Under the directive, government entities may hire individuals that meet job qualification requirements directly, forgoing the traditional competitive and time-consuming application process. Appointments last for as long as one year and may be extended for additional 12 months. Any positions needed in direct response to the effects to the effects of COVID-19 may be filled under this authority.

“OPM has determined that the continued use of this special authority is justified, as agencies have ongoing responsibilities directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” it said in a memo released June 27.

The office manages the civil service of the federal government, coordinating recruitment recruiting of federal workers and managing their health insurance and retirement benefit programs. The pandemic hiring authority was first implemented in March 2020 and has been repeatedly extended.

If the new deadline is not extended again, no new appointments may be made, though appointments made before the deadline may be extended once it passes.

“COVID-19 continues to be a serious public health emergency,” the OPM said on their website. “OPM recognizes the continued presence of this pandemic requires that agencies retain the ability to conduct strategic, targeted hiring for specific critical, short-term roles to meet mission and/or hiring needs.”

In late April, the State Department announced that the Foreign Service Officer Test would no longer serve as a mechanism to cull the ranks of applicants, but rather everyone taking the exam would progress onto the Qualifications Evaluation Panel and their test score would be factored into the evaluation.

The score an applicant earns on the FSOT will be combined with the score they receive on the Preliminary-QEP, the first of two stages, according to a State Department spokesperson. During the preliminary stage, an automated deep text analysis tool made by IBM evaluates the personal narratives which an applicant submits prior to taking the FSOT.

“This state-of-the-art analysis tool is a fast and powerful solution used in numerous industries including education, market research, healthcare, and government,” the spokesperson said. “[It] has been thoroughly validated by industrial and organizational psychologists specializing in qualifications assessment.”

The software has been in use since 2015.

Under the new system, an applicant’s FSOT score is added to the score awarded by the software. This combination is used to rank order every applicant and a percentage of the top applicants are invited to move onto the second part of the QEP. The specific percentage varies based off the predicted hiring needs of the service.

The Preliminary-QEP is the last stage in the hiring process where the FSOT score is factored in.

“Combining the FSOT scores with the preliminary QEP scores offers [the Board of Examiners] a more holistic view of a candidate,” the spokesperson said.

With this updated process, no more or less candidates will advance beyond the Preliminary-QEP stage to human assessors than in previous years under the old FSOT system, allaying concerns about a slowdown of the application process due to the influx of candidates moving forward. Every applicant is now progressing beyond the FSOT which previously served as a pass/fail gateway.

Instead of having two culling points before applicants are evaluated by a human assessor, there is now only a single point at the Preliminary-QEP. So while every applicant will now get to the preliminary stage, roughly the same number, comparable to previous cycles, will move past it.

Those applicants that do progress are then evaluated by the Assessor-Led-QEP, which is a panel of current and retired Foreign Service Officers. These assessors only receive the applicant’s personnel narratives, essay and application packet to evaluate.

“QEP panel members do not have access to any information about the candidates – not their FSOT score, not their preliminary-QEP score, not their racial or ethnic identifiers, if provided by the candidates,” the spokesperson said. “Assessors base their judgments solely off the personal narratives provided by the candidates as scored against the 13 dimensions.”

The assessors utilize numerical rubrics drawn from the “13 Dimensions” that have been designed by organizational and industrial psychologists with expertise in assessments to score the personal narratives, according to the spokesperson.

The manner in which each step in the process is scored has not changed due to the FSOT update.

“This reform supports the Secretary’s efforts to modernize American diplomacy and win the competition for talent,” the spokesperson said.

The OIG found that from 2016 to 2020, 43 overseas missions across geographic regions incurred about $77 million in questionable fuel costs due to insufficient documentation and reviews, improper acceptance procedures and fuel equipment deficiencies. A fourth theme of fuel mismanagement was redacted.

“The prevalence of the deficiencies identified across the 43 OIG reports at multiple overseas posts suggests that the Department may have unidentified vulnerabilities with fuel operations not reviewed by OIG,” it said.

The report, published in March and highlighted in the OIG’s semiannual report to Congress, comes as the U.S. struggles with soaring domestic fuel prices on the heels of an economic recovery and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline reached record levels in the past few months.

“Fuel is an essential, expendable property required for the Department’s overseas operations,” the report said. “Effective fuel management reduces the risk of fuel-related fraud, waste, and financial damage to the Department.”

The most common deficiency that lead to the monetary waste was insufficient documentation and document review of fuel usage and contracts. In one example, records in the U.S. Embassy in Iraq were missing correspondence between contract oversight personnel regarding issues with fuel quality.

“Without this information, Embassy Baghdad staff could not hold the contractor accountable, potentially wasting Government funds on low-quality fuel,” the report said. “Furthermore, OIG’s work has frequently identified deficiencies in the Department’s ability to hold contractors accountable for nonperformance and ensure that work is conducted in accordance with contract requirements

Of the questionable costs the OIG identified, $64 million was attributed to the Baghdad embassy due to embassy staff failing to ensure the fuel adhered to quality standards.

Improper implementation of fuel acceptance procedures at overseas missions was a contributing factor to this monetary waste. The report describes how embassy staff at the Baghdad post failed to require contractors to provide quality reports that would have shown the fuel was noncompliant with government standards.

Uncalibrated or missing fuel tank, pump and flow meters were also recognized by the OIG for contributing to potential excess fuel waste.

“These questioned costs represent the financial consequences for the Department as a result of fuel mismanagement,” the report said. “However, the $77 million in questioned costs do not capture the value of fuel stolen from overseas posts or other forms of fraud.”

The OIG made 156 recommendations over the four year period to State to remediate the mismanagement. The department has implemented 147 of the recommendations as of Sept. 2021 and has begun corrective actions to address the remaining nine.

“Given the deficiencies identified previously, it is not possible to determine the full extent of the financial damage the Department has incurred,” the report concluded. “Lasting changes demand continued attention.”

“No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” wrote Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio.

In the statement, Broglio pointed to concerns surrounding the moral permissibility of the vaccines, citing abortion-related tissues used in development or testing. As reported by Defense One, this is the second time Broglio released a statement providing moral guidance for vaccines. Previously, he wrote, “being vaccinated is also an act of charity to our sisters and brothers.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in late August that vaccines would be mandatory for troops. Only the Pfizer vaccine will be required, as it is the only fully FDA-licensed vaccine.

Active-duty airmen have until Nov. 2, while reservists have until Dec. 2. The Navy and Marine Corps set a Nov. 28 deadline for active-duty and Dec. 28 for reservists. The Army deadline is Dec.15 for active-duty members, but Reserve and National Guard forces have until June 30.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone over 12 years old — including people that have already had the disease.

Broglio wrote that those who choose not to get vaccinated should still take precautions to protect others.

“Those who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine must continue to act in charity for their neighbors and for the common good by undertaking means to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through wearing face coverings, social distancing, undergoing routine testing, quarantining, and remaining open to receiving a treatment should one become available that is not derived from, or tested with abortion-derived cell lines.”

The Archdiocese for the Military Services provides services on installations across the globe, claiming responsibility for more than 1.8 million people.

Federal employees are entitled to an array of benefits as part of their work for the government, including healthcare options, educational assistance and retirement benefits. The Federal Times employee benefits guide walks feds through changes to their pay, insurance options, leave entitlements and retirement benefits. Federal employees will see modest changes to their pay and benefits in 2022, with health insurance costs rising after a record-low increase in 2019 and basic pay getting an average increase under the president’s budget.

Federal Employee Salaries

The federal government operates under several different pay models, depending on the type of job and employing agency, but the General Schedule is the most prevalent. Other pay structures include law enforcement officer schedules, executive and senior-level employee tables, the Federal Wage System, Title 38 medical professionals, Foreign Service employees and Administrative Law Judges.

The Office of Personnel Management is developing guidance to ensure that more federal employees make at least $15 an hour, as part of President Joe Biden’s plan to have the government lead by example on minimum wage.

General Salary Structure

• Grade: predetermined skill level for a federal position falling between 1 and 15.
• Step: 10 pay increases within each grade determined by length of service and performance rating and recommended by managers.
• Locality: pay bumps granted to feds who live in more expensive parts of the country.

Find Your Estimated Pay:

Federal Employee Pay Raise

Each year, the president decides whether to mandate an across-the-board pay increase for federal employees. These increases can apply to both base and locality pay.

Congress can decide to:

1. Override the president’s intent by legislating a higher or lower pay increase.
2. Freeze pay for the coming year.
3. Take no action to allow the president’s recommendation.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order implementing a 2.7 percent pay increase for feds in 2022, which includes a 2.2% increase to base pay and a 0.5% increase to locality pay.

Federal Employee Retirement Benefits

The federal government operates two basic retirement systems: the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System.

• Basic Retirement Plan: operates as an annuity or set-aside fund that pays retirees on a monthly basis and is not transferable to private sector.
• Voluntary Savings Account: additional retirement savings employees under the Civil Service Retirement System may contribute to.
• Thrift Savings Plan: a 401(k)-like plan that agencies automatically contribute to and employees may optionally add to.
• Social Security: the same tax paid by private sector employees to receive government benefits.

An employee’s annuity may increase based on cost-of-living adjustments from year to year, and no employee may receive a total yearly annuity that is more than 80 percent of their high three wage average.

Air traffic controllers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, capitol police, Supreme Court police and nuclear materials couriers have special retirement provisions that alter their annuity computations slightly.

• Phased retirement: Employees whose skills are in desperate need at their agencies but who meet the retirement age requirements may end up in a phased retirement and can draw some money from their annuity while working part-time at their agency.

Federal Employee Health Insurance

Federal employees have the option to enroll in a health insurance plan under the Federal Employee Health Benefits program when they are hired or during open season, from November 8 to December 13, 2021.

• Total number of health care plans: 276
• Minimum number of plans available to each employee: 18

Explore the federal government health insurance plans.

Federal Benefits Open Season

Employees who do nothing during open season are automatically reenrolled in their current plan. They can also optionally enroll in several additional benefit plans, including dental, vision and life insurance.

• Dental plans: 23
• Vision plans: 10
• Long-Term Care Insurance Program: helps pay for long-term care needs in the event of a severe illness or age-related problems
• Health care flexible spending account: allows employees to set aside pre-taxed earnings that can be used for some medical, dental and vision expenses
• Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program: automatically enrolls new employees in the basic plan, unless they actively opt out and the government covers a third of the costs, while employees pay the remaining two-thirds. Also comes with three optional plans that offer different coverage amounts.

Average Insurance Increase in 2022:

Federal Employee Tuition Assistance

Federal employees, and in some cases family members, can access reduced tuition and academic scholarships specific to federal employees through the Federal Academic Alliance, a program designed to provide the federal workforce with in-demand skills and degrees.

For students thinking about federal service, the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program provides up to three years of financial support, covering tuition and some living expenses, in a cybersecurity undergraduate or graduate program in exchange for an equal amount of federal service.

The following 23 academic institutions offer federal employees scholarships and lower tuition:

Do federal employees get student loan forgiveness?

Federal employees can apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if they meet the following criteria:

• They work full time at a federal, state, local or tribal government or not-for-profit organization.
• Their loans were received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program or they consolidated their other loans under that program.
• They have made 120 in-full payments on their loan repayment plan while working at a qualifying employer.

The requirement for 120 payments means that feds will not be eligible for forgiveness until they have been working for the federal government or another qualifying employer for at least 10 years. During that time, feds are recommended to submit a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Form every year and when they change employers to certify that they are making qualifying payments toward forgiveness.

Federal Employee Leave

What kinds of leave do federal employees get?

• Annual leave – Federal employees accrue annual leave based on their type of employment and length of service in the federal government. Feds are entitled to use that time, subject to supervisor approval, and will receive a payout for unused leave when they exit federal service. Feds in the U.S. may have a maximum of 30 days of leave that can carry over into a new year, while feds overseas get 45 days and members of the Senior Executive Service, Senior-Level and Scientific and Professional Employees get 90 days. Agencies can advance an employee annual leave up to the amount they would accrue in a year at agency discretion. OPM.gov breaks down the annual leave policy.
• Sick Leave – Feds can use paid sick leave for personal medical needs, family care and bereavement, care for family with serious health conditions and adoption related purposes. Full time feds accrue a half day of sick leave each pay period and part-time feds accrue one hour for every 20 hours in pay status. There is no limit to how much sick leave an employee can accrue.
• Parental Leave – Full-time feds and part-time feds covered under Title 5 of U.S. Code are entitled to 12 weeks of paid parental leave each year for either the birth or placement of a new child in their family within the last 12 months. This leave is based in the unpaid leave bank established under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, meaning that if an employee takes some unpaid leave under FMLA, the availability of paid parental leave decreases by that amount.
• FMLA – The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles most feds to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a seriously ill family member, care for their own serious health condition or under certain circumstances when an employee’s family member is on or called to active duty in the military.
• Leave transfer programs – Feds are entitled to a voluntary leave transfer program and OPM may authorize an emergency leave transfer program for employees to donate their unused leave to another employee in need who has exhausted their own paid leave options.
• Credit hours and compensatory time off – Feds who volunteer for or are asked to work time beyond their normal work hours may receive paid time off in lieu of overtime pay that they can use at a later date.
• Uniformed service – A federal employee is entitled to leave without pay while their federal job is interrupted by service in the uniformed service. Disabled veterans are also entitled to leave without pay for necessary medical treatment.
• Court Leave – Feds summoned to jury duty or to serve as a witness in a case are entitled to paid time off, but must reimburse the government for any compensation they are provided during that time that is not issued for expenses like food or transportation.
• Administrative Leave – Issuance of administrative leave, which excuses an employee from work without loss of pay or charge to other leave banks, is at the sole discretion of the agency. This leave is commonly used when employees must be dismissed from duty due to an emergency, time used to vote, due to the death of a president or when an employee is undergoing a misconduct or adverse action process where the agency believes the employee should not be allowed in the workspace.

To get more news and information from Federal Times, sign up for our newsletters.

At a press conference on Wednesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said officials have seen an increase in vaccinations among department employees since senior staff mandated them for health workers in July and President Joe Biden announced a mandate for all federal workers earlier this month.

“The best way to ensure safety for our veterans is to have our personnel vaccinated,” he said. “And so our goal through this process remains to get to 100 percent. If we don’t … we’ll take the steps that we have to.”

According to information released by the department, about 280,000 Veterans Health Administration employees have confirmed to supervisors that they are fully vaccinated or received the first of the two-shot regimen.

That’s just under 74 percent of the agency, slightly more than the 70 percent vaccination rate announced by VA officials in July.

About 35,000 VHA workers have said they still have not taken any steps towards getting the vaccine, and about 65,000 more still haven’t filed needed paperwork to establish their health status. VA officials cautioned that many in that last group may already be vaccinated, but have not yet taken the formal steps to record their status with the department.

For many of the unvaccinated and the unverified employees, the deadline for completing the coronavirus vaccine protocol is the end of next week. Others in the group will have until early October because of the timing of mandate announcements by VA officials during the summer.

McDonough said some of the unvaccinated individuals may be eligible for waivers due to health or religious exemptions, and staff will spend the next few weeks sorting through those specific issues.

Employees not granted waivers who refuse after that review will be subject to “progressive discipline,” which includes counseling and other pre-dismissal interventions.

“The last thing we want to do is have to fire trained personnel,” he said. “So there will be a very clear process implemented by a supervisor and local level, the goal of which is to get people vaccinated.

“At the end of that, if they’ve still chosen to not get vaccinated, they will be separated from federal service.”

VA leaders did not have an estimate how many individuals could be fired as a result of refusals.

Employees in other VA agencies, such as the Veterans Benefits Administration and National Cemetery Administration, have similar vaccination rates but have until Nov. 22 to complete their shots, since their mandate stems from the White House order just announced earlier this month.

VA workers are eligible for up to four hours of paid leave to get the vaccine and two days of sick leave if they experience side effects from the shots.

More than 25,000 VA employees have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in America 18 months ago, including more than 5,000 since the start of July. At least 182 have died from complications related to the virus.

Across the VA health care system, more than 327,000 patients and staff have contracted the virus since March 2020, with more than 14,250 deaths.

The current window is set to close Sept. 30.

Government contractors, “are continuing to face the same ‘ready state’ workforce sustainment challenges that justified” the initial authorization of reimbursements under Section 3610 of the CARES Act, the National Defense Industrial Association and seven other groups said in the latest letter Friday to lobby top congressional leaders.

The group called for the deadline to be moved to Dec. 31, 2020, in the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

“Such an extension will support the continuity of government operations while preserving the option to assess the impact of COVID-19 on federal operations in the new fiscal year,” the letter reads.

The trade groups also asked that Congress use the next aid package to fund a request for $11 billion from the Defense Department, and a less publicized request from the intelligence community, to make reimbursements from. Defense officials have warned they cannot absorb the costs without jeopardizing modernization and readiness accounts.

Among the Washington trade groups that signed the letter: the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Center for Procurement Advocacy, Associated General Contractors of America, Computing Technology Industry Association, Intelligence and National Security Alliance, Professional Services Council and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The pandemic has created weapons program slowdowns, temporary factory closures and cash flow problems, particularly for smaller firms. The Pentagon was been working in close communication to respond to the problems, largely by making billions of dollars in advance payments to contractors.

Because the federal government has only in recent weeks released guidance for the 3610 reimbursements, and Congress has not appropriated for them, companies have held back filing applications, according to NDIA’s director of legislative policy, Kea Matory.

“Once that expiration has transpired, if you have to have a closure, you have to eat that cost, which will further damage companies already struggling to survive with all the impacts of COVID,” Matory said. “Companies need this money and they need the extension.”

To pin it on, eligible troops must have been activated after Jan. 31, according to the memo, but an area of mobilization is not specified, as long as the mission was in direct response to COVID-19.

“Award authorities determine which operations and/or activities are deemed to be humanitarian in nature based off of HSM award criteria,” says the memo, signed by Matthew Donovan, defense under secretary for personnel and readiness.

Active duty, reserve and National Guard members serving under federal orders will have their awards approved by their service secretaries, according to the memo. Those serving on state orders will be approved by the National Guard Bureau chief, an Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel.

However, service members are not automatically eligible for both, the memo says, “based on the same activities, deployment, and/or period of time.”

That is to say, it’s one or the other, unless a particular member has been mobilized twice.

For the AFSM, a service member needs to have spent at least 30 days on COVID-19 response ― not necessarily consecutively ― after an activation specifically for the effort, or after being reassigned from a primary duty to support it.

That time requirement knocks down to just one day on-the-job if the service member contracted COVID-19 as a result.

More than 45,000 National Guardsmen alone activated in all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia, in addition to reservists and active-duty medical personnel who manned the hospital ships Mercy and Comfort, as well as working in civilian hospitals.

More than 2,000 National Guardsmen have been diagnosed with COVID-19, though the bureau has not been separately tracking cases in those who have mobilized, spokesman Master Sgt. Mike Houk told Military Times.

Currently 1,021 of those cases are active, he said.