Process vaccine exceptions based on religion and disability similarly By Anjali Patel, Esq., cyberFEDS® Legal Editor Washington Bureau IN FOCUS: Handling requests from employees who are unwilling to get a COVID-19 vaccine is going to become a “hotspot” issue over the next few months, Federal Practice Group partner Debra D’Agostino warned during the LRP webinar, […]

Updates on paid leave, vaccines and mask mandates for federal employees By Beatrix Haddon, Government Matters Published 11:00 AM, February 21, 2021 Jessica Klement, Staff Vice President for Policy and Programs at NARFE, and Joanna Friedman, Partner at The Federal Practice Group, talk about some of the most important news for federal employees to pay attention […]

Clean record agreements might be possible even before rule change By Anjali Patel, Esq., cyberFEDS® Legal Editor Washington Bureau IN FOCUS: Clean record agreements could once again be possible now that Biden EO 14003 officially revoked EO 13839, but “there is some ambiguity” over whether the Office of Personnel Management must first issue new regulations, […]

Complex appointments clause challenges throw some MSPB cases in limbo February 18, 2021 6:05 pm     For agencies with administrative judges, a 2018 Supreme Court case has created a messy, albeit solvable, situation in recent years. But at the moment, it’s not solvable for the Merit Systems Protection Board, which, without a single board member to weigh in […]

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Joe Biden Fires More of Trump’s Labor Appointees The president asked all members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel to resign. Two declined and were fired.   President Joe Biden continues to take an ax to former President Donald Trump’s labor policies. Removing all 10 of his predecessor’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel. […]

By NORAH O’DONNELL, KRISTIN STEVE, MEGAN TOWEY, ADAM VERDUGO, LEN TEPPER CBS NEWS November 19, 2020, 9:17 AM Pentagon whistleblowers say they were fired or suspended for reporting sexual assault cover-ups: “People are afraid” Fifteen years ago, the Department of Defense established a program to combat sexual assault and rape in the ranks. Since then, the military has […]

Payroll tax deferral must be repaid in 2021 By Anjali Patel, Esq., cyberFEDS® Legal Editor Washington Bureau  IN FOCUS: Employees must be aware that any payroll taxes deferred as a result of President Trump’s recent presidential memorandum must be repaid. The memo defers an employee’s portion of Social Security taxes for those making less than […]

Workforce Rights/Governance So goes 2020: Post-Election Day Hatch Act guidance for feds is anything but simple November 4, 2020 5:48 pm A handful of battleground states are still counting ballots, but the end of Election Day serves as a marker of sorts for federal employees and the Hatch Act. Even with this year’s uncertainty, the […]

The Legal Theories at the Heart of Trump’s Order Politicizing the Civil Service Federal employees could find it hard to challenge the White House’s move to strip civil service protections from them, since courts traditionally have sought to avoid weighing in on agency terminations. |  NOVEMBER 3, 2020 Federal employees and experts in the good […]