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Presents information on the fiscal 2005 workforce provisions passed by the U.S. Congress as of October 18, 2004. Management of resources of the Department of Agriculture; Development of research facilities for the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Qualifications required to be set by Defense secretary for entry into Acquisition Corps.; Annual leave rules for senior level Defense Intelligence employees.

This section offers federal news briefs in the U.S. as of September 20, 2010. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported hiring of over 32,800 veterans in the first half of fiscal 2010. Agencies were advised by Director John Berry of OPM to review their leave without pay policies and rewrite them as needed so that gay employees will be included. Lockheed Martin was one of the four firms awarded by the Social Security Administration (SSA) with a role in a 2.8 billion information technology contract.

The article presents an update related to administrative agencies in the U.S. as of January 2010. New regulations that took effect when the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill was signed October 28, 2009 allow federal employees to get more leave to help sick or injured relatives in the military. According to a survey, 65% of members of the group Federally Employed Women (FEW) oppose the pay-for-performance systems of the government. The Defense Department notes that Secretary Robert Gates agrees to stay at his job for at least another year.

This article discusses findings of a study conducted by the Congressional Research Service which revealed the problems facing U.S. government agencies who have employees that are nearing retirement under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). A major reason for this problem is that government employees covered by FERS and with accumulated unused sick leave hours do not get bonus or annuity credit for these credits upon retirement. Meanwhile, employees covered by the old Civil Service Retirement System may apply their unused sick leave credits to larger pension payments, so they have an option not to use their sick leave. The study concluded that the U.S. government lost nearly $60 million in productivity because of the additional sick leave taken by employees covered by FERS. INSETS: Managers offer other reforms;Bank sick leave in case of long illness, experts say.

The article focuses on how U.S. federal employees can optimize their use of leave time following advice from the "Handbook on Leave and Workplace Flexibilities for Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care" released by the Office of Personnel Management. Topics discussed include the delay of a leave request when leave day falls on a snow day and caution on exhausting one's annual and sick leave before taking Family and Medical Leave Act leave. Consideration for telecommuting work is also mentioned.

Reports on the US Office of Personnel Management's plans to standardize the way agencies pay employees for unused annual leaves. Implications of the plan for employee lump sums; How agencies calculate employee payments; Estimates on the amount employees earn from lump sum payments in certain salary grades.

Reports on the plans of the US Office of Personnel Management to make the family leave program a permanent employee benefit. Number of days for sick leave; Founding history of program; Terms of agreement; Positive effects of leave program on employee.

Reports on the approval for leave donations to federal employees affected by the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on April 19, 1995. Directive by US President Bill Clinton to excuse affected employees; Compensation and benefits entitled to the victims; Benefits of the leave-sharing program.

Focuses on unpaid and paid sick leave for personal illnesses and family emergencies in the United States. Jennifer Cook's use of leaves; Concern by employees and managers about the confusing types of leave available; Dealing with employees leaving the office for long stretches of time.

The article discusses the audit conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on the practice of putting federal employees on paid administrative leave during investigations into misconduct, criminal matters or security breaches.

The article discusses the high-3 formula in calculating annuity including basic pay, leave without pay, and military leave.

The article reports on the temporary leave of absence asked from around 70% of the intelligence agencies' civilian employees, following the partial government shutdown on October 1, 2013.

The article reports on a policy issued in September 2013 allowing U.S. Army civilian employees who used more than six lay off days in fiscal 2013 to retroactively substitute paid annual leave for the excess, the same memo also adopted by the Air Force and Navy.

The article reports on the sequestration-driven furlough notices sent by the U.S. Defense Department and the relief received by employees as agencies scaled back on their planned unpaid leave.

The article reports on the impact of temporary unpaid leave of absence of civilian employees of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) due to sequester-related budget cuts on the agency's provision of services.

The article reports that U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller has announced the possible temporary unpaid leave of absence of FBI agents in 2014 because of the impact of sequester-related budget cuts on the agency.

The article gives advice for U.S. federal employees on combining Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave with telecommuting. According to the author, there is a need to identify telecommuting projects with one's boss when developing a FMLA-telecommuting arrangement. She adds that all professional contacts should be aware of one's leave status when the leave starts. To impress a boss, she recommends giving a presentation of one's best telecommuting accomplishments.

The article discusses some leave options facing a U.S. federal employee who needs to take leave from work due to an illness or a need to take care for a sick family member.

The article announces the decision of U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson to take a leave of absence following a pair of car accidents in June 2012.

This article discusses the need to review sick leave requests made by U.S. federal workers. It attributes the need to discrepancies in policies on sick leaves between government agencies. It warns about the practical problem of proving when the employee is lying. In addition, the article presents guidelines for granting sick leave requests.

In this article the author discusses the effects of taking leave without pay (LWOP) on the retirement, life and health insurance benefits of U.S. federal employees. He cites the purposes of calculating retirement benefits. The author also offers information on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.

This section offers news briefs on government agencies in the U.S. including the approval of a bill providing funds to agencies until October 4, 2011, the regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) pertaining to unpaid leaves for federal employees, and the settlement of allegation that contractor SAIC, subcontractor Applied Enterprise Solutions and two former federal employees conspired to direct a public contract to SAIC.

A pie graph showing responses to a poll at Federaltimes.com which indicated that 55% of respondents have not taken unscheduled leave during the winter is presented.

The author discusses ways on how to prevent U.S. federal employees from abusing sick leave. He notes that one way to address the problem is to grant a leave restriction letter. It is said that such letter serves as a written notice stating that an employee can no longer self-certify unscheduled sick leave absences. He adds that the leave restriction letter should be regarded by federal managers as a tool to prevent unwelcome and unpredictable patterns and not as proof of leave abuse.

The article focuses on the proposed bill, the 2010 Federal Employees and Uniformed Services Retirement Equity Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Stephen Lynch and Jason Chaffetz which will allow federal employees to deposit the cash value of their unused annual leave in their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

The author offers retirement planning guidelines for U.S. federal employees in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He suggests that employees know the start of their annuities to determine when to retire. He advises employees to get credit for unused leave if they decide to retire prior to the end of a pay period. He recommends retiring not later than the start of the new leave year.

The article reports on the violations of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) travel policies by its former deputy policy chief Christopher Ryan Henry according to its inspector general's (IG) report in September 2008. He was said to use official premises for personal travels and refused to use a government travel card for expenses. The IG required Henry to pay the government 17,466 dollars for the costs of airfare, hotel, fuel, rental car, limousine and other charges from unofficial trips. He also noted that executives like him do not need to file leaves.

The article focuses on the things that supervisors in the U.S. federal government need to know when enforcing sick leave policies and procedures. It relates the rate of sick leave that full-time federal employees accrue per pay period. It outlines the instances when an employee can take a sick leave. It emphasizes that supervisors have the right to require employees to produce evidence of illness, injury, treatment or examination when they are requesting for sick leave. It discusses how supervisors can deal with sick leave abuse among employees.

The article reports on the court victory of U.S. Army National Guard Sergeant Major Richard Erickson who claimed he was dismissed from his job as a postal worker due to his military service at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 15, 2009. In the decision, the principle of the 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) has been affirmed. The U.S. Postal Service argued that Erickson incurred absences that exceeded the limit under USERRA.

The article reports on the decision of the U.S. government to put Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra on indefinite leave following the raid of his former office in Washington D.C. by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on March 12, 2009, according to a government official. It notes that FBI targeted the offices of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia in what is described as a bribery investigation. It adds that Kundra has not been implicated in the investigation.

The author offers insights for federal supervisors and managers on managing employees' leave in the U.S. He cites that the failure of the employee to request leave in advance and in accordance with agency procedure is the most common violation. He notes that the best defense of a supervisor when an employee contests an action is a record of consistency in managing leave requests. He stresses the need for managers to investigate and address any questions regarding an employee's right to leave with human resources officials before alleging misconduct.

The article highlights the results of the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey which indicates that U.S. federal work force shows high morale but slightly fewer employees felt their performance appraisals accurately reflected their job performance. The employees expressed dissatisfaction with how their supervisors support their efforts to balance their work and personal lives, sick and vacation leave, and alternative work schedules. According to Michael Hager of the Office of Personnel Management, 91 percent of the workers say their work is important.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in the September 1, 2008 issue including "AWOL Feds: 3.5M Hours Wasted" and "More Execs Get Top Performance Ratings."

The article reports on the decision of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to approve six bills relevant to federal employees during a quick markup session in September 2008. It cites that the Executive Branch Family Leave Act was withdrawn to try to find a compromise with the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. Some of the bills passed out of committee were the 2008 Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), House Bill HR 6073, and the 2008 Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act.

This section offers news briefs related to the U.S. government as of August 25, 2008. A subpoena was issued by Representative Henry Waxman to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release documents on its enforcement of the Clean Water Act. A report revealed that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) struck improper deals with helium refiners that could cost the government $100 million by 2015. A report by Senator Tom Coburn found that unexcused work absences are becoming a major problem at federal agencies.

The article focuses on the assistance offered by the National Office Leave Bank in the U.S. The bank was created in 1995 by the Labor Department whereby its employees donate annual leaves to other Labor employees. The leaves are available to employees whose leaves have been depleted by medical emergencies, natural disasters and everyday problems. Data on the number of enrolled employees, the number of leaves donated and usage of donated leaves is also offered.

Two letters to the editor are presented about parental leave and the anti-bureaucracy campaign of U.S. presidential candidate John McCain.

The article reports on the move by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to hire the law firm Tully, Rinckey and Associates to help 10,000 military reservists to collect compensation for personal leave days withheld by the U.S. government. AFGE legal rights attorney stated that the firm has a proven track record of recovering what the government withheld. Founding partner Mathew Tully stated that between 100,000 and 300,000 reservists currently or formerly employed could be eligible for $1,500 to $3,000 in compensation.

The article reports on a draft bill that would provide federal employees eight weeks of paid leave for birth or adoption of a child in the U.S. Accordingly, Representative Danny Davis' bill would also allow children of the employees to continue accepting health insurance benefits until they reach the age of 25.

The article reports on the legislation introduced by U.S. representatives Carolyn Maloney, Steny Hoyer and Tom Davis that would require agencies to pay federal employees for the majority of their parental leave time. The legislation requires to pay parents their salaries for eight of the 12 leave weeks. The employees would also have the option of using sick leave or vacation time during the remaining four weeks.

The article reports on a change to a new deployment compensation policy by the U.S. Defense Department which gives reservists who are government employees in civilian life the option of getting $200 a day in lieu of administrative leave. According to defense officials, the policy had to be amended because reservists had to be on orders to take the leave. The policy on awarding active-duty troops a day of extra administrative leave for each month or fraction of a month is explained.

The article presents tips for government employees on determining the high-three or average of highest rates of basic pay over any three consecutive years of creditable civilian service to calculate retirement annuity. For employees who have been on leave without pay for no more than six months, the pay for that period in high-three calculation will be the base salary they were receiving when they left. In order to find out the high-three average salary, they should identify each pay change and how long they received it.

Two letters to the editor are presented in response to articles published in previous issues including a comment on the costs and benefits of the U.S. Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System and "Rule Grants All Execs 26 Leave Days Per Year," in the October 30, 2006 issue.

The article presents questions and answers about regarding pay, benefits and workplace rules in the U.S. One asks about a new rule that allows federal employees to use prior work experience to qualify for more leave. Another asks about the rule granting 26 leave days per year to all employees in the Senior Executive Service, senior-level and scientific and professional pay systems.

The article reports on the extension made by U.S. President George W. Bush to the Labor Department's Safety, Health, and Return-to-Employment (SHARE) initiative. It discusses the benefits derived by U.S. administrative agencies from the initiative. It presents information on the projected decline in total injury cases in fiscal 2006. Details of the initiative is given.

The article offers news briefs on issues related to the U.S. federal government. The U.S. Senate has decided to approve the amendment to the Port Security Improvement Act. An emergency leave transfer program has been established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for employees affected by Hurricane Katrina. The agency has also decided to relax the rules for acquisition hiring for agencies outside the U.S. Defense Department.

The article reports on an interim rule that was published by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in "Federal Register" and address how managers deal leave requests and pay actions during a pandemic health crisis or other emergency. The interim rule entitles employees for evacuation payments or other payments to offset any additional costs of work done from home. The rule also made changes on sick leave regulations.

Reports on the placement of Carla Martin, lawyer at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, on administrative leave in March 2006. Allegations of misconduct against Martin during the death penalty trial of admitted al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui; Views of Stephen Gillers, legal ethics expert at the New York University School of Law in New York City, on the decision of Judge Leonie Brinkman on the case; Possible punishments of Martin.

Reports on a ruling by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board that enables federal workers who served as reservists between 1980 and 1994 to get repayment for leave days they were improperly charged. Circumstance in which federal employees were forced to use their regular annual leave days to fulfill military commitments; Decision of the U.S. government to compensate workers affected between 1994 and 2000; Benefit of the ruling to federal workers, in terms of the length of time given to them to gather documentation to use in seeking such compensation.

Discusses the effects of sick leave on the annuities of employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Information about sick leave and its difference with annual leave; Effect of unused sick leave on the amount of service used to compute a CSRS annuity; Way of computing total creditable service during employee retirement.