The President signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 into law on December 20, 2019. The NDAA provides 12 weeks (up to 480 hours) of paid parental leave (PPL) for the birth, adoption or foster care placements of a child for all employees covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), regardless of gender. The new law is effective for employees who experience a birth, adoption or foster care placement that occurs on or after October 1, 2020. HCO released interim guidance this week, along with PPL forms and SETR guidance. Read more
PMA’s National Board is looking for members in Georgia who are willing to consider serving as chapter president. We’re also always happy to hear from members who’d like to found a local chapter in their area. Local chapters are active around the country and work with local executives, FEBs, and GLCs to promote the interests of management. Chapter presidents also attend national calls quarterly with the National Board. The time commitment is minimal and it’s a great way to improve conditions in your office! If you or someone you know is interested, please reply to our newsletter and we will connect you with resources to get started.
There’s never been a more important time to become a PMA member. Our voice is becoming louder and our leaders are listening. Through our consultative relationship with IRS HQ, we’ve worked to resolve questions, concerns, and inconsistencies around performance pay, leave administration, professional liability, retirement, safety, and leadership succession to name only a few. We are working diligently to strengthen our existing relationships throughout the IRS and to develop new relationships throughout government and with our sponsors so that we can grow our impact. We do all of this and more for a mere $3.50 per pay period – the best bargain I’ve seen in my career. I ask each of you to encourage your peers in the non-bargaining unit to consider signing up using the attached form. If you know a retiree who would benefit from our advocacy, we offer lifetime memberships to them for a one-time $100 payment. Membership also comes with many benefits such as discounted rates from our sponsors GEICO and FEDS Protection.
On October 22nd from 9AM-2:30PM, join HHS for their Organizational Culture and Excellence Workshop webinar. You’ll learn the role that organizational culture plays in promoting excellence, the elements that contribute to a healthy culture, and strategies for building and maintaining a healthy culture. You must register using your federal email address to attend. At this time, they don’t know if a recording will be available but they are trying to find a way to do that. Click here to register – you’ll receive the Zoom information once you’ve completed that process. See the attached flyer to learn more.
OPM’s Center for Leadership Development recently announced its FY21 courses for registration. As a reminder, PMA members can request grants to help mitigate the cost of training that furthers your leadership career. OPM also worked to create online versions of more than 40 of their most popular courses. Click here to view the schedule. If you missed a webinar and want to view the slides and presentation information, click here.
Attend Labor Relations Boot Camp! Throughout October, LR On Demand will feature a new course on LR roles and responsibilities, performance management, grievances, and more. Read more
The Executive Readiness Program (XR) announcement will open October 13-26 this year. If you’re eager to take that next step, be sure to start working on your ECQs today!
The 2020 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) and Supplemental Survey for seasonal employees began Tuesday, September 15, 2020 and will close on October 27, 2020. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) emailed invitations to employees to take the survey. Please convey your support for the FEVS and encourage employees to take the survey. PMA serves on the IRS’s Leadership Engagement Action Group (or LEAP-G) and we use FEVS feedback to design useful tools to help you engage your teams. Read more
Please encourage your teams to take a moment to complete the Climate Pulse Survey each week here: Link to Survey. In the most recent data, we learned that employees are very anxious about the continued state of teleworking during the pandemic. Per the Commissioner’s message, we will remain home for the foreseeable future. We are very fortunate at IRS to be led by many telework-friendly executives! If you’re heading to the office, please be sure to wear an appropriate face covering. As a reminder, face coverings with a exhalation valve or those with a hole for using a straw are unacceptable as they fail to adequately protect those around you.
Senators Tammy Duckwork and Mazie Hirono introduced the Federal Worker Leave Fairness Act. PMA supports this important legislation. The bill would allow all leave accrued by federal employees to carry over when a national pandemic prevents employees from taking time off work. We will update you as this bill makes its way through the Congress.
The House passed a condensed version of the HEROES Act which continues to contain important provisions for federal workers. The new bill eliminates out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19-related care covered by your FEHB program and creates a presumption that employees who work with the public and later contract COVID-19 did so while on duty for workers’ comp purposes. The reduced bill no longer contains hazard pay for public-facing employees, a benefit for which we’re continuing our advocacy.
