FederalDaily - September 16, 2005
Thousands of IRS Agents Take Hurricane Calls
The IRS announced this week that several thousand telephone operators are
helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) answer telephone calls
from Hurricane Katrina victims. The IRS had 2,743 employees working these telephone
calls as of Sept. 14 at locations in Atlanta , Buffalo , Dallas and Philadelphia
. By Sept. 16, the number of IRS employees was expected to reach nearly 5,000.
IRS telephone assisters are taking calls seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to
11:30 p.m. to help people with the FEMA registration process. Hurricane victims
call in and provide IRS employees with basic information, such as name, address
and types of property damage. “By calling back to work over 4,000 of
our seasonal workers, we are speeding assistance to hurricane victims while
minimizing disruption to our normal taxpayer services,” said IRS Commissioner
Mark W. Everson.
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Labor/Management
Arbitrator Sides with IRS Agents
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed a case against the IRS
when the agency imposed new required areas of coursework in accounting as a “selective
placement factor” for the position of revenue agent (RA). In an update
on the case, on Sept. 12 the union announced that an arbitrator’s decision
on the remedy “essentially adopts the measures sought by the union.” NTEU
had argued that the new IRS educational requirements denied promotional opportunities
to well-qualified IRS employees who met the requirements that were previously
in place. Last year, NTEU won a court decision that the new educational standard
violated both federal law and the NTEU-IRS contract. The recent remedy ordered
by the arbitrator mandates notice to affected employees, establishment of a
claims procedure, and the re-running by the agency of rankings of applicants
for each RA vacancy.
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Pay/Benefits
HUD Employees Get Leave for Volunteering
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Sept. 13 signed
a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Council 222 of the American Federation
of Government Employees (AFGE) that will grant administrative leave time to
HUD employees who volunteer for work that supports HUD’s mission in providing
housing assistance and community development. “The enormous demand for
volunteer assistance for victims of Hurricane Katrina created a level of urgency
that got the deal done,” said Carolyn Federoff, president of Council
222 (also known as the AFGE HUD Council). The MOU allows HUD employees to receive
one day of administrative leave per month for the exercise of volunteer work
that is pre-approved by the worker’s supervisor.
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Peace Corps Works Domestically for First Time
In an unprecedented move and for the first time in the Peace Corps' 44-year
history, volunteers have begun working domestically. Peace Corps activated
its Crisis Corps volunteers last week to aid the Federal Emergency Management
Agency's relief operation in the gulf coast region. On Sept. 12, the first
group of Crisis Corps volunteers was deployed to Baton Rouge with the second
group heading to Baton Rouge and Houston on Sept. 13 to assist survivors. The
Crisis Corps allows exceptional former Peace Corps volunteers to re-enroll
in the Peace Corps for short term assignments. Volunteers work on projects
that require immediate assistance, utilizing the skills they learned during
their Peace Corps service and in post service careers.
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