Federal Daily - April 24, 2009

Lawmakers Urged to Ease Restrictions on Federal Hiring

The federal government needs to reduce procedural barriers to entry-level hiring and make it easier for experienced professionals to laterally transfer into top-level government jobs, a public policy expert told lawmakers this week. Donald Kettl, incoming Dean at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, testified April 22 at a House subcommittee hearing on the federal workforce, entitled “Public Service in the 21st Century: An Examination of the State of the Federal Workforce.” Overall, he said, federal civil service needs an entire makeover. “It is no exaggeration to say that the federal workforce is at a crossroads,” Kettl said. The question, he said, is exactly what to do about “a system almost no one likes but which is rooted deeply in law and 120 years of political tradition…” Kettl pointed out that any changes should be driven by a desire to get the right people into the right federal jobs. On that score, the government should lower procedural barriers to recruiting the best workers and make it easier for superior candidates to enter federal service, he said. Kettl also said the Presidential Management Fellows Program ought to be revamped to create a category of “super-fellows” who would be hired from outside the government into the GS 11-13 levels. Also testifying, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry told the panel that OPM already is addressing some of the hiring concerns. He said OPM’s End-to-End Hiring Roadmap, introduced in September, stresses that job announcements be written in concise, plain language, and encourages agencies to stick to specific hiring timelines. “Although there are many good things about working for the federal government, there is also much to be done to make the federal government a first-class employer,” Berry said. “We need to review our human resources practices and policies to ensure that employees are treated in a fair and respectful manner.” To see more, go to: http://federalworkforce.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2392.

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IGs Support Bill to Re-Hire Federal Annuitants

Federal inspectors general (IGs) offered their support April 21 for a bill that would authorize agencies to reemploy retired federal employees on a limited basis, without forcing the employee to take a reduction in salary corresponding to their retirement annuity. Members of the IG community testified before the Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight that looked at the bill, S. 629, introduced by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis. “The IG community offers its wholesale support for S. 629, with no objections,” said Anthony Ogden, Governmental Printing Office IG and chairman of the IG Legislation Committee. Under the legislation, reemployment would be limited to a maximum of 520 hours (65 days) in the first six months following retirement, 1,040 hours (130 days) in any 12-month period, and a total of 3,120 hours (390 days) for any one employee. While the returning annuitants would receive both salary and annuity payments, they would not be considered employees for the purposes of retirement and would receive no additional retirement benefits based on their service. The legislation has been endorsed by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the Partnership for Public Service and the Government Managers Coalition. “This legislation would prove vital in helping the federal government keep many of its skilled, experienced, senior employees,” said Collins. To see more, go to: http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=PressReleases
.Detail&PressRelease_id=147488c4-2888-415b-b0cd-2218f4feb9ab&
Month=4&Year=2009&Affiliation=R.

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