As a federal employee in DC, it’s expensive to live here. In order to make the high costs more bearable, Congress increased the transit-subsidy benefit to $255.
Today we learned that our own agency is paying its Region 9 employees in San Francisco the increased benefit starting January 1, 2016 even though it’s waiting until February 1 for headquarters employees....
Read MoreDuring deliberations, NTEU worked hard to protect federal employee pay and rights and fought for adequate agency funding. The omnibus bill includes several notable items of interest to federal employees....
Read MoreThe Washington Post's Daily 202 column has a good update on the government funding discussions. Please click the "Read More" link, below, to read more....
Read MoreNever mind kicking the can down the road, there's nothing like kicking the can a few feet in front of you. Today The Senate has passed a short-term funding measure (H.R. 2250) to avert a lapse in appropriations. By voice vote, the Senate cleared the text of a House-introduced five-day Continuing Resolution (CR), which keeps the government open until Midnight, December 16.......
Read MoreNTEU received updated information from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regarding the recent background investigations breach affecting approximately 21.5 million individuals.
OPM informed us that a DOD-run verification center is now available for any individual who has not received a notification letter but thinks they should have. This center can also assist any individual who did receive a notification letter but lost their assigned PIN number. The center can be accessed online via OPM’s cybersecurity site at https://www.opm.gov/cybersecurity or by calling 1-866-408-4555 (Mon-Fri 9am-9pm EST).....
Read MoreAs you may recall, a few weeks ago Congress passed legislation to increase sequester spending levels for domestic and defense spending for both fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017. The now-enacted measure also raised the debt ceiling until March 2017; however, it did not include FY16 spending funds for individual federal agencies. With current funding set to expire this Friday, Congress must act in order to prevent a government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations.......
Read MoreToday the agency notified employees by email that new smart card readers (EPASS readers) will be installed soon, starting with the William Jefferson Clinton West building. The email notes that "some employees may experience a problem in gaining access to work space after the transition occurs."
Obviously, not being able to get into your secure office space can make you late, and that can upset your manager. If your manager comes down on you for being late when your badge fails to work, please immediately contact one of the union officers, below...
Read MoreAccording to an article in Government Executive and covered by NTEU in its e-Bulletin, "Federal employees remain significantly underpaid compared to their private sector counterparts" with "a pay gap between General Schedule employees and private sector workers of 34.92 percent."
According to the article, "the pay gap varied by locality" and job series. In San Francisco, for example, which the article noted "already receives the highest locality pay adjustment of 35 percent," "federal workers earn less than half of their private sector counterparts...."
Read MoreA new Washington Post article highlights a new frequently asked question (FAQ) document from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The FAQ discusses Hatch-Act restrictions on the use of politically-oriented social media during work.....
Read MoreIn case you missed it, NTEU's November 10 e-Bulletin noted that the Office of Personnel Management is expanding Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) eligibility. Starting November 30, 2015, the term “qualified relative” will cover both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners of federal employees and annuitants. Children of domestic partners also will be eligible for coverage. This expanded definition only applies to the FLTCIP program, and regular FLTCIP underwriting requirements will still apply to family members seeking coverage.
Read MoreDid you know that you can get notified of new articles on the NTEU Chapter 280 blog automatically? Using a nifty technology called RSS, which stand for "rich site summary" or "really simple syndication," you can receive either a notice of a new article, or download the article itself into your web browser, Outlook, or your favorite RSS reader/news aggregator software....
Read MoreNTEU has received updated information from the Office of Personnel Management regarding the recent background investigations breach affecting approximately 21.5 million individuals. The U.S. government will be providing credit monitoring and identity theft services to these 21.5 million compromised individuals, who had a Social Security number stolen, for a period of three years. The Department of Defense is responsible for mailing all of the individual notifications through the U.S. mail. Individual notification letters began to be mailed out on October 1st, and will continue for a period of 12 weeks....
Read MoreOpen Season, where federal employees and retirees can make changes to their health, dental, and vision insurance benefits for 2016, and employees can enroll in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) will be held November 9 – December 14, 2015. As an overall general reminder, employees should contact their agency’s Human Resources Office with health plan and enrollment questions, while annuitants should contact OPM. Questions regarding dental and vision plans can be directed to BENEFEDS at 1-877-888-3337 or at www.benefeds.com. Any questions about a specific insurance plan can be directed to the specific insurance carrier....
Read MoreNTEU members will again have access to Consumers’ Checkbook’s online Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Annuitants. All NTEU members who currently or are planning to participate in Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) plans or the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) are eligible to use this online guide....
Read MoreCongress has passed legislation to increase sequester spending levels for both domestic and defense spending for Fiscal Years (FY) 2016 and 2017. The measure also raises the debt ceiling until March 2017, which prevents a default on November 3rd. The House passed the budget deal by a vote of 266-167, and about 3:00am on October 30, 2015, the Senate cleared the measure 64-35....
Read MoreAttached is the draft, ratified NTEU CBA for EPA. Our members at all four of our EPA NTEU chapters ratified the Agreement. The date of ratification was September 4, 2015. The Agreement then underwent Agency Head Review, which includes a review by the EPA’s Office of General Counsel. Five minor points were identified and resolved between the Agency and NTEU. Since these changes are not included in the attachment, I am listing them below, so you know what they were.....
Read MoreSay goodbye to the late '90s. Today the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 280 went live with a modern, updated website using the Squarespace.com platform. The website includes a blog, officer biographies, contact information, and a document repository of information relevant to members and managers alike.....
Read MoreNTEU Chapter 280 is starting the 2015 Summer Membership Drive from June 1st to September 1st, 2015to bring new members into NTEU. Our goal is to sign at least 25 new members by the end of this membership drive....
Read MoreSeveral of our members have inquired about the AFGE settlement with EPA regarding unpaid overtime. NTEU280 was not a party to this lawsuit or to the settlement. Therefore, we cannot answer questions about the details of the lawsuit or its settlement, and we will refer all interested parties to AFGE for further information.....
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