Issue 29-17
(for the week of July 15th – July 21st)
Too busy during the week to keep up on all the news around your employee benefits and pay? My weekly summary of some of the most interesting and relevant news stories could help, and includes some of my insights. You might just refer to it as “What’s George reading this week?”
By the way, if you’ve read something about your employee benefits that you think is important or interesting, send it to me. And, let me know about news sources that you follow. Have a great weekend.
George Ray
Federal Benefits Online
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. -- John F. Kennedy
The theme of most of the news stories that I read this week (and wanted to share with you) seems to be about change. Change can be good or bad, but usually it’s uncomfortable. Is this the place where we use the term ‘tipping point’? – the point at which a series of small changes or incidents becomes significant enough to cause a larger, more important change. Only time will tell. Let’s begin.
House Committee’s 2018 Budget Proposal Sets Stage for Federal Retirement Cuts
From Federal News Radio
There were many stories this week that summarized the proposed budgets cuts and how they could affect Federal employees and their benefits. I think this story from Nicole Ogrysko at Federal News Radio does the best job of providing a thorough look inside all that’s happening. The article also includes a 7-minute audio interview if you’d like to listen to Nicole discuss it, rather than read it.
Some of the benefits changes that are currently being proposed are not new. For example, we’ve been hearing rumblings about the 'High-3’ average pay component of your pension formula changing to a ‘High-5’ for many years. But, what is new, and what strikes me as an unfair and potentially dangerous precedent, are the proposals to remove existing promises that have been made to current employees and retirees. For example, the elimination or reduction of Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for current FERS and CSRS retirees, as well as the elimination of the FERS Special Retirement Supplement that has been promised to those currently in service (particularly for Federal Law Enforcement Officers, Air Traffic Controllers, and others who have mandatory retirement ages much earlier than age 62.) What can you do about this? Read on . . .
Federal Benefits Under Attack: What You Need to Know
From NARFE.org
Before you click on this link, I want you to know that this is a replay of a short 18-minute webinar that I attended this week that was presented by Jessica Klement, Legislative Director at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE.org). They are dedicated to protecting your pay and benefits. So, of course, the webinar is designed to motivate you to write to your Congress people to oppose any changes that could affect you negatively. There were lots of numbers included to help illustrate the potential costs to Feds if the proposed changes and budget cuts take place. And, a call to action at the end. There’s also a downloadable PDF of all the slides she used so you can share this information.
Maryland Democrat Wants to Bring Retirement Contribution Back to Pre-2012 Levels for All Feds
From Federal News Radio
Democratic Representative Anthony Brown of Maryland. This guy is your new best friend. I think the kids would say ‘BFF’. Send him text messages with emoji hearts and hugs. He introduced the Federal Employee Pension Act of 2017 that would repeal sections of the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 that raised mandatory pension contributions for newly-hired Federal employees to 4.4%. He wants to roll back employee contributions to just the .8% that most FERS contribute, and is apparently brave enough to thumb his nose at the rest of his colleagues in the room. Sorry, Tony, but winter is coming.
Should the Government Fire More People? And How Should They Do It?
From ChiefHRO.com
Jeff Neal, former HR honcho at DHS and Defense Logistics, says that he’s worked with employees who were ROAD – Retired on Active Duty, and has seen poorly performing employees shuffled around in hopes that ‘a miracle would occur and they would start performing’. Do managers avoid dealing with ‘problem employees’ because the process for firing employees is so convoluted? Jeff offers some statistics to compare the percentage of employees fired from private sector employers vs. those let go from their government jobs, and recommends eight core principles to improve the process of dealing with employees who should be fired. This is a long piece, but worth every word.
The Most Misused Social Security Number Ever
From Federal Benefits Online
OK. Enough of all this talk about change. Let’s finish on a lighter note. Here’s a little story from the history pages at the Social Security Administration about Doug, Hilda, the FBI, and the most misused Social Security number of all time. You won’t believe what Doug did to Hilda, or what happened after.
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See you next week. Thanks.
Issue 29-17
Published by Federal Benefits Online.
Copyright © 2017
Author: George Ray
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