Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Network -

FMA National President Carter asks Congress to wait for evaluation of DOD's two-year probationary period before revising to one-year.

With Congress passing it every year for the last six decades, the annual defense authorization bill has become a bit of a grab-bag of sorts for members looking for a relatively easy vehicle to address other legislative priorities.

Fedweek -

The House measure would end a requirement in effect there since 2015 for a two-year probationary period for newly hired employees and return the department instead to the general policy in effect elsewhere of one year. That authority was enacted on grounds that one year is not enough to judge the performance of employees in many jobs which require specific training and on the job learning; federal unions, though, argue that it leaves employees without the full appeal rights that come with successfully completing a probationary period for too long.

Lisa Rein, The Washington Post - 

FMA Executive Director Wells anticipates many feds will not vaccinate causing disruptions to many agencies' missions.

President Biden’s sweeping mandate to vaccinate millions of federal workers and contractors against the coronavirus left officials confronting how to carry it out amid a fusillade of workplace rules that could complicate — and lengthen — the process and further upend a government struggling to return to normal.

FMA National President Craig Carter warns of "Tasking managers with standing up a public health testing structure."

Natalie Alms, FCW

Frontline agency managers and executives have questions about how they'll implement the Biden administration's vaccination and testing requirements, they said in an Aug. 25 letter to top administration officials released publicly on Thursday.

Once a month the Federal Managers Association writes a Hear It from FMA article for the FEDmanager.com newsletter. This article originally ran in the September 7, 2021 issue. -

America’s aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are arguably the best investment in human history. They allow the United States to project power to every corner of the globe, protecting sea lanes, deterring our adversaries from aggressive conflict, providing an unassailable nuclear deterrent, keeping open critical straits and canals, and enabling rapid humanitarian responses to crises. The strength of the United States Navy has been critical to ensuring relative peace around the world over more than seventy years. There is no doubt that building and maintaining nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and their escorts and support ships is expensive. However, considering ongoing threats by the Chinese over Taiwan and the broader Pacific, there are two choices available to us. Either the United States can invest in proper maintenance, modernization, and expansion for the Navy, or we can choose to save money right now. The second choice would mean we are unable to defend critical interests within the next decade.

FCW INSIDER --

Defense Department hires could get a shorter probationary period in the 2022 defense policy bill, but the Federal Managers Association has urged against it.

Hear It from FMA, FEDMANAGER.com

Locality pay exists because some areas have significantly different costs of living from others. San Francisco, for example, has a locality pay 41.4% higher than federal General Schedule base pay. This is because of the vastly higher cost of living in San Francisco compared to much of the country; while the median rent in San Francisco costs $3,035 per month, the median rent in the state of West Virginia is $727 per month.

Federal Managers Groups Largely Support Trump OPM Pick

By Erich Wagner, Government Executive

The Trump administration’s nomination of George Nesterczuk to serve as director of the Office of Personnel Management is already making waves among groups that represent federal workers.

While groups representing managers voiced varying levels of support for the announcement Wednesday, a union official was warier of the choice.