed a loophole that allowed the federal government to circumvent Title 5, Chapter 75 due process rights when using suitability determinations to remove an employee for alleged misconduct,” Grajales said. “This decision ensures that employees will be able to exercise the full range of appeal rights guaranteed to them by statute, regardless of whether a proposed removal comes from their employing agency or from OPM.”
Collins asks GAO to tackle workers’ comp fraud
January 13th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office to start looking into possible waste, fraud and abuse in federal workers’ compensation benefits.
The federal government pays benefits to about 49,000 federal employees under the Federal Employee Compensation Act so injured workers can pay their bills while they recuperate. But Collins suspects many are gaming the system and continuing to receive benefits long after they should have retired or returned to work.
Collins began beating the drum about this issue at a hearing last month, when she said the U.S. Postal Service is paying workers’ comp to 132 employees who were at least 90 years old — decades after they should have retired. Three of those employees still getting benefits are 98 years old. In all, 1,000 Postal Service employees over 80 are getting workers’ comp benefits, Collins said. And it’s not just a Postal Service problem — some federal employees at other agencies collect benefits into their 100s, she said.
“I am increasingly concerned that individuals with no intention of returning to work continue to receive these benefits,” Collins said in a statement. “If recipients are gaming this crucial benefit at taxpayers’ expense, they must be exposed and the underlying program must be reformed.”
Collins asked GAO to audit FECA and find out how long people stay on the program, how many recipients receive benefits well past retirement age, and how the program compares to state workers comp plans. She also asked GAO to check workers’ comp records against the government’s list of deceased employees and payroll to find anyone who may be “double dipping,” or getting benefits and a paycheck at the same time, or who may still be receiving benefits after death.
A fed would receive far more money through workers’ comp than actually retiring, Collins said, which would provide quite an incentive to keep drawing FECA in one’s twilight years. And FECA doesn’t have any caps on how much benefits one can draw, or other cut-off periods, which Collins said makes it especially susceptible to fraud.
OPM: Bathrooms won’t cut it as nursing space
December 30th, 2010 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry on Dec. 22 issued a memo to agencies spelling out what they need to do to accommodate new, nursing mothers. And high up on agencies’ to-do list is providing a clean, private space mothers can use to pump their breast milk.
But one thing agencies absolutely can’t do is tell new moms to pump their breast milk in the bathroom — even a private one. Berry’s memo said agencies must provide a place for new mothers, “other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, for mothers to express breast milk.” This doesn’t have to be a permanent space, however — Berry said agencies can temporarily set up a spot for nursing as necessary. During times when an office doesn’t have an employee who needs to nurse, they don’t have to have a space set up. Berry advised agencies to talk to the General Services Administration and review their own collective bargaining agreements to set up nursing spaces.
The new rules are required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed earlier this year, which requires employers to provide a private space for nursing mothers for at least a year after a child’s birth.
Berry also said that mothers can choose to nurse during their regularly-allotted midday breaks and must still be paid for that time. But if they can’t or won’t use those breaks for nursing, the agency doesn’t have to pay them for the time they take off to pump or nurse. And mothers should be allowed to take nursing breaks as frequently as is needed. “The frequency of breaks to express milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary, according to the needs of the individual mother,” Berry wrote.
Berry also suggested agencies use workforce flexibilities such as alternative work schedules, compensatory time off, or other forms of leave to give mothers time to pump their milk.
President Obama last week told Berry to lay the ground rules for the government’s new nursing policy.