NTEU remembers and honors the victims of the September 11 attacks and their families, along with the first responders and federal employees who helped in the aftermath.

President Biden Again Calls for 5.2% Pay Hike for Federal Employees in 2024

Last week, President Biden announced his official proposal for an average 5.2% pay increase for 2024, which would give federal employees their largest pay raise in 43 years.

 

The president’s plan would help close the pay gap between federal employees and their private sector counterparts, which stands at 24.09% according to the Federal Salary Council.

 

Congress has been silent so far on a federal pay raise in annual appropriations bills, deferring to the president’s proposal.

 

Under the president’s alternative pay plan, the 5.2% increase federal employees would receive consists of a 4.7% across-the-board increase with 0.5% devoted to locality pay.

Reminder: Summer Membership Campaign Deadline is September 9, 2023

The deadline for NTEU’s Summer Membership Campaign for 2023 is quickly approaching. Membership forms that are processed by September 9, 2023, will result in a $100 rebate check for the new member and a $50 check for their recruiter, if applicable. NTEU has achieved some significant victories over our 85 years because of our strong membership. Telework, remote work, flexible work schedules, and paid parental leave are a few successes that NTEU has championed to transform government employment for our bargaining unit employees. Every day NTEU performs critically important work, on multiple fronts, for those we represent and we need every bargaining unit employee to support these efforts. We continue to make sure agency management prioritizes the health and safety of our members, and that we are positioned to make new gains in Congress and at bargaining tables.

OPM Issues Guidance on Pay and Travel for Teleworkers and Remote Workers

This week, the Office of Personnel Management issued new guidance to federal agencies and employees on how to determine eligibility to be compensated for their time when commuting to traditional work sites, based on rules under Title 5 and/or the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA).

In short, when a teleworker or remote worker receives advance notification that they must report to the traditional work site, then the time spent traveling is considered commuting time and is unpaid. However, if a teleworker or remote worker starts their day at an alternative work site but is required to commute to the traditional work site later in the work day, then the time spent traveling in to the office is considered paid time but travel home would be considered unpaid commuting time. An additional consideration for remote workers is whether or not they live in the local commuting area (50-mile radius from traditional work site) as well as if the position is covered or exempt from FSLA. Employees covered by FSLA and that live outside the local commuting area should be compensated for their travel time.

 For more information, click on the image below to read the memo from OPM.

Webinar: All About Medicare and FEHB

Join Medicare Specialist Nicole Sherwood from United Benefits on Tuesday, August 15 at 11 am, 2 pm, or 4 pm EST for a webinar on Medicare and FEHB. Topics covered are designed to help participants gain a better understanding of Medicare’s basics and retirement decisions, how to coordinate their FEHB and Medicare coverage in addition to providing insights on how to maximize healthcare benefits with Medicare Advantage. Register for the webinar to attend.

TSP Investment Options and Fund Performance

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is one part of the three parts of your FERS retirement package, along with your FERS basic annuity and Social Security. The TSP is a retirement savings plan for civilian federal government employees. The TSP is defined as a contribution style retirement savings plan with tax advantages. The TSP is managed by an independent federal agency, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. The Board consists of five members who serve in a part-time capacity. They are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The TSP offers federal civilian employees the same type of savings and tax benefits that many private corporations offer their employees under 401(k) plans. As your employer, the EPA makes an automatic 1% of salary contribution, even if you do not contribute. The EPA matches your contributions dollar for dollar for the first 3% and fifty cents for each dollar for the next 2%. Click on the image below for more information.

Ask JAN! Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

Read the July 2023 edition of the JAN Newsletter as it features information about pregnancy and job accommodations and highlights a new federal law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA requires covered employers to make reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees unless they cause an undue hardship. It extends reasonable accommodation rights to workers with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The law also establishes clearer guidelines and accommodation obligations for employers. This helps ensure that workers are not treated unfairly or forced out of work due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

HSA Contribution Limits to Increase in 2024

The contribution limits to health savings accounts (HSA) will increase in 2024, according to a recent announcement from the IRS. This change will allow FEHB enrollees with health savings accounts to set aside more money on a pre-tax basis for qualified medical expenses.

For self-only enrollments, the limit is raised from $3,850 in2023 to $4,150 in 2024. For those with self-plus-one or family coverage, the contribution limit goes from $7,750 to $8,300. Participants 55 and older can continue to contribute an extra $1,000 to their HSAs.

If you have a high-deductible health care plan, you are eligible for an HSA, allowing you to make tax-free contributions that will earn tax-free interest and can be used to pay for qualified healthcare expenses tax-free. Your HSA stays with you regardless of any plan changes you make.

High-deductible health plans may save you money if you are generally healthy, without dependent children and can fully fund your health savings account. A higher deductible means you are responsible for a greater amount of your initial health care costs, but you pay lower monthly premiums.

NTEU will have more information for members about high-deductible health plans and whether they may be right for you closer to the start of federal benefits open season this fall. NTEU members also get free access to the interactive Consumers’ Checkbook’s online guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Annuitants.

NTEU Petitions for Protections Against Prohibited Personnel Practices at EPA

NTEU has filed a petition with EPA asking it to issue regulations that would expand protections against prohibited personnel practices to more employees.

Prohibited personnel practices include personnel actions motivated by discrimination, reprisal, political coercion, improper influence, or obstruction of rights. Competitive service employees and many excepted service employees are protected by statute against such wrongful practices. Some excepted service employees, however, are not protected. Employees covered by a possible future Schedule F Executive Order would not have such protections. NTEU’s petition asks EPA to protect such employees by promulgating new regulations.

This is part of NTEU’s multi-front effort to address the many potential harms that a future Schedule F Executive Order would cause. We will press EPA to do the right thing and grant this petition to protect employees.

Juneteenth Freedom Day

Juneteenth National Independence Day is today, Monday, June 19. NTEU will join the nation in celebrating this important holiday marking the end of slavery for more than 250,000 African Americans in the state of Texas.

EPA Alumni Discussion: PFAS or Forever Chemicals

You are invited to watch a panel of distinguished EPA alumni discuss the environmental and health risks posed by PFAS (also known as "Forever Chemicals"), the efforts to control those risks, and the impacts of those efforts on regulated entities on Tuesday June 20th at 4 pm EST. Please register for the discussion.

 Robert Sussman, Moderator

Bob Sussman is the principal in Sussman and Associates, a law and consulting firm that offers advice and support on energy and environmental policy issues to clients in the non-profit and private sectors. Bob serves as counsel to Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, a coalition of non-profit environmental and public health groups. He was deeply involved in the recent bi-partisan overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control (TSCA) and is now immersed in implementation of the new law. 

Bob was Co-Chair of the Obama Transition Team for EPA and then Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator from 2009-2013. Bob served in the Clinton Administration as the EPA Deputy Administrator during 1993-94. He has been an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, a Guest Lecturer at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a Visiting lecturer at Yale Law School.

 Alexandra Dunn, Panelist

Alexandra (Alex) Dunn is a Partner in the Environmental, Safety, and Incident Response group at the international law firm of Baker Botts with 28 plus years of practice at the local, state, and federal levels of government.

 From 2019-2021, with unanimous consent confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Alex served as Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Prior, she was EPA Administrator for New England from 2018-2019, where she focused on watersheds, enforcement, and environmental justice. 

 Previously, Alex served as Executive Director and General Counsel of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), the non-partisan association of U.S. state and territorial environmental commissioners. She held other dynamic positions in her career, including Executive Director and General Counsel of the Association of Clean Water Agencies (ACWA); Dean of Environmental Law Programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University; General Counsel of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies; and Counsel at the American Chemistry Council. Alex is currently an adjunct professor of environmental justice at the law schools of both Catholic University and George Washington University.

 G. Tracy Mehan, III, Panelist

G. Tracy Mehan, III is Executive Director, Government Affairs, for the American Water Works Association (AWWA). He was an independent consultant and served as Interim President of the U.S. Water Alliance and national Source Water Protection Coordinator for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. He was Principal with The Cadmus Group, Inc., an environmental consulting firm, from 2004 to 2014. Mehan served as Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001-2003. He served as Environmental Stewardship Counselor to the 2004 G-8 Summit Planning Organization (2004). Mehan also served as director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (1993-2001) and as Associate Deputy Administrator of EPA in 1992. He was director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1992. Mehan is a graduate of Saint Louis University and its School of Law. Mehan served on the Water Science and Technology Board and now the Committee on the Mississippi River and the Clean Water Act for the National Research Council of the National Academies. He was also an independent expert judge for the City Water Conservation Achievement Award program (2006 & 2011) sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and its Urban Water Council. Mehan is a member of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and a regular book reviewer for ELI’s flagship publication, The Environmental Forum. Mehan served on EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (2014-2018) as well as the boards of the U.S. Water Alliance and the Great Lakes Observing System. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Environmental Policy, School of Public Affairs, American University and a past member of the board of the Potomac Conservancy (2006-2014).

 Dr. Elizabeth Southerland, Panelist

Elizabeth Southerland received a PhD in environmental science and engineering from Virginia Tech in 1982. She worked in state and local government before joining the USEPA in1984. She was a senior scientist and manager in the Superfund and Water programs before retiring in 2017 as director of the Office of Science and Technology in the Office of Water. She received the President’s Distinguished Executive award for her career accomplishments at the USEPA. Since retirement, she has been a member of the Environmental Protection Network, testifying before Congress on environmental issues and providing technical assistance to communities.

United Benefits Webinar: How to Make the Most of Your TSP

You are invited to register for a United Benefits webinar on making the most of your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) program on Tuesday June 13th at 11 am, 2 pm, or 5 pm EST. When it comes to saving for retirement as a federal employee, one of the options available to you is the TSP. Similar to a 401k plan, your TSP is truly the only part of your retirement that you have complete control of.

Topics covered will include:

  • Understanding your irrevocable choices before making them

  • Where and when to allocate your TSP funds

  • How to secure an income throughout your retirement using your TSP

Breakdown of all TSP options available to you at retirement

Department of Labor Roundtable: The Menopause Transition and Work

Please join the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau to hear perspectives from a variety of fields on the impact of the menopause transition on women workers and steps that policymakers and employers can take to support those experiencing menopause symptoms remain employed on June 12th from 12 to 2 pm EST.  Register for the event at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/events/06122023/roundtable-menopause-transition-and-work

 Moderator: 

  • Tiffany Boiman, Acting Deputy Director of the Women’s Bureau 

Speakers: 

  • Dr. Stephanie Faubion, Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL and Medical Director, The North American Menopause Society 

  • Dr. Jen Gunter, OB/GYN and Author of The Menopause Manifesto 

  • Dr. Taniqua Miller, Board-certified OB/GYN, National Certified Menopause Practitioner

  • Marcy L. Karin, Professor and Director, Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law 

  • Dr. Mache Seibel, Consultant on Menopause in the Workplace, Author of Working Through Menopause: The Impact on Women, Businesses and The Bottom Line, and Founding Editor: The Hot Years Magazine

  • Andrea Berchowitz, CEO, Vira Health 

  • Jennifer Sauer, Senior Research Advisor, AARP 

  • Kamili Wilson, SVP, Affiliate Integration, AARP 

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day and NTEU will join the nation in honoring and remembering the men and women who died in service to our country.

Understanding Paid Parental Leave

Want to learn more about Paid Parental Leave? Click on the video below to find out more about this expanded benefit provided under the Family Medical Leave Act from NTEU Chapter 280.

Member Benefit: Becker Professional Education CPA and CMA Exam Review

NTEU has been in a relationship with Becker Professional Education for several years to offer our members exclusive benefits with regard to many of their continuing professional education offerings. Among other courses that are available, members that signup for the Becker CPA Review will receive a reduced rate of $1,930 ($2,500+ value). The price covers unlimited software access, all four parts of the CPA Review (Auditing, Business, Finance and Regulation) in Instructor-led Live Virtual Classes and Self-study formats. In addition, members can take advantage of Flex Pay for six-, 12-, or 24-month payment plans at 0%. All NTEU members will also receive Becker Flashcards and Final Review at no additional cost.

 

 All new for NTEU Members from Becker are the Microsoft® Excel Certificate, Data Analytics Certificate and Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Programs at 25% off. Members also receive a 40% discount off the Becker CPE catalog subscription of over 750 online courses for CPA, CGFM, CIA, CFE, CMA, CDFM, DoD FM, Yellow Book and more. These programs are 100% online, self-paced and are optimized for all mobile devices. 

 

Becker now offers a Certified Management Accountant Exam Review course at the price of $699 ($2,099 value). See all Becker offerings at www.becker.com/nteupp.

2024 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS UPDATES

In March 2023, OPM laid out changes for FEHB programs in 2024. One of the most significant changes federal employees can expect next year is an expansion of fertility benefits. Previously, FEHB plans covered the diagnosis and treatment of infertility but did not provide coverage for “assisted reproductive technologies” or other fertility-related procedures. Expanding the scope of coverage is a welcome change that will ease the cost burden federal workers face when undergoing family planning services. To find out more about the expanded benefits for fertility treatments, visit nteu.org.

NTEU 2023 Legislative Conference Issues

This week NTEU chapters from across the country met for NTEU’s annual legislative conference held in Washington, D.C. Members of NTEU met with congressional offices/members to discuss issues directly impacting federal employees. The issues we discussed were 1) increasing federal employee pay, 2) ensuring agency funding, 3) promoting and supporting telework and remote work, 4) protecting and enhancing federal benefits, and 5) safeguarding workplace rights and protections. Click on the image for more information on each issue. For additional information visit https://www.nteu.org/.