Expectations about the technological abilities of federal (and all other) employees may have changed and evolved because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During quarantine, many people had to work from home and use technology from a remote location. Naturally, this may have...
Employee Discrimination
Ramifications of religious opinions about abortion in the federal workplace
Around watercoolers and in breakrooms across the country, passionate debate about abortion has exploded because of a recently leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would overrule Roe v. Wade if decided as written. Federal government workplaces are not...
Is the federal hiring system due for an overhaul?
Applying for federal jobs can be a chore. USAJOBS cites ten steps to the federal application process. And, of course, you have the exhausting work of updating and tailoring your resume to address the skills and experience the position demands. But what happens after...
How common is age discrimination in the federal workforce?
The EEOC recently released a report on age discrimination in the federal workforce. It is based on data from 2017 and offers three key takeaways: Workers age 40+ enjoy better representation in the federal workforce than in the private sector Federal employees file...
Were you wrongfully demoted?
Many employees work hard at their jobs to advance their careers and achieve personal satisfaction in their professional lives. For many employees, that advancement comes in the form of a promotion. A new job title comes with more job responsibilities and often, an...
Why was the Justice Department’s recent job posting so ironic?
As the nation’s largest employer, the federal government has often tried to lead the charge for greater workplace diversity and equity. This has led to many changes over the years. Recently, it has led to a mixed reception for a new job posting with the Justice...
Personal use of work computers: A fireable offense?
Early on in the pandemic, many workplaces chose to move to a work-from-home model. Employees who had been accustomed to working in an office exclusively had to adapt to a full-time tele-work model. No longer going into the office, those employees now had their work...
Why am I not eligible for telework?
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently released its annual report on telework. Because of delays in data gathering, the report only addressed telework through 2020. Unsurprisingly, it found a huge spike in government telework. It also found that many...
Excuse me: My denied promotion owed to managerial kindness?
A candid workplace-linked admission compels acknowledgement that COVID-19 dislocations and related life disruptions over the past year-plus have affected male and female employees in different ways. Not all of them, of course. Legions of members from both sexes have...
Effects of workplace discrimination seldom narrowly contained
“Jim” is a fellow employee at your workplace. You can see that Jim is unhappy and harboring material on-the-job stress. You don’t know exactly why that should be the case. You know Jim as a productive and willing worker, but you can see that there is some manifest and...
