“Specifically, an agency must provide notice in an accessible format linked from its public-facing website of any final decision in which there has been a finding of discrimination (including retaliation) against the agency,” the proposed rule says.

“The agency’s notification must identify the date on which the finding was made, the date on which each discriminatory act was found to have occurred, and the law found to have been violated by each such discriminatory act, and, once again, advise federal employees of the rights and protections available under the provisions of law.”

The proposed rule stems from requirements in the Elijah E. Cummings Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination Act of 2020, which was signed into law at the beginning of 2021 and brings changes to how discrimination and retaliation cases are managed by federal agencies.

Prior to that, such cases were governed by the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002.

Currently, Subpart B of the No FEAR Act requires agencies to notify all potential, current and former employees of their rights and protections under federal whistleblower and antidiscrimination laws.

The requirements for public disclosure of finalized discrimination cases double down on this requirement by providing such employees with evidence of how those protections are put into practice at the agency within 90 days of a case being finalized.

Finalization of a discrimination or retaliation case can mean all appeals have been expended, the agency has not chosen to exercise its appeal rights within the allotted time or a court of jurisdiction issues a final judgement finding that there was intentionally committed discriminatory action.

The new rule also lays out requirements for agencies to produce their legally mandated annual reports in an electronic format that is machine readable and accessible to people with disabilities. Agencies will be required to submit a report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the disciplinary action taken as a result of the discrimination findings.

Agencies will also be required to submit a statement to Congress, the EEOC, the Attorney General and OPM on how they intend to adopt OPM-issued guidelines on the best ways to approach disciplinary actions against federal employees that violate whistleblower and antidiscrimination laws.

Comments on the proposed rule must be received by Feb. 5 through the federal eRulemaking portal.

On June 26, 2020, then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on agencies to stop using educational qualifications as a means of determining a job applicant’s viability for an open position and instead transition to broader assessment capabilities.

The order required agencies to have job applicants pass other assessment hurdles besides the simple self-assessment and to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their assessment strategies. Agencies were required to make new job listings available within 180 days of that order.

OPM initially extended the EO implementation until Dec. 31, 2021, and this new extension provides agencies with an additional year to reach full compliance.

“By May 30, 2022, agencies need to comply with these requirements in at least 50% of the instances in which they assess individuals for jobs,” Ahuja wrote. “By December 31, 2022, they should be at full compliance. OPM will work with your agency assessment leads and hold quarterly meetings to check on your progress.”

According to the federal hiring assessment dashboard, 97% of competitive, open-to-the-public job announcements relied exclusively on a self-assessment to determine whether an applicant was eligible for the position. Of those listings, 53% resulted in a hiring manager moving forward to make a selection.

Using both a self assessment and an off-the-shelf competency assessment fared slightly better, with a 57% selection rate.

The most successful method, and also the most drastically under-used at just 12 job listings, was the use of subject matter experts to review assessments, interviews and resumes, which resulted in a 100% selection rate.

OPM currently uses additional assessments the most, with 54% of its job postings including more than just a self assessment. But some of the largest agencies, like the Department of Defense, use additional assessments for just 1% of their job listings.

That strong encouragement should last through the end of January 2022 and includes a maximization of virtual meetings and a total ban on unofficial visitors to the worksite. The agency will also remove food court seating as of Jan. 3.

“We have seen an increase in coronavirus disease 2019 and positive test results in the National Capitol Region in recent weeks,” Donley wrote. “Additional mitigation measures will be implemented on the Pentagon Reservation to protect the workforce and our support to the no-fail mission of the Department of Defense. We will continually assess health protection measures and will update this guidance, as appropriate.”

The Pentagon did not change its health protection condition status, which currently sits at Bravo+. The agency’s most severe classification is HPCON D, while HPCON A represents limited spread of the virus.

The HPCON B+ designation represents a level of community spread that does not quite warrant moving up to the HPCON C level, but requires more stringent attention than a standard HPCON B status.

“While the Pentagon Reservation remains at HPCON Bravo+, organizations are expected to maintain occupancy rates at less than 40% of normal occupancy, subject to the exceptions approved by my office,” Donley wrote. “Effectively immediately, all previously approved exceptions for occupancy limits over 60% are now capped at 60%, through the end of January 2022, in order to protect the workforce and preserve mission effectiveness.”

Cases of COVID-19 in Washington have skyrocketed in recent weeks, with the city hitting a record daily case rate of 273.6 cases per every 100,000 members of the population as of Dec. 25. Substantial community spread in the city is classified at 16 cases per 100,000 members of the population.

The highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 has driven a surge in cases across the U.S., with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that the variant made up approximately 58.6% of all new cases during the week leading up to Christmas.

Traditionally, federal employees are given the first day of the year off work, but that day falls on a weekend for 2022, during which most feds already have the day off. When federal holidays fall on a Saturday, the Office of Personnel Management instead moves the holiday to Friday for pay and leave purposes. When federal holidays fall on a Sunday, OPM generally designates the following Monday off work.

“All full-time employees, including those on flexible or compressed work schedules, are entitled to an ‘in lieu of’ holiday when a holiday falls on the employee’s nonworkday,” the OPM fact sheet on federal holidays states.

“Part-time employees are not entitled to an ‘in lieu of’ holiday. If an agency’s office or facility is closed due to an ‘in lieu of’ holiday for full-time employees, the agency may grant paid excused absence to part-time employees who are otherwise scheduled to work on that day.”

Most feds therefore have the day off work Friday, and those employees that are needed to work that day are generally entitled to holiday premium pay.

“Holiday premium pay is equal to an employee’s rate of basic pay. Employees who are required to work on a holiday receive their rate of basic pay, plus holiday premium pay, for each hour of holiday work — i.e., double or 200 percent of their rate of basic pay,” the fact sheet states.

“Employees who are required to perform any work during basic (non-overtime) holiday hours are entitled to a minimum of 2 hours of holiday premium pay.”

This increase is on par with the basic pay adjustment granted to military servicemembers under the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

In tandem with the order, the Office of Personnel Management released the new pay tables for 2022, which detail the pay amounts for each grade, step and locality.

Employees under the Senior Executive Service, Senior Level or Scientific and Professional classification will have a new minimum pay of $135,468 in 2022, meaning any employee under those systems that currently makes less than that must have their pay increased to meet the minimum by Jan. 2.

For SES employees, any other raises in pay are based on individual performance as based on the agency’s performance management system.

SL and ST positions receive a pay adjustment based on what the agency head considers appropriate for that year each time the General Schedule is adjusted. This appropriate adjustment can be zero in some years.

All SES, SL and ST positions have a new maximum rate of basic pay of $203,700 for employees under a certified performance appraisal system and at $187,300 for those not under a certified appraisal system.

Administrative law judges will also receive a 2.2% basic pay increase, rounded to the nearest $100, and administrative appeals judges minimum pay is set at the same rate as an ALJ at level AL-3, which starts at $136,651.

The executive schedule basic rates of pay are also increased by 2.2% rounded to the nearest $100.

“It’s important to note that this pay raise was calculated based on the annual change in private sector wages and salaries a year ago, well before current inflation woes. That means feds will see more in their paychecks but get less for their money next year,” said National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association President Ken Thomas in a statement.

“It will be crucial that the Biden administration adhere to the same method of determining increases in the next year, so the 2023 pay raise reflects recent changes in wage inflation.”

The Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program offers a 10- to 12-week internship at either the Department of Commerce or the Department of Transportation, a $4,000 stipend and additional professional development sessions.

The program will accept 200 students for summer 2022 and another 200 for summer 2023.

“Our government needs new skills, perspectives and innovative approaches to confront our country’s challenges, but it is struggling to recruit young talent,” said Max Stier, the partnership’s chief executive, in a news release. “It is essential that we encourage a broader interest in public service careers, harness the immense potential of a new generation to serve their country and facilitate the growth and learning of these individuals.”

The federal government has recently undertaken several initiatives to increase federal internship numbers, as the federal workforce has too few young workers to fill the gaps of those about to retire. Paid internships, in particular, have become a top priority, so that access to federal experience is not limited to those that can afford to work without pay.

“We must reinvigorate our governing bodies by finding and investing in young talent committed to serving others,” said Schmidt Futures CEO Eric Braverman. “I’m excited by the promise of this new program to give the leaders of tomorrow the opportunities they need today to help solve our greatest challenges.”

Applicants must be U.S. citizens; be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at sophomore level and above or a graduate program; have at least a 3.0 GPA; and be interested in a career in mission support, STEM, public policy or liberal arts.

Most opportunities will be offered in the Washington, D.C. area, though telework flexibility will be determined by each agency, particularly in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Applicants will be required to submit proof of vaccination at the finalist stage of the process.

Interested students for the 2022 program will have to submit applications by Jan. 14, 2022, and the consideration process will take place through February and March. The internships themselves will take place from May to early August 2022.

In most years, feds are only guaranteed paid time off on Christmas day, and the option to dismiss feds a day or a few hours early before the holiday is left up to the president.

In the last decade, the sitting president has signed an executive order in five of those years to grant time off for Christmas Eve: in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015 and 2012. President Barack Obama also signed an executive order in 2014 to grant feds a holiday on the day after Christmas.

In most circumstances, an additional day off is given when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, and the president decides to prevent employees from having to come in to work for only a single day, before going back to time off.

Christmas Day fell on a Saturday in 1999, 2004 and 2010, and none of the sitting presidents at those times opted to grant feds an additional day off prior to the guaranteed Friday Christmas Eve.

Original language in the House version of the bill would have granted federal employees the opportunity to use the recently authorized paid parental leave — which covers 12 weeks of time away from work — to grieve the death of a child. But the conference between both chambers of Congress resulted in a separate bereavement entitlement that covers only two weeks.

The Office of Personnel Management will also be required to conduct a study of remote site pay allowances — which provide additional funds to feds assigned to work in places “so remote from the nearest established communities or suitable places of residence as to require an appreciable degree of expense, hardship and inconvenience,” according to U.S. Code. OPM will also have to make recommendations for any alterations to such allowances.

Beyond impacts to the overall federal workforce, the bill also contains provisions that will affect employees at the Defense Department. Beginning in 2023, new civilian employees at the DoD will receive a one-year probationary period, rather than a two-year time frame, putting them on par with the probationary standard for the rest of the federal government.

The legislation will also ensure defense civilian jobs remain government jobs by requiring senior officials to sign off on new contracts to certify that they comply with existing prohibitions against transitioning the work of federal employees onto government contractors.

Language in the bill will also place a stronger prohibition on arbitrary personnel caps, which can require certain DoD offices to fire hardworking and useful employees in order to bring on new, essential personnel.

The DoD will also be required to report any instances of borrowed military manpower — when service members are pulled from training or operational units to fill roles normally performed by civilian employees.

The DoD will also be tasked with creating a plan for addressing sexual harassment and assault among civilian employees as well as for tracking diversity, equity and inclusion.

“This bill contains many of our top legislative priorities, including restoring the one-year probationary period for new hires in the Department of Defense and preventing the arbitrary outsourcing of civilian jobs to private contractors,” Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. “These measures will directly improve workers’ pay and job security and signify the critical role of civilian employees in serving our troops and maintaining our national defense.”

Federal firefighters, who are predominantly employed by the military branches but also have positions in the departments of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, among others, will now be able to trade shifts under the NDAA without triggering overtime pay requirements or decreasing their regular pay.

D.C. National Guard members who work at the DoD and other federal agencies will also be provided leave without loss of pay or employment when called to mobilize, correcting a drafting error that previously left them out of such protections.

The order instructs the secretary of the Treasury, the secretary of Defense, the secretary of Education and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to collaborate on streamlining the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Under that program, public servants at the federal, state, local and tribal level can have their student loans forgiven if they make consistent payments against those loans 120 times, while working in their public capacity.

That number of payments means most feds will only become eligible after 10 years of public service.

The order does not specify how exactly those agency heads should streamline the program, but the process as it exists today often requires employees to regularly submit forms to confirm they are still working for a qualified employer. Otherwise, once the employee reaches the 120-payment threshold, they will have to submit additional documentation for any covered employer they worked for but did not submit a form under.

According to the federal student aid site, those who do not submit regular forms are likely in for a longer processing time, once they apply for full forgiveness.

The executive order also instructs agencies to integrate customer service needs and improvements into their human capital management and senior official performance reviews, though it again does not specify how such integration should take place.

The order calls on agencies like the Social Security Administration to develop ways for applicants to submit their paperwork online, such as by removing requirements for in-person signatures.

Such changes could ultimately affect agency telework and remote work plans, as fewer essential services require in-person staff to accomplish.

For SSA in particular, this could have a notable impact on an agency that has recently remained hesitant about expanded telework, due to customer expectations for expedient in-person service.

The hiring authority, initially approved March 20, 2020, enables agencies to directly hire to a position at any grade level for one year — with an optional one-year extension — without going through the normal competitive process, so long as that position is essential for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authority was extended March 29 of this year to last to the end of 2021, but OPM’s second extension means agencies have until June 30, 2022, to make use of it.

“OPM understands that during this time, agencies need more tools to conduct strategic, targeted hiring for specific, short-term roles to meet mission and/or hiring needs,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja wrote in a memo to agency heads. “No new appointments may be made under this authority after June 30, 2022, or upon termination of this public health emergency, whichever comes first.”

According to an October report from the Government Accountability Office, approximately 2,000 new federal employees were brought into government under the first year of the Schedule A authority, and OPM authorizations proved a much more popular option for hiring than those granted by Congress.