Obama Proposes 2-Year Pay Freeze For All Civilian Federal Employees
The White House has issued the following “Fact Sheet: Cutting the Deficit by Freezing Federal Employee Pay”
Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade, the President inherited a $1.3 trillion projected deficit upon taking office and an economic crisis that threatened to put the nation into a second Great Depression. He moved quickly to get the economy moving again. Now, the economy is growing, and we have gained private sector jobs for the past 10 months. But families and businesses are still hurting, and our top priority is making sure that we are doing everything we can to help boost economic growth and spur job creation.
Now, we need to turn our attention to addressing the massive deficits we inherited and the unsustainable fiscal course that we are on. Doing so will take some very tough choices. Just as families and businesses around the nation have tightened their belts so must their government. That must be done in a targeted way that focuses our investments in what works and in what will lay the foundation for job creation and economic growth for years to come while cutting back elsewhere in our budget.
That is why the President has decided to propose a freeze in civilian pay for federal employees for two years, 2011 and 2012.
* This two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion for the remainder of FY 2011, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next 10 years.
* It will apply to all civilian federal employees, including those in various alternative pay plans and those working at the Department of Defense – but not military personnel.
This was a decision that was not made lightly. From the doctors and nurses who care for our veterans to the scientists searching for better treatments and cures, the men and women who care for our national parks, and the thousands who make sure that the Social Security check is in the mail and that students get their scholarships, federal workers serve their fellow Americans. They do so often with great sacrifice and motivated by a patriotic love for their country. This freeze is not to punish federal workers or to disrespect the work that they do. It is the first of many actions we will take in the upcoming budget to put our nation on sound fiscal footing – which will ask for some sacrifice from us all.
This move also is another step in what the Administration has done as part of its Accountable Government Initiative to cut costs, save taxpayer dollars and do more with less in the federal government:
* Upon taking office, the President froze salaries for all senior White House officials; in last year’s budget, he proposed to extend this freeze to other top political appointees; and he eliminated bonuses for all political appointees.
* The President directed agencies to dispose of excess real estate to save $8 billion over the next two years.
* The President set an aggressive goal of reducing improper payments by $50 billion by the end of 2012.
* In each of his budgets, the President put forward approximately $20 billion in terminations and reductions, encompassing more than 120 programs all of which have strong supporters.
* The President put forward more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction in his 2011 budget, including a three-year freeze in non-security spending – which will bring non-security discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy in 50 years.
Ultimately, reining in our deficits will take tough decisions and sacrifices made by us all. We look forward to working with both sides on Capitol Hill over the next several months to forge a commonsense deficit reduction strategy that will rein in our deficits, keep our economy growing, and lay the foundation for American competitiveness for years to come.
‘Work Til 70? Yes, if Boehner and Republicans Have Their Way’
If Republicans take over Congress, House Republican leader John Boehner says he will move to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70. That might not seem a big deal to someone who has spent his life in cushy offices with fancy perks, luxury cars, good health care and not much heavy lifting.
But for millions of seniors in physically demanding jobs, it’s a big, big deal. A new television ad from Protecting America’s Retirees, an independent project of the Alliance for Retired Americans, takes a light-hearted look at the very serious subject of forcing seniors to stay on the job until age 70.
The ad will air in five closely-contested House races in Arizona, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania and in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Read the full article here:
blog.aflcio.org/2010/10/26/work-till-70-yes-if-boehner-and-republicans-have-their-way
Postal Workers 2010 Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Set
Filed under: APWU, NALC, NPMHU, pay, postal, postal news, usps
2010 Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Set For Postal Workers
(10/22/10) The December period referenced in Article 8, Sections 4 and 5, of the National Agreement, during which penalty overtime regulations are not applicable, consists of four consecutive service weeks. (See Why Is the Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Only 28 Days?) This year the period begins Pay Period 26-10, Week 1 (Dec. 4, 2010) and ends Pay Period 01-11, Week 2 (Dec. 31, 2010).
Why is the Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period Only 28 Days?
(Dec. 1, 2005) Article 8 of the National Agreement states penalty overtime will not be paid for any hours worked in December. Why is the Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period 28 days instead of all 31 days in December? As the result a mutual agreement dated Nov. 14, 1985, the Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period consists of four consecutive service weeks.
FY 2011 Casual Exception Period Set
(10/22/10) Article 7.1.B.5 of the National Agreement provides exceptions to the six percent and 11 percent casual caps during accounting periods 3 and 4. For Fiscal Year 2011, the casual exception period will be from Nov. 20, 2010 through Jan. 14, 2011.
source: APWU Industrial Relations
USPS Revises Its Policies on Rehiring Postal Execs
Last month the Washington Post reported: The Postal Service has awarded more than 2,700 contracts to former employees since 1991 and awarded 17 no-bid deals to former executives between 2006 and 2009, according to one of the audits. Most of those executives earned six-figure sums, the report said. One unnamed executive received a $260,000 no-bid deal in July 2009 to train his successor just two months after retiring.
The Postal Service has revised its Management Instructions (MI) on “Contracting With Individuals or Rehiring Into Career Nonbargaining Positions.”
From the Postal Bulletin:
Management Instruction (MI) EL-500-2010-4, Contracting With Individuals or Rehiring Into Career Nonbargaining Positions, is now available on PolicyNet and is effective
immediately.
This MI provides guidance on the reviews and approvals required prior to contracting with or reemploying specified individuals, including former and/or retired postal or federal civilian employees, into career nonbargaining positions. Specifically, this MI:
- Establishes the process for requesting contracts with individuals.
- Defines the categories under which persons may be utilized to perform work for the Postal Service.
- Identifies the Human Resources authorities responsible for determining whether the request to contract with an individual may proceed.
Arbitrator Denies Union’s Grievance To Pay Employees Sunday Premium While on Administrative Leave
In a recent national decision, Arbitrator Byars denied the APWU’s grievance challenging management’s refusal to pay Sunday premium pay to an employee while on administrative leave. Arbitrator Byars ruled that an employee who is on administrative leave is not entitled to Sunday premium pay for hours he or she would have otherwise worked on Sunday. click here for summary of the decision
OPM Study Finds Federal Workers Earn 22 Per Cent Less Than Private Sector
A new OPM study finds that federal employees earn 22 percent less than their private sector counterparts doing similar jobs. Now, the study examined straight salary and didn’t factor in benefits. OPM says there is no information to compare federal and non-federal benefits. The findings are based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OPM Director John Berry ordered the study in June, following media reports that feds earn much more money than people in the private sector.
Friedman said several articles, the most recent in the USA Today, are misleading because they are not doing fair comparisons. He said BLS clearly states that is survey is not appropriate for comparing federal and non-federal workers because the occupation statistics survey doesn’t measure level of work.
Full story: Federal News Radio- OPM trying to correct fed salary facts
Congressman To USPS OIG: New Documents Show Wage Theft In New Hampshire Post Offices Continues
Washington, D.C. – Today, Paul Hodes and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter are demanding an investigation into a new round of allegations that letter carriers at even more post offices have been shortchanged on their paychecks. In documents obtained by Hodes, post offices in Dover and Salem, New Hampshire are shown to have manipulated letter carriers’ time sheets to remove overtime pay and earned wages.
“Cheating workers out of their pay is a very serious offense and threatens the livelihood of these hardworking New Hampshire families,” said Hodes. “These troubling allegations must be investigated thoroughly, and any stolen pay should be immediately reimbursed to these workers.”
“The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has already found time sheet tampering of letter carriers throughout the State and these actions cannot continue,” said Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter. “After taking a close look at these new documents, I believe it is appropriate for the OIG to investigate these new incidents.”
Never before seen evidence of manipulated timesheets has been sent to the chief investigator for fraud at the US Postal Service. Hodes and Shea-Porter have demanded an investigation into these documents and the alleged wage theft against New Hampshire workers.
Last year, Hodes spurred similar investigations at several New Hampshire post offices which led to thousand of dollars in repaid wages for workers. The investigations concluded that managers at five New Hampshire postal stations were found to be cheating workers out of rightfully earned wages. In total, previous investigations have uncovered 103 employees who were shortchanged, and the Hodes investigation has already led to $37,600 in wages being returned.
The full text of the investigation request is below:
Dear Inspector General Williams:
We have received reports of time adjustment tampering at two additional United States Post Offices in New Hampshire—Dover and Salem. We urge an Office of Inspector General investigation into the alleged theft of letter carriers’ hours in these post offices.
These new reports of time tampering are troubling, since it has already been determined that New Hampshire letter carriers were cheated out of their wages in an investigation that the Office of Inspector General completed in October, 2009. Your office found improper and inappropriate time adjustments in four post offices in New Hampshire: Milford, Manchester South Station, Somersworth and Salem.
We enclosed for your consideration copies of adjusted time schedules in Dover and Salem that we received from the New Hampshire branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. The documents include allegations of improper moving of codes, deleted times from carriers, and deleting “no lunch.” In Salem, we urge an expansion of your previous investigation to examine the enclosed data that may include inappropriate reductions in carriers’ overtime.
We encourage a swift review of and report on the allegations of wage theft. If the allegations prove true, we must stop the pattern of unethical and inappropriate underpayments of hard working letter carriers in New Hampshire’s post offices.
MSPB Threatens To Withhold Postal Official’s Pay Until USPS Compliance With Order
Appellant: Reginald B. Day
Agency: United States Postal Service
Decision Number: 2010 MSPB 63
Docket Number: AT-0752-09-0163-X-1
Issuance Date: April 13, 2010
Appeal Type: Adverse Action by Agency
Action Type: Constructive Adverse Action
Compliance
This case was before the Board pursuant to a recommendation of the administrative judge that the Board grant the appellant’s petition for enforcement (PFE) and enforce the terms of a final Board order. In the underlying appeal, the judge found that the agency’s placement of the appellant on enforced leave for more than 14 days constituted a constructive suspension. The judge reversed the agency action and ordered the agency to provide the appellant with back pay. The appellant later filed a PFE stating that the agency had failed to pay him back pay for the constructive suspension period. The agency argued that the appellant was not entitled to back pay for the period in question because he was not ready, willing, and able to work during the period. The administrative judge found the agency’s argument without merit and that the appellant was entitled to back pay. Accordingly, the judge recommended that the appellant’s PFE be granted, and the matter was referred to the Board. In his compliance recommendation, the judge informed the agency that, if it agreed with the recommendation, it had 15 days to submit to the Clerk of the Board evidence of its compliance, and that, if it decided not to take the actions required by the compliance recommendation, it had 30 days to file written arguments supporting its disagreement with the recommendation. The Clerk of the Board reiterated this information in an acknowledgment order. Despite the instructions of the compliance recommendation and the acknowledgment order, the agency has failed to inform the Clerk of the Board whether it agrees or disagrees with the compliance recommendation.
Holdings: The Board found the agency in noncompliance and ordered it to submit evidence and argument demonstrating compliance. The Board also identified the agency official responsible for compliance and stated that, if the agency fails to demonstrate compliance, the Board may seek the withholding of the responsible agency official’s pay until the agency demonstrates compliance.
From the full decision:
As set forth above, the agency has failed to demonstrate compliance with the Board’s final order in this matter. In the July 15, 2009 order acknowledging receipt of the appellant’s petition for enforcement, the administrative judge ordered the agency to submit the name of the official responsible for compliance with the March 12, 2009 order. CF, Tab 2 at 2. The administrative judge repeated that instruction in the November 3, 2009 compliance recommendation. CF, Tab 6 at 6. The agency has failed to identify the official responsible for compliance.
Accordingly, we have determined that Linda J Welch, Acting Vice President, Southeast Area Operations, is the agency official responsible for compliance. If the agency fails to demonstrate compliance, the Board may seek the withholding of the responsible agency official’s pay until the agency demonstrates compliance.
ORDER
The agency is ordered to file evidence and argument demonstrating compliance with the Board’s final order in this case and shall support its assertions of compliance with clear and understandable documentary evidence.
If the agency fails to demonstrate compliance, the responsible agency official may be ordered to appear before the General Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board to show cause why the Board should not seek the withholding of her pay pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1204(e)(2)(a).
Postal Employees April 16th Earnings Statements Already Available on Liteblue
Postal employees who utilize direct deposit of their biweekly net-to-bank earnings can access their April 16th earnings statements today on Liteblue rather than waiting until Friday. Earnings statements become available at Liteblue as soon as the employee’s pay record has been processed. The ePayroll earnings statement provides much greater detail about withholdings, benefit deductions,leave balances and processed adjustments than can be provided on the limited space of the traditional hardcopy earnings statement. Maybe in the future daily clock ring information will be added.
Don Cheney
Auburn WA
Reader: Why Is USPS Considering PFP Bonuses For Management?
A PostalReporter.com reader asks the following question:
Interesting to note, since the USPS is claiming such a financial crisis, why would they even consider more Pay-For-Performance (PFP) bonuses for management?
From USPS News Link:
MID-YEARS FOR PFP. The FY 2010 mid-year process for the Pay-for-Performance Plan (PFP) is just around the corner. Before the process begins, click here <http://performance.usps.gov/> to log onto the Performance Evaluation System to make sure your profile is correct. Pay close attention to the finance number, National Performance Assessment unit and position type. Also, make sure your profile reflects any detail assignments. Contact your PFP coordinator if you have any questions.
The review period begins March 31 and lasts until May 14. Click
here<http://blue.usps.gov/humanresources/professionalportal/erm/ser/pay%20for%20performance.shtml> for more information on PFP.
An explanation of PFP posted earlier this year:
From USPS:
Pay For Performance
“There were 735 executives in 2009, including 42 officers and 83 newly appointed executives. 65 executives participated in one or more of the course offerings for executives.”
“A pay-for-performance program is in place for non-bargaining employees, and managers are compensated in part based on the degree to which their personal accomplishments — and the accomplishment of their unit (e.g., Post Office, plant, and district) contribute to overall success. These employees do not receive automatic salary increases, nor do they receive cost of living increases or locality pay.”
The Postal Service’s Pay-for-Performance (PFP) program continued to drive organizational achievement. (Performance results are highlighted in Chapter 6.) Unlike most government agencies that provide regular, across-the-board pay increases, PFP is the sole source of annual pay adjustments for non-bargaining unit employees.
The award-winning program has been cited by several independent entities as a model for other agencies to emulate. The foundation of the evaluation system is a balanced scorecard of objective, independently verifiable measures of service, workplace environment, productivity, and financial performance. Performance indicators are measured at national, area, district, business unit, and individual levels so that meaningful performance distinctions are made within the line-of-sight of all managers. Individual contributions are linked to organization success through these performance indicators. Core performance requirements and individual results are recorded in the Performance Evaluation System.