A Historic Achievement: Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees

 The federal government will now be a more family-friendly employer with the historic approval of a paid parental leave program giving frontline civil servants the financial security to be at home during one of the most crucial times of their lives.

A 12-week paid parental leave program for federal employees is part of the defense policy bill that was signed into law on December 20, 2019. Starting October 1, 2020, federal employees will be able to use up to twelve weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child. The Office of Personnel Management is currently preparing draft implementing regulations, which the agency has indicated should be available for public comment in late spring.

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OPM Data Breach Lawsuit Update

NTEU continues to press its arguments that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated NTEU members’ constitutional right to informational privacy when it allowed a series of data breaches to occur, failing to protect the personal data of nearly 22 million federal employees. This litigation is an important fight for us. NTEU believes that OPM must answer for breaking its promise to federal employees about keeping our personal information safe from hackers.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed NTEU’s suit on September 19, 2017. The court ruled that NTEU members were not sufficiently injured by the data breaches. NTEU appealed this decision and will file its next brief on August 23, 2018. The Court will then set a date for oral argument.

Trump to Sign Bill Impacting Federal Employees

On Monday, August 13th, President Trump will visit Fort Drum to sign the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. The bill includes several government-wide personnel provisions. The General Services Administration will extend its pilot telework program until December 31, 2020. The pilot telework program authorizes agencies to pay, with certain restrictions, necessary travel expenses for employees participating in a telework program. Also, agencies will be able to use direct hire authority for college and post-secondary students. This authority allows agencies to fill vacancies in specific occupations, grade levels, and locations when it can be proven that there is a critical hiring need or a severe shortage of candidates. View the text of the bill here.