Weekend Reading on Your Federal Benefits 14-18.jpg

(for the week of March 31st – April 6th)

You’re too busy during the week to keep up on all the news around your employee benefits and pay. My weekly summary of the most interesting and relevant news stories could help you and includes my comments and insights.

By the way, if you’ve read something about your employee benefits that you think is important or interesting, share it. And, let me know about news sources that you follow. Have a great weekend.

George Ray
Federal Benefits Online

In this week’s Federal benefits news, we hear the echo calling for civil service reform, learn that being a Fed in DC is not the same as the rest of the country, get an update on changes to your TSP, and discuss what happens when life takes an unexpected turn. Let’s get started.

New OPM Director Echoes Calls for Civil Service Reform

From Fedweek.com

“Nothing gets done without the people.” Amen.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had a new director. I suggested that Dr. Jeff Pon may want to bring his ‘vision glasses’ to his new job. With all the talk, and a definite call, for civil service reform for some time now, there’s a lot of ‘visioning’ that needs to get done. And the new sheriff in town, along with his deputy, seems ready to make some changes. Pon and his new deputy director, Michael Rigas, appear in a 5-minute welcome announcement video for Feds that’s included in this article.

Dr. Pon wants to look at the whole entire personnel system, including creating new systems and categorizations for occupations. He wants to make employment more competitive, and believes that systems, policies, and technology should actually enable people to do their jobs much quicker and much better-- at a touch, not a ten-page form. He uses the example of ordering a sandwich on your phone to suggest that delivering services should be much easier. I must admit I’m cautiously optimistic (okay, skeptical) that you’re ever going to be able to request your pension by pushing the big green ‘Retire Now’ button on your iPhone app (rather than filling out the 14-page Standard Form 3107 or the 21-page SF-2801), but we can dream. Let’s hope that Dr. Pon also recognizes that . . .

Being a Fed in DC is Not the Same as the Rest of the Country

From chiefhro.com

I’ve praised Jeff Neal and his website chiefhro.com in the past and found this article comparing Feds who work in DC with Feds employed in the rest of the country as insightful as much of his work. With all the talk of civil service reform, it’s worthwhile to dig down into the differences that are found between those involved in policymaking and those involved in policy fulfillment. Jeff’s point is that we should “recognize the differences and the similarities between DC and field employees”.

It’s clear that DC has more Feds at the higher pay levels. A table comparing the percentage of GS-13, 14, and 15 level employees in nine states with their counterparts at those levels in Washington DC is included. Competition for talent in DC and the higher cost of living may have much to do with that difference. But the article also suggests that more policymaking is done around the capital versus in the rest of the country. So more workers are needed with experience that will allow them to be successful in those types of tasks. The article goes on to highlight the difference in the level of trade and craft jobs in DC versus other areas of the country, and also the supervisory ratio. Seems there are a lot more bosses in DC supervising smaller groups of employers than elsewhere.

Although Mr. Neal focuses his article on differences in job types, pay, and the involvement in policymaking, I believe that more could be said about one of the biggest challenges that occur in organizations that are geographically dispersed, and that’s communication. Having worked in ‘field offices’ myself during my career, I can attest that feeling isolated from headquarters and feeling underappreciated, even disrespected sometimes, is not uncommon. Honest, direct, and continual communication between the headquarters and the field offices is the prescription but formulating and delivering the medicine can be challenging.

When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn

From Govexec.com

I usually read Tammy Flanagan’s articles for govexec.com regularly and recommend that you do too. Occasionally, I’ll shake my head and say to myself ‘well, she must have been busy that week because she just phoned that one in’. Her article this week is not one of those. Tammy does a thorough job of taking us through the rules a disabled employee must satisfy to receive a disability retirement check from FERS or CSRS. She also includes lots of links to resources as well as answers to some common questions.

Incurring a disability is not pleasant for anyone – you, your family, or your agency. Although the government doesn’t supply any protection for a short-term disability, there are many programs that can help including the use of sick leave, annual leave, leave sharing banks, and workplace accommodations. For a permanent disability, FERS or CSRS can provide you with a disability pension, but you must apply for it and meet the requirements. Fortunately, the definition of disability is much more lenient for the pension programs than for obtaining a disability benefit from Social Security which means you’re much more likely to get a disability retirement check.

I find during my benefits training sessions that it can be more challenging to get employees to pay attention to this information because none of us wants to believe that we could become disabled. Although I’ve heard some say, “I’ll probably never need this”, OPM receives between 7,000 and 9,000 disability applications each year. I also like to emphasize that this is a benefit that your loved ones (spouse, children, etc.) should know about in case you find yourself in a condition where you’re unable to apply for it yourself. Yes, I know. It’s not a subject that’s pleasant to think about or talk about, but it’s important to be prepared.

Monthly Update from the Thrift Savings Plan

From govmatters.tv

This week Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, provides us with an update of the TSP initiatives outlined at the board’s most recent monthly meeting. She’s interviewed by Francis Rose of Govmatters.tv in this 6-minute video.

A new investment manager for the Fixed Income Fund (F fund) is in the process of being chosen by the Thrift Investment Board from those who submitted proposals last year. A new International Fund (I fund) manager is also expected to be chosen later this year to manage the $30 billion in that fund. Remember, these are index funds so they’re not really being ‘managed’. The manager really is responsible for closely tracking the index, providing reporting to the TSP, securing information, etc. And the manager must do all this while still keeping costs low.

Kim also discusses the change to the I Fund benchmark that should take place in early 2019. It will begin following a different MSCI index to get more developing countries and Canada into the mix. In the past, the fund had too much money in it to invest in developing countries, but the markets have expanded providing more investment opportunities and diversification.

A big change that won’t occur until 2020 has to do with the Lifecycle funds (L funds). When the current L2020 fund matures and merges into the L Income fund, the TSP will begin to introduce funds in five-year increments instead of the current ten-year increments. You’ll see an L2025, L2030, L2035, etc. – all the way out to the year 2065. That seems a long way off. Hopefully, there will still be someone around to cash out of that one by pushing the big green button on his iPhone app.

See you next week. Thanks!

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