Podcast appearances and mentions of nicole ogrysko

The Office of Personnel Management finally has permanent leadership after a years-long revolving door of acting directors. Kiran Ahuja is a month or two into the job. She says rebuilding the federal workforce and OPM internally is one of her biggest priorities. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joins me now with what else is on Ahuja's to-do list.

The tide is quickly shifting again on the pandemic. Masks are back inside federal buildings. And federal employees have a new vaccine policy from the White House. The Biden administration wants federal employees to either show proof of vaccination or face rigorous testing and social distancing. It's a big policy shift for the federal workforce. Here to walk us through it all is Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko.

Agencies are testing their telework programs to prepare for the possibility of a local coronavirus outbreak. But there's one portion of the federal workforce where telework is not an option. The Intelligence and National Security Alliance is looking for some reassurances from the intelligence community, that classified federal employees and contractors will be protected and will get paid if secure facilities are forced to close. For more, and why classified workers can't work from home, Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke with INSA's vice president for policy, Larry Hanauer.

The Office of Personnel Management is attempting to reassure federal employee unions: Those long-awaited paid parental leave benefits will be ready on time and as intended. The National Treasury Employees Union had raised some doubts about OPM's plans for paid parental leave. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joins me now to explain the debate and what feds might be able to expect with the new benefit.

Agencies have a lot of questions about how they're supposed handle telework, sick leave and other unexpected scenarios that seem to be popping up daily with the spread of the coronavirus. The Office of Personnel Management has brand new guidance that tackles some of these questions. And agencies are starting to ramp up other preparations. The military is preparing in multiple ways too. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione and Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain what agencies are doing, and what else they should do to prepare.

New telework policies are in place for much of the Social Security Administration. Some employees are teleworking a day or two less than before. Telework is eliminated for others. Now coronavirus concerns and the agency's response, or lack of one, are just the cherry on top for many employees. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain how telework has changed for the SSA workforce.

The Coronavirus is front and center for much of the federal workforce. That includes members of the National Treasury Employees Union. NTEU members are in Washington this week for their annual legislative conference. The union says it's up to them to keep their members safe and informed, and give employees a voice in what's become a testing moment for the federal government. NTEU says the current administration hasn't always given federal employees a chance to speak up. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko has more on the event.

Some members of Congress say the Department of Homeland Security workforce isn't as a diverse as it could be. And that DHS leadership ranks are lacking especially in diversity. The department says it's actually on par with the rest of the federal workforce, maybe a little better. DHS says the real challenge isn't necessarily recruiting and hiring a group of diverse employees, it's getting them to stick around. For more, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko.

The budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs is going up, and up. VA is asking for a 14% funding boost next year. It would be another record-high budget for the department. VA and House Republicans say the request meets an ever-growing list of health priorities and several massive IT projects. But House Democrats say the money isn't going to the right places. More now from Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko.

By all accounts, slashing the security clearance backlog by nearly 500,000 in almost two years is one of those coveted, good news government stories. Tackling the backlog while transferring the whole security clearance enterprise to the Pentagon, is another. Federal contractors say there's a lot to like about the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and how its handling its business. But cutting the backlog only tackles one piece of their security clearance challenges. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain.

Defense and intelligence agencies say 2020 is about getting their data houses in order. Both the Defense Logistics Agency and the intelligence community have big moves to the cloud coming up this year. For DLA, the cloud will kick-start a full-throated effort to adopt more artificial intelligence platforms. And for the IC, the cloud will finally bring a much-needed north star for its 17 components as a group. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke to the Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more.

The Trump administration is still making the case for a merger of the Office of Personnel Management with the General Services Administration. Even as it acknowledged it can't do much until the National Academy of Public Administration finishes a year-long study. That didn't stop the White House from requesting $70 million to pay for the OPM-GSA merger. The administration says it'll use the money to buy new IT equipment, integrate OPM systems into GSA's, and move staff. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to give some more details.

Modernizing the federal workforce has been a top priority for the Trump administration since day one. There have been some successes over the past three years. But many of them are smaller victories... achieved through administrative changes. But the Office of Personnel Management does have some bold ideas to help agencies better recruit and retain top talent. They're just tucked inside a 500-page budget document. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko dug through that document and explained her findings on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

As reported earlier, another top executive is out from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Secretary Robert Wilkie earlier this week fired James Byrne, the deputy secretary. Wilkie said he had lost confidence in Byrne, and he just didn't "gel" with the team. Or as Henry Ford II said of Lee Iaccocca, sometimes you just don't like someone. But Wilkie said it's business as usual at VA, and Byrne's departure has no impact on all the big projects that are ongoing at the department. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko had more details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Federal personnel experts have been discussing the coming retirement wave since the mid-1990s. It was supposed to happen at any moment, and with nearly one-third of the current federal workforce eligible to retire by 2022 maybe those fears are justified? But fewer federal employees retired in 2019 than in the previous year. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain why predicting that retirement wave always proves futile.

Performance metrics are king for the Veterans Benefits Administration. It's constantly trying to improve on quarterly timeliness goals for processing a wide variety of veterans claims. But it's also balancing some big long-term projects that take up valuable time and attention. VBA spent the past year finding new ways to motivate and reward its employees. Top leadership says the new methods are working. More now from Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko.

The Social Security Administration announced wide-ranging changes to its telework policy earlier this week. The details of those changes depends on the organization within SSA, and whether an employee is in a bargaining unit or what bargaining unit that is. The announcement comes after the agency canceled telework for some 12,000 operations employees and some tough criticism from Congress. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain what's new with the telework program.

The Merit Systems Protection Board hit a rather unfortunate milestone this month: Three years now without a quorum. The backlog topped 2,500 pending appeals at the end of 2019, the most in agency history. Tristan Leavitt is the general counsel and acting chief executive and administrative officer at the MSPB. He told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko about the backlog and what the agency has been able to get done over the past three years. The president's three nominees to fill the board are stuck in the Senate confirmation process. Now the delays have sparked a debate over who's to blame for the historic absences at the MSPB. Ogrysko reported those arguments have turned heated, and they illustrate a broader debate over the status quo in the civil service system. Hear the full interview on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

A 2016 law was supposed to give employees at the FBI the same whistleblower protections most other federal employees have. The FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was a bipartisan, bicameral effort. But when it came time to quickly pass the bill only a shortened version made it to the Senate floor for a vote. Attorneys and whistleblower advocates say the 2016 law gives FBI whistleblowers a few more protections, but still falls short. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the story of one FBI whistleblower who says he's still waiting for his day in court.

Big changes to the existing security clearance and vetting system are supposed to be right around the corner. Consistent automated records checks, otherwise known as continuous vetting, will completely replace those periodic re-investigations clearance holders went through once every five years or so. Industry is excited by the coming policy changes. But contractors say they want access to some of that information, especially if it might inform their own insider threat programs. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to break down the tricky policy, privacy and legal questions that government and industry are debating.

It's easy to look at the Department of Homeland Security's last-place ranking on governmentwide engagement surveys and lists and assume the worst. But DHS said that last-place score is deceiving. The department is big, and some components have been highly rated for years — or are at least making swings in the right direction. Still, the department is expanding its view of employee engagement in 2020. As Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported, DHS is focusing on its employees both on and off the job. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

About half the federal agencies managed to improve on their Best Places to Work rankings compiled by the Partnership for Public Service this past year, despite the longest-ever government shutdown. Ask small agencies how they managed to weather the shutdown and they'll say they talked to their employees about it, a lot. Michelle Brooks, the chief of staff at the Peace Corps, is a case in point. A majority of the agency's workforce was furloughed during the shutdown. Brooks told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko how the Peace Corps kept its employees informed and engaged. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

New year, same priorities for the federal workforce. The Trump administration in 2020 is trying to finish much of what it started during previous years. The Office of Personnel Management launched a new online collective bargaining agreement database Thursday. It was a key component of President Donald Trump's 2018 executive orders on official time and collective bargaining. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more on OPM's new resources, and some of the administration's other workforce priorities for the year.

The new paid parental leave program for federal employees has been praised as a major win for the federal workforce. Lawmakers agreed to include the new benefit in this year's massive defense policy bill. Federal employees would have access to 12 weeks of paid parental leave starting in October 2020. But turns out not *all* federal employees are covered. Tens of thousands of air traffic controllers are among those who technically don't have access yet to this new benefit. Trish Gilbert is the executive vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. She spoke with Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko.

2019 was a tumultuous year for the federal workforce. It started with a 35-day government shutdown, the longest in history. And it ends with a surprise day off, the largest pay raise in a decade and a brand new benefit for federal employees. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the show to talk about the past year for the federal workforce. She says this year was defined by mixed messages on everything from telework to agency reorganizations.

Federal employees avoided a second government shutdown in 2019 after congress passed and the president signed two massive spending bills into law late last week. President Trump's signature came hours before the deadline lifted Friday at midnight. Both bills are packed with other spending and policy priorities that total some one point four trillion dollars. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the show to break down what's in the spending package for feds.

The Senior Executives Association recognized 137 high-performing federal career managers this week with Presidential Rank Awards. The winners steered groundbreaking research made new discoveries modernized their agencies' IT systems, and managed their colleagues during the longest government shutdown in US history. But characteristic of the Senior Executive Service, the award winners didn't take much time to pat themselves on the back, or to think about themselves. They're thinking about the future instead. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko had more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Paychecks for federal employees may look a little larger next year. Congress has agreed to a 3.1% pay raise for civilian federal employees. The raise is part of two major spending bills that are supposed to fund all of government through the end of fiscal 2020. Which also means a shutdown won't occur. Congress is under some tight pressure, though, to get everything done. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest details.

Federal employees are a step closer to a brand new paid parental leave benefit now that the House has passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate is supposed to consider it next week. And the president has already tweeted his support. Paid leave is the main attraction for the federal workforce, but there's a lot for civilian employees to like about this year's National Defense Authorization Act. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss what other federal workforce policies are tucked inside that 3,400-page bill.

The agreement struck in Congress earlier this week on the annual defense policy bill may have some big consequences for civilian federal employees. The bill would grant all federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave. That's a brand new benefit employee groups and lawmakers have been fighting for over the last decade. The defense policy bill also takes a definitive stance on the Trump administration's proposed merger of the Office of Personnel Management with the General Services Administration. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for all the details.

The threat of a government shutdown is two weeks away. But the government, employee unions and now the courts are still debating the last one. A federal district judge is considering whether he'll drop a series of legal challenges from the National Treasury Employees Union about employees who worked during the 35-day shutdown. The government says NTEU's case is moot because the union would have to prove the exact same circumstances of that shutdown could happen again. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain.

Disagreements over the Thrift Savings Plan and its expansion of the international fund are heating up. Two senators are taking their concerns with plans, to expand the I fund to an emerging markets benchmark, right to the president himself. That benchmark would track Chinese companies and senators say that's a problem. Meanwhile, a group of federal employee groups are telling senators to back off. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain the latest with the ongoing TSP saga, and a few other workforce developments that she's watching.

The Office of Personnel Management says it sees the Department of Health and Human Services as a model agency when it comes to employee engagement. The department says employee participation is a key to success on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The 2019 results prove the theory. Participation on the survey improved a whole 15 points on the 20-19 viewpoint survey. Blair Duncan is the HHS chief human capital officer. He told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko how HHS has approached the viewpoint survey over the past few years.

Two big missions will keep the newly renamed Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency busy over the next few months. The security clearance backlog is still important. But it's no longer priority number one since the end-goal is nearly in sight. The DCSA now focuses on the ramp-up of continuous evaluation, and the eventual transition to continuous vetting. But as Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported, the agency is also laser-focused on a second priority that's often been overlooked. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board said it's moving forward with plans to move the international fund to a new index. That index tracks Canada, dozens of emerging markets and China. The board's latest decision comes despite opposition from a bipartisan group of senators. But as Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported, the board said it purposefully made its decision with that political opposition in mind. She joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss.

It's been about a month since the injunction lifted on the president's three workforce executive orders. And the state of collective bargaining among agencies is mixed. The bottom line? The Federal Service Impasses Panel and the Federal Labor Relations Authority have been busy. Arbitrators at the FLRA have said some agencies are bargaining in bad faith. But FLRA still doesn't have a general counsel with enforcement authority over these decisions. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the show with a roundup of where some these negotiations stand.

It's that time of year — the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results are out. The survey is designed to take the pulse of employee satisfaction with their jobs, supervisors and work environments. This year, federal employees are feeling about the same as they did last year. The Office of Personnel Management said that's actually a good thing. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to break down the latest results.

More than a third of employees at the Interior Department said they had experienced some form of harassment or assault. That was three years ago, and the was a wake-up call for the department. Now Interior says it's made some serious progress. New data from the latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey showed fewer Interior employees say they've experienced harassment over the past year. And more Interior employees say they know where to go to relay concerns. As Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported, members of Congress across the aisle are also encouraged. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Lawmakers across the aisle say they're deeply disturbed by recent inspector general findings about the accountability office at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The IG said VA's Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection failed to live up to its name. It often misinterpreted its statutory mission. And the IG said it failed to protect whistleblowers, sometimes itself retaliating against VA employees. The leader of VA's accountability office said she's making changes to the organization. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko had more details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is reconsidering a decision it made two years ago about its international fund, or I fund. The Thrift Savings Plan was on track to move the I fund to a new index that tracked Canada, emerging markets and China. But a bipartisan group of senators are pushing back on that plan. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the debate and walk through some details on how participants are using the new TSP withdrawal options.

You can find a lot to complain about regarding USAJobs.gov and the federal hiring process. How about this — only half of the job postings on USAJobs for technical or IT positions actually end in a hire. And that's a waste of time for agency hiring managers. The Office of Personnel Management and U.S. Digital Service said something's wrong with this picture. They teamed up to test a new approach to hiring. The Trump administration sees promise, and urged other agencies to adopt it. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to walk listeners through the pilot.

The impeachment case has brought forward many questions about whistleblowers, inspectors general, relations with Congress and independence. A few days back a group of former intelligence community IGs posted a letter at the Project on Government Oversight to Congress expressing the IGs' support for the whistleblower process. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko caught up with one of the signatories, former National Reconnaissance Office inspector general Eric Feldman.

Veterans Affairs is launching an online marketplace in January to show off over 50 home-grown ideas best practices programs and tools that were created by VA employees. The goal is to help other VA medical centers learn and then adopt some of these practices. Ryan Vega is the executive director of the Veterans Health Administration's Innovation Ecosystem the organization is behind the marketplace.... and a two-day event in Washington this week. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke to Vega about how the VA Innovation Experience has grown over the past few years.

The Department of Homeland Security is fielding more Freedom of Information Act requests than ever. DHS and its subcomponents handle nearly half of all FOIA requests in government. The department is finally starting to find some success in whittling down the FOIA backlog and in improving processing times. But members of Congress are concerned DHS still has too many disparate FOIA processing and tracking systems. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko has the details.

Members of Congress, federal employee unions and good government groups are all remembering Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) who died yesterday morning. He leaves behind a legacy of standing up for federal employees, their pay benefits and rights. And he's remembered for several bipartisan bills that he introduced and passed as ranking member and chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko and Jory Heckman joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to look back on his legacy.

Up until three months ago federal employees who wanted to schedule a hearing or file an appeal with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had to do so entirely on paper — sometimes through the mail. EEOC brought its filing system online back in July. Bryan Burnett is the chief information officer at the agency, Carlton Haddon is the director of EEOC's Office of Federal Operations, and Nicholas Inzeo is the director of the agency's field programs. They told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko how the push to bring EEOC's federal sector filing system online is part of a broader effort to modernize the agency across the board. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

News surrounding the president's workforce executive orders hasn't stopped, even though the injunction on them lifted a few weeks ago now. The Office of Personnel Management said the EOs are in full force and instructed agencies to begin implementing them. And the White House offered more clarity late last week about how agencies still in the middle of bargaining negotiations should proceed with federal employee unions. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to walk through the details.

The federal government earned a 69 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index last year. The public in general doesn't have such a positive view of government and the services it provides as a whole. But the Partnership for Public Service and Accenture Federal Services say that might not be the whole story. Agencies are finding some success as they develop customer experience programs. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko explains how they're doing it.

The Trump administration's proposal to merge the Office of Personnel Management with the General Services Administration has been the elephant in the room at OPM for the past year. OPM employees say the proposal alone has generated debilitating uncertainty across the agency. Institutional talent has left, work has been delayed and morale has tanked. Federal News Network spoke with 10 current and former OPM employees as part of a six-month investigation. Workers fear the damage is done, regardless of what happens next with the merger. Nicole Ogrysko and Jason Miller joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss their story.

The Office of Personnel Management is out with next year's premium rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Employees and retirees will pay an average of 5.6% more toward their health care premiums next year. That's a big bump compared to last year's historically low premium rate increases. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to break down just how much you'll pay next year, and what other features are coming to the FEHBP.