FederalDaily - December 20, 2007

Senate Approves Whistleblower Protection Bill

The Senate on Dec. 17 adopted by unanimous consent a bill to strengthen the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) for federal government workers, despite threats of a veto from President Bush. The bill, S. 274, plugs a government accountability loophole created last year when the Supreme Court’s Garcetti v. Ceballos decision restricted free speech rights for government workers carrying out their job duties. A similar version passed the House with a veto-proof margin. In addressing the court decision, the bill makes it clear that the WPA applies to all lawful communication of misconduct. The bill also strengthens the due process enforcement structure for WPA paper rights, and applies them to a broader set of harassment scenarios, such as security clearance actions, retaliatory investigations and gag orders, said the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a watchdog group that supported the bill. “The Senate has given a Christmas present to the taxpayers,” said Tom Devine, GAP legal director.
To see more, go to: www.whistleblower.org.

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Union Says TSA Evaluation System Unfair

A new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) performance evaluation system for the agency’s Transportation Security Officers (TSO) is inadequate and will result in lower pay for exemplary performance, said the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). In a Dec. 18 statement, AFGE said the new TSA system creates four levels or designations: “Role model,” “Exceeds,” “Achieve Plus,” and “Achieves,” in contrast to last year’s system, which only had three tiers. As a result, TSOs who qualify will receive lower payouts at each level, the union said. In 2006 for example, an individual who received the designation “Exceeds” received a 3 percent pay raise and $2,000, but under the new system, TSOs who receive an “Exceeds” rating will receive only a 2 percent raise and $1,000. The average income for a TSA employee is $30,000, said AFGE President John Gage, and TSOs already receive considerably less than other federal employees in similar jobs in law enforcement and security. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=810.

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USPS Consolidates HR Systems

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has replaced the 70 data systems it was using to keep track of its more than 700,000 employees at more than 32,000 locations with one new, consolidated human resource system—PostalPeople. Officials say the new platform, which was completed in October, will help employees and human resources managers. Employees can access HR information and apply for USPS jobs online, and supervisors can use new online management and administrative tools. PostalPeople, which is based on SAP software, replaces a system that 3,800 HR employees used and that had 200 processes to run the 70 data systems. Officials say the new system will let the agency’s HR professionals better focus their energies. USPS is touting the initiative as the largest implementation of its kind in the public or private sector. “The result is a single view of the employee that improves service to our employees, customer satisfaction and our ability to conduct business,” said Anthony Vegliante, USPS chief human resources officer and executive vice president, in a statement. From Federal Computer Week.

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