Federal Manager's Daily Report: Tuesday, November 30, 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. Military-Civilian Conversion Becomes Part of DoD FAIR Act 2. OPM Expands Student Loan Examination 3. Overtime Regs Stay on Books 4. Brand New Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide Just *********************************************************** 1. Military-Civilian Conversion Becomes Part of DoD FAIR Act A recent Defense Department directive on compiling lists of jobs under the FAIR Act orders DoD components to weave the issue of converting military positions to civilian into the process. The DoD "Guide to Inventory Submission" is used in compliance with the Act, which requires annual reports on which jobs are inherently governmental, which are not but are still exempt for other reasons from review for private sector performance and which are subject to review for possible contracting-out. The inventory "will also be used to report military manpower that can be converted to performance by DoD civilians or the private sector," the instructions state. The document notes that in 2003 a DoD unit called the Business Initiatives Council approved a plan to "complete efficiency initiatives on 226,000 manpower authorizations by the end of FY 2009. Therefore, all components should utilize an aggressive coding strategy to maximize the identification of manpower for competitive sourcing and approved alternative efficiency methods . . . Component inventories should include conversions of military manpower identified as inherently governmental and commercially exempt that can be converted to performance by DoD civilians or the private sector." DoD in recent years has been pushing the military services to convert military positions to civilian--either in-house or contract--as a way to relieve the stress on the active military forces. It points to past Pentagon studies showing that more than 300,000 uniformed positions could at least in theory be performed by civilians (other estimates put the figure much lower). DoD set a goal of converting roughly 10,000 positions in each of 2004 and 2005. However, such initiatives have met internal resistance in the past out of concern about authority leaving the military chain of command and lack of funding to replace the departed military person with a civilian and to keep the military person on board in a new position. 2. OPM Expands Student Loan Examination The Office of Personnel Management has told agencies that they should expand their annual reports--due December 31--on their use of student loan repayment authority to include issues beyond simple measures of how many payments they make to their employees and how much money is involved. OPM told agencies that "because of the considerable interest in agencies' use of the student loan repayment incentive"-- OPM didn't say so, but some of that interest comes from Congress--they should address issues such as: Has the agency's use of the program improved your recruitment and retention efforts? If so, how? (Please provide specific data and examples, if available.) To what extent have agencies developed metrics for measuring the effectiveness of their student loan repayment program? To what extent have components or bureaus (or the department or agency as a whole) developed a business case for the use of available funds to meet recruitment and retention needs through the use of student loan repayments? What type of assistance have they requested from OPM in implementing their plan and administering their student loan repayment program? What is the major impediment, if any, to fully implementing a student loan repayment program in the agency? The results of those answers could help determine the future direction of the program, which despite years of emphasis is still relatively little used in agencies as a recruiting and retention tool. Fewer than 2100 employees received such payments in 2003, totaling about $9.1 million. 3. Overtime Regs Stay on Books During action late in the congressional session, a legislative attempt to block the new overtime rules that the Bush administration finalized in the summer was dropped because of White House opposition. The action means that the rules, issued by the Labor Department over strenuous objections of organized labor and some in Congress, will remain in effect. The administration characterizes the rules as a long-overdue reform that will make more lower-income individuals eligible for overtime. However, critics assert that the policy will effectively deny overtime to many of those now eligible for it, including many in the health care and public safety fields. The rules so far have not spilled over to the federal government, however. Overtime policy for federal employees is set by a separate set of rules under the Office of Personnel Management's control. OPM has said it is reviewing the Labor Department policies to determine whether any changes should be made to the federal rules. However, the federal government has few employees at the low income levels where workers stand to benefit under the Labor Department rules, and law--not OPM regulation--governs overtime policy for federal employees in many occupations comparable to those in the private sector that might lose overtime benefits under the Labor Department rules. 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. Suite D Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 288-5321 Website: http://www.fedweek.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are subscribed to federalmanagersdailyreport as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
