[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″ el_class=”section section1″][vc_column_text]Some matters related to the federal workforce were addressed in a recent report as examples of wasteful government spending. Among them being special retirement supplement and step increases in the general schedule. The report that is released annually by senator James Lankford, Federal Fumbles Volume 4 which highlights what he believes to be inefficiency and waste in the federal government and gives suggested solutions to each of the issues.
Lankford said that he views federal fumbles as his to-do list for the upcoming year and that his office works to address as many entries from previous fumbles volumes as possible to help by not just talking about it but actually help solve the inefficiency and waste. He also added that this year’s volume would be focusing mainly on government inefficiency as well as federal tax dollars.
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Special Retirement Supplement
The SRS, a benefit under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) has been aimed at this year’s report. SRS is an additional annuity payment paid to federal retirees who qualify till the age of 62. The report says that over the next ten years the SRS will cost the government $18.7 billion. The report says “seeing as the nation is more than $22 trillion in debt it is time to bench this supplement by eliminating it for all new hires and slowly phase the perk out. We have terrific federal employees serving all over the nation, but we also have rising federal debt that we must resolve.”
Step Increases
Automatic step increases is another benefit for federal employees that is under the general schedule pay system that the report addressed. The report reads “Essentially every federal employee receives a pay increase at the end of every year when eligible. It is hard to imagine a company having 99% of its employees earning a rise. The report goes on to say that the solution to this situation is to make step increases based on merit.
Paid Administrative Leave
Another item addressed in the report that is related to federal employment is the paid administrative leave. It is defined as “an administratively authorized absence from duty without loss of pay or charge to leave” by the OPM. The report explains that this is basically paying federal employees not to work.
A GAO report which said that there were instances of some federal employees being on paid administrative leave for years while an investigation took place, was cited in the federal fumbles report. In one case it cited that an inspector general was on paid leave for two years collecting his annual salary of $186,000 while being investigated for misconduct.
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