OPM’s Berry: Justice Dept. opinion ties my hands on gay spouses’ health benefits
May 9th, 2012 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Stephen Losey
Last week we reported that even though lesbian federal employee Karen Golinski won health coverage for her wife — courtesy of a February court ruling — the Office of Personnel Management is still instructing federal agencies to deny the same coverage to all other gay and lesbian feds’ spouses.
Today I asked OPM Director John Berry how his agency can legally extend Federal Employees Health Benefits Program benefits to only one couple, and treat thousands more differently. He said, basically, that the Justice Department’s legal opinion on the Golinski ruling has tied OPM’s hands:
As someone who’s openly gay and has a partner that would love to join the FEHBP program, and I would love to have him be able to join the FEHBP program, because it’s a great program. I look forward to this issue resolving itself, personally. So you can rest assured, I’m watching this issue closely. That being said, it’s the Justice Department that gets to decide what a court ruling allows us to do. And the Justice Department has defined that, how this court ruling, because of the jurisdiction of the court and the direction of the court, it only applies to this one person. That’s what I’ve been told.
I have to do what the Justice Department tells me to do. As a sworn officer, upholding the Constitution, I’m enforcing what the Justice Department’s told me.
Berry pledged to keep pushing to extend health care benefits to gay and lesbian feds’ same-sex partners, and said he hopes Congress will pass a bill granting those rights:
My hope, at the end of the day, is that Congress can act. We’ve had wonderful bipartisan support on this. Sen. [Susan] Collins [R-Maine] has been as strong an advocate as Sen. [Joe] Lieberman [I-Conn.] and Sen. [Daniel] Akaka [D-Hawaii] in the Senate, and we’ve got the same in the House. I think there’s a shot that, even legislatively, we can move forward on this, is my hope. Otherwise, we’ll wait and see what the Justice Department allows us to do, responding to appropriate court action.
However, Senate support for extending same-sex benefits isn’t as bipartisan as Berry suggested. Collins remains the only Republican co-sponsor of S 1910, and no Republicans have signed on to the House version, HR 3485. And with House Republicans dead-set against broadening federal employees’ benefits — gay or straight — I don’t see how same-sex health benefits can possibly pass Congress.
Berry’s comments came a few hours before news broke that President Obama now backs gay marriage.
Tags: FEHBP, gay rights, John Berry, same-sex benefits
OPM’s John Berry skeptical of CBO study showing overpaid feds
February 2nd, 2012 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Stephen Losey
John Berry
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry yesterday weighed in on the Congressional Budget Office study that found federal employees are compensated 16 percent higher than private sector employees. Long story short, Berry has his doubts and wants to see more from CBO on how they derived their figures.
Berry’s primary concern is that they may not have taken the complexity of jobs into account. For example, he said:
Let’s take a job — forklift operator. You’ve got a forklift operator in the private sector, a forklift operator in the public sector. Both have a high school diploma. Private sector forklift operator is moving furniture and boxes. Public sector forklift operator is taking nuclear-tipped torpedoes and loading them into a very tight area on a multibillion-dollar nuclear submarine, where one wrong move could have very dire implications.
Would you pay both people the same? No. So it underscores the difficulty when one looks and says, high school degree here, high school degree here, why is this one getting paid more? My answer to that would be, complexity of the work has got to be considered. [...] To me, unless you look at the complexity of the job, it becomes almost irrelevant.
Berry also said that a Veterans Affairs Department nurse may be treating much more complicated war wounds than a nurse in a private-sector hospital, which would justify higher pay.
He cautioned that OPM hasn’t had a chance to sit down with CBO and take a closer look at their methodology, and said they may have accounted for his concerns. But his gut reaction is that the human capital model CBO appears to have used “is certainly not going to help us to design a pay system.”
Berry called on Congress to form the civil service reform commission that Obama called for last September in his deficit reduction plan. But there’s been no apparent action on that front.
Tags: CBO, John Berry, pay gap
OPM pension processing hamstrung by outdated IT
February 1st, 2012 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Stephen Losey
John Berry (file photo/Getty Images)
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry’s plan to fix its longstanding pension processing problem got a relatively warm reception on Capitol Hill today. But there were some red flags raised, not least of which is the incredibly sprawling and antiquated set of IT systems and paper-based processes that the government relies upon to calculate new retirees’ pensions. OPM doesn’t have a real plan for straightening it out, the Government Accountability Office said, and needs to do more.
For example: OPM has 80 legacy systems that have to talk to roughly 400 other systems across the rest of the government, IG Patrick McFarland said. And those systems rely on roughly 3 million lines of custom code. If OPM decides to change or repair something in those systems, McFarland said, that is difficult to modify because the agency has to sift through all 3 million lines to find the one line in particular that needs tweaking.
Berry said some systems still even use COBOL, believe it or not, a dinosaur of a programming language that was first introduced 50 years ago.
As a result of all the IT problems, calculating pension payments is still largely a paper-and-pencil process — one that is made much more difficult when agencies don’t submit all the necessary documents. Which is what usually happens.
GAO’s Valerie Melvin also said that OPM’s plan “does not describe whether or how the agency intends to modify or decommission the over 80 legacy systems that support retirement processing.” She wants OPM to take a broader look at its overall IT system structure, and formulate a concrete plan for how it will straighten things out. ”There’s a lot more OPM can do,” Melvin said.
Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs federal workforce subcommittee praised Berry for putting the plan forward, and IG McFarland said OPM is now on the right track.
But consultant George Nesterczuk, a former OPM official, blasted Berry for abandoning a full-scale, IT-based modernization of the retirement process and instead relying heavily on adding people. Although the previous administration’s Retirement Systems Modernization strategy that relied on commercial technologies crashed and burned in 2008, Nesterczuk said it “was a sound strategy and it should receive renewed consideration.”
In the meantime, pressure is mounting on OPM. Berry said OPM received 21,000 new retirement applications in January — traditionally the busiest month — which swelled the backlog to 62,000. But there was a bright spot last month — Berry said OPM processed 20 percent more cases this January than in January 2011, which he sees as proof the reforms are already taking hold.
He also pledged to report the size of the backlog to Congress on the fifth day of each month.
[Updated blog post to clarify that OPM's processing problems are a result of all of its IT difficulties.]
Tags: incomplete annuities, John Berry, Office of Personnel Management, pension, retirement, Senate
Senate hearing to investigate OPM’s pension delays
January 24th, 2012 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Stephen Losey
John Berry (file photo/Getty Images)
The Senate is calling Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry to Capitol Hill next week to explain how he plans to fix OPM’s longstanding delayed pension problem. Berry will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on the federal workforce on Feb. 1.
The hearing comes two weeks after Berry sent lawmakers an in-depth plan outlining his strategy. New federal retirees currently wait several months to get their full pension, and in the meantime, have to get by on interim payments that can be a quarter to a third less than what they are owed. OPM has spent two decades and more than $100 million trying to solve the problem, all for naught — and with the pace of retirements and buyouts speeding up, it’s only growing worse.
Subcommittee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, is likely to ask Berry more questions about his information technology strategy, how he plans to handle the accelerated pace of retirements, and how he’s managing staff and other resources to deal with the problem.
The hearing is also expected to look into improper payments OPM has made to retirees who were actually dead. In one particularly egregious case, OPM paid more than $515,000 to a federal retiree’s son for 37 years after the retiree died.
Besides Berry, OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland, Government Accountability Office human capital expert Valerie Melvin, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association National President Joseph Beaudoin, and former OPM senior adviser George Nesterczuk will also testify.
Tags: John Berry
USAJobs problems prompt application deadline extension
October 19th, 2011 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Stephen Losey
Having trouble getting through to the latest iteration of USAJobs.gov? You’ll probably have three more weeks to apply for your desired job. The Office of Personnel Management today said it has asked agencies’ chief human capital officers to extend most job application deadlines for three weeks because of the new site’s problems.
Hundreds of users are complaining on the USAJobs Facebook page (not to mention our own blog) about the login and search problems they’re having with USAJobs 3.0.
OPM Director John Berry said it may not be possible to extend some vacancies, such as those for national security positions or emergency jobs. But most jobs will be extended, he said.
Berry also said about 6 percent of users are having problems with USAJobs, and advised anyone having trouble getting in to hit F5, or “refresh” on their browser.
“We’re thrilled that so many Americans are interested and enthusiastic about public service, and we’re gonna keep working until we get this right,” Berry said.
Tags: John Berry, USAJobs
OPM: Equal pay for equal work is a must
August 16th, 2011 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Stephen Losey
The Office of Personnel Management and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today issued a memo reminding agencies how important it is to eliminate the pay gap between men and women in the federal government.
The government says it does a better job than most equalizing pay — between 1988 and 2007, the pay disparity fell from 28 cents on the dollar to 11 cents (or 7 cents when factors such as occupation, education and experience are controlled for). Overall, women in the United States today earn about 23 percent less on average than men earn.
“We take our obligation to ensure that the federal government is a model employer very seriously, and are working to ensure that all federal employees have the opportunity to realize the promise of equal pay for equal work,” OPM Director John Berry and EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien said in their memo. “OPM and EEOC are working together to ensure the most rigorous possible enforcement of our federal equal pay laws in federal sector employment. Representatives from our agencies are working with the [Government Accountability Office] to identify the reasons for this wage gap and ways to close it. “
Tags: EEOC, John Berry
The heat is on
July 22nd, 2011 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Stephen Losey
This is what it feels like outside. (from NASA.gov)
As the East Coast is slammed by a heat wave and temperatures soar into the triple digits, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry wants agencies to look out for their employees. Berry earlier this week issued a memo asking agencies to:
- Help employees stay hydrated by providing ready access to drinking water. This is especially important for employees who must work outdoors in this sweltering heat.
- Share information on heat stress and other signs of illness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Weather Service and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
- Immediately fire anyone saying “How ’bout this heat?” or “Hot enough for ya?” during normal business hours.
OK, I made that last one up, not Berry. But one day, when I rule the world…
Stay indoors, stay cool, and enjoy this song:
Tags: CDC, heat, John Berry, National Weather Service
OPM honors CFC campaigns
June 29th, 2011 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Stephen Losey
The Office of Personnel Management yesterday honored some of the most successful Combined Federal Campaigns and volunteers for their hard work during the most recent pledge drive.
“Federal employees show their generosity every year in the hundreds of millions of dollars they give to our nation’s charities, helping those who need it most,” OPM Director John Berry said at the ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. “These campaigns and individuals went above and beyond, making CFC such an enormous success.”
The 2010 CFC was a tough one, with pledges dropping for the first time since 2002. Lingering economic troubles and concerns about the two-year pay-scale freeze — which was announced during the campaigns final days — likely discouraged some feds from giving. But the $281.5 million total is still nothing to sneeze at — it’s the second-highest in CFC history, and only slightly below the 2009 results.
Linda Siegle, chairwoman of the Chesapeake Bay Area CFC, received the top leadership plaque for her longstanding support of both local and national campaigns. Full list of the 26 awardees after the jump.
Tags: awards, cfc, John Berry
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
USPS pension puzzle (revisited)
March 18th, 2011 | 2012 Budget OPM Postal Service Uncategorized | Posted by Sean Reilly
Attentive (and we mean really attentive) Fedline readers might remember a post from last month about the apparent disconnect of the Office of Personnel Management’s charging the U.S. Postal Service more for its current pension contributions at the same time the Obama administration is proposing a big refund to the Postal Service on past contributions. We’d asked OPM for comment and finally received an answer yesterday. So, in the interest of thoroughness, we’re rerunning the original Feb. 22 post, with the OPM response appended verbatim.
Here’s an intriguing nugget from the U.S. Postal Service’s latest quarterly report: Even as the Obama administration agrees that the Postal Service is owed a huge refund on past payments to its pension program, the Office of Personnel Management—headed by Obama appointee John Berry—is requiring it to shell out more for current payments.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the Postal Service’s contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, rose by $24 million—from $1,469 million to $1,493 million—versus the same period in fiscal 2010, even though the USPS workforce continued to shrink, the report says. The reason, according to the Postal Service, is that its employer contribution rate increased from 11.2 percent to 11.7 percent of eligible payroll. The agency is appealing that boost to a federal board of actuaries on the grounds that its FERS obligation is already overfunded to the tune of some $6.9 billion.
In its newly released 2012 budget request, the White House proposed refunding the Postal Service that money over 30 years, starting with a $550 million down payment this year.
At least to non-actuarial minds, it seems contradictory to be giving with one hand and taking away with the other. In an email, OPM spokeswoman Brittney Manchester offered the following explanation:
“Under current law, the Postal FERS ongoing contributions and the Postal FERS surplus are subject to different provisions of law that are independent of each other. Without specific legal authority, the Office of Personnel Management cannot make adjustments to Postal’s ongoing contributions despite the fact that there is a surplus in the retirement fund attributable to Postal employees.
“The October 1, 2010, increase in the FERS employer contribution rate applied not just to the Postal Service, but to all other agencies as well. Under FERS, all agencies pay the same contribution rate. Different provisions apply to the overall funding situation. Retirement funding is a long-term matter, and estimates have to be made covering economic and other factors that are many years distant. Over the past quarter century, Postal Service FERS funding has grown gradually to exceed projected future liabilities by approximately $6.9 billion.”
“The President’s 2012 Budget provides short-term financial relief through a sensible and fair restructuring of key retiree liabilities, while seeking to work with Congress and stakeholders to secure needed reforms to modernize its business model.”
Tags: John Berry, Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Postal Service