Federal Daily - December 18, 2009

A Half Day Off? But What Happens If…?

The grapevine being what it is, you probably found out that President Obama is giving feds a half-day off on Dec. 24 about five minutes after he signed the order.

But you may still have some questions—such as: “If I scheduled ‘use or lose’ annual leave for Dec. 24, will I forfeit a half day of that leave?” (The answer is yes, if you can’t reschedule it by the end of the leave year. [Jan. 2].)

The Office of Personnel Management this week put answers to this and other potential questions about the half-day holiday on its Web site at: www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2009/2009-22-Attachment.asp.

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Obama Signs Pay Raise Measure, Extends Ban on Private Competitions

President Obama on Dec. 16 signed a Fiscal Year 2010 omnibus spending bill that, among other things, provides a 2 percent raise for civilian federal employees. The measure allocates 1.5 percent of the 2.0 percent raise to base pay and 0.5 percent to locality pay.

The new law also extends a moratorium on new public-private competitions for federal work, bans funding for government use of private tax collectors, and requires non-DoD agencies to compile a list of contracts performed by private contractors.

The bill contains appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and other agencies.

To see more, go to: http://appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm?method=news.
view&id=6ec79f1e-cf92-489d-8af2-ab90deac394b.

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DoD Posts New Housing Allowance Rates

DoD on Dec. 16 issued new Basic Allowance for Housing rates for servicemembers, who will receive an average housing allowance increase of 2.5 percent when the new rates take effect Jan. 1.

For servicemembers with dependents, average increases in the 2010 BAH are about $37 per month. For example, a typical junior enlisted servicemember with dependents will see a $25 per month hike in their BAH; and a senior non-commissioned officer with dependents will receive about $42 more than last year, DoD said.

Total housing costs are calculated for six housing profiles (based on dwelling type and number of bedrooms) in each military housing area. BAH rates are then calculated for each pay grade, both with and without dependents. An estimated $19 billion will be paid to nearly 1 million service members in 2010.

Military homeowners need to keep in mind that the rates are based on rental data—not, DoD noted, on a homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment, which it said are not reliable measures of the economic costs of home ownership.

To see more, go to: www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13190.

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Survey Shows Bad Health Behaviors Decreasing Among Servicemembers

DoD released a new military health survey which provides a snapshot of the well-being of those serving in all branches of the armed forces, and includes for the first time those in the Coast Guard.

The report, the 2008 Survey of Health Related Behaviors, showed that respondents to the survey are generally in good health, with notable decreases over the past 28 years in the use of cigarettes and illegal drugs—and encouraging indicators of mental well being.

“The 2008 survey indicates that the U.S. Armed Forces are generally strong, healthy, and ready to accomplish their mission,” said Jack Smith, DoD acting deputy assistant secretary for clinical policy and program policy.

Military Obesity—The survey showed a notable decline (down 11 percent) in obesity for servicemembers age 20 and under, reversing a 13-year trend. There was an increase in obesity in this group from 1995 (28 percent) to 2005 (46 percent), but the 2008 figures showed a decline to 35 percent of those responding. For those age 20 and over, servicemembers who responded showed about the same level of obesity as in 2005, which generally follows trends in the larger U.S. population.

Stress—The survey also looked at stress levels reported by servicemembers, who indicated that being away from their family (23 percent) was the single most significant job stressor, followed by deployment (16 percent) and increases in work load (15 percent). Rates of reported high stress at work were lower in 2008 (27 percent of those responding) than in 2005 (32 percent), and high stress in the family was about the same in 2008 (18 percent) as in 2005 (19 percent).

To see more, go to: www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=1072.

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