OPM has published additional, detailed guidance on the use of emergency sick leave granted by the Families First Corona Virus Response Act. By clicking here, you can access the more detailed guidance from OPM on the availability and use of the additional 80 hours of emergency sick leave authorized under the FFCRA.
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreOPM Issues Guidance for Christmas Eve Holiday
The Executive Order declaring Tuesday, Christmas Eve, a federal holiday is welcome news for many federal employees but it does raise some questions regarding pay and leave. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance and information. NTEU provides answers to some of the most common questions.
Read MoreHistoric Passage of Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees
Passed by the Senate on December 17, 2019, the 12-week paid parental leave program is part of a defense bill that the president is expected to sign into law. The House approved the legislation last week. The program, beginning in October 2020, will allow federal employees to use paid leave for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child…
Read MoreChapter 280 Urges Management to Prepare for DC Racist Rally
On the anniversary of the Charlottesville violence, the same racist/nationalist group that perpetrated the Charlottesville violence will rally in DC near the White House. The rally, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, August 11 & 12, could impact federal employees on Thursday, Friday, and Monday as rally participants arrive in DC.
NTEU Chapter 280, in an email to management today….
Read MoreA Day Without A Woman
March 8 is International Women's Day. To observe the day, the Women's March organizers have suggested that:
- women refrain from paid and unpaid work
- people refrain from shopping in stores or online. Exceptions include local small businesses and women-owned businesses that support us (#GrabYourWallet)
- wear red in solidarity
- male allies lean into care giving on March 8th, and use the day to call out decision-makers at the workplace and in the government to extend equal pay and adequate paid family leave for women
Should you want to participate by taking the day off, please make sure you submit a leave form and request either unpaid leave, annual leave, compensatory time off, or credit hours used. For comp time and credit hours you must first have accumulated those hours before they can be used.
The organizers are calling this a "strike." Please keep in mind that federal workers cannot strike without the risk of being fired. If you want to make a statement and refuse pay for the day, then you should request leave without pay.
No Heat? You Can Telework!
Many of you received an email from facilities and/or your management over the last couple of days about the lack of heat in certain parts of the William Jefferson Clinton North and South buildings. We are told that the heating outage will not be resolved until next week. That means it will get mighty cold in your office and make it uncomfortable or unsafe to work there.
So what can you do?
Read MoreUse or Lose Leave
You may have seen Donna Vizian's memo that came out yesterday regarding "use-or-lose leave." The memo is required by the NTEU-EPA Collective Bargaining Agreement's (CBA) Article 19, Section 3, to minimize the possibility that you inadvertently forfeit leave over the maximum 240 hours of leave employees are allowed to carry from one year to the next. If you give up leave, you're effectively throwing money down the drain.
You are entitled to take annual leave.....
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