EVERYONE KNOWS
On June 23, the Internal Revenue Service announced an increase in the mileage reimbursement for privately owned automobiles to 58.5 cents per mile.
By law, the General Services Administration is required to review whether the higher rates will be applied to federal employees on official business.
GSA is currently conducting this mandated study, and will soon determine whether the IRS' higher rates will be available to federal workers.
It should be noted that, by law, GSA cannot exceed the standard mileage reimbursement rate established by the IRS.
As you may recall, GSA in March increased the reimbursement rate for the use of personally owned vehicles for official business to 50.5 cents a mile. This mirrored the rising cost of fuel; just 10 years ago, the reimbursement rate was 31 cents a mile.
The Office of Personnel Management this week recognized that rising fuel prices were having an adverse impact on the federal work force.
OPM urges schedule changes, more telework
In a memorandum for human-resources directors, OPM called on federal agencies to increase the use of telework and of alternative and compressed work schedules. OPM reminded them that "telework presents agencies with significant opportunities to reduce fuel consumption and traffic congestion" while reducing employee stress and conserving our natural resources.
OPM also encourages federal agencies to address the current fuel price challenge by finding alternatives to face-to-face meetings, such as conference calls, e-mail exchanges and video conferencing to eliminate the need for official travel.
Rising fuel prices and slumping economic markets appear to have taken a toll on future federal retirements. OPM recently downsized its projected retirement rates for 2008-11. Just a year ago, OPM estimated that almost 62,000 current federal workers would retire in each of these years.
With federal workers seeing declines in their Thrift Savings Plan accounts and an uncertain economic future, many appear to be choosing to stay put.
OPM's new projections show that almost 3,000 federal employees who planned to retire in the next four years will remain in the federal work force.
That's good news for those who fear that a looming baby boom retirement tsunami will hurt the delivery of essential federal services, but not-so-good news for younger federal workers looking to advance their careers.
OPM also unveiled on its Web site, opm.gov, a calendar that charts all federal holidays from 1997 to 2020. If you are really into long-range planning, you may want to check it out.
Kevin Wilkinson of Spotsylvania County is a veteran federal employee. Write him c/o Federal Feedback, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401. Or e-mail
Email: kwlknsn@yahoo.com.