May 2018 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Consider, for a moment, that you live in a land with a bunch of other proto-humans. If you have a coconut, and your neighbor wants it, he comes over, beats you up, and takes it. All the coconuts go to the biggest and meanest. Then, one day you and one of your neighbors decide that things could be better. The two of you agree that you will not beat each other up. Ah, ha! There’s our first law. And then you decide you need someone to enforce this new law to make sure that no one breaks it. You and your neighbor, and all the other neighbors who like this law, chip in a few coconut pieces (taxes) to hire Big Grunt to enforce the law. We love Grunt. Now everybody (citizens) in the newly formed community (country) get to keep most of their coconuts, while the biggest meanest folks either abide by the law or they answer to Grunt. And that, my friends, is how we got a government (Grunt). Here at FELTG, unlike some people, we are not against a Big Government. We are not necessarily advocates of a Small Government. However, we are HUGE fans of Enough Government. We want Grunt to be big enough to enforce the laws, but not so big as to insist on all of our coconuts in payment. And, that’s where FELTG fits into this proto-country. We’re here to teach Grunt (you readers) how the laws work so that they can be enforced efficiently and with accountability. Come to our seminars. Learn what you need to know to earn your fair share of the coconuts.
Room for Improvement at MSPB
By William Wiley, May 16, 2018 As many of you readers know, MSPB has been under a heavy workload for many years, with decisions sometimes taking too many months (and even years) to get out. We’ve written in this space before as to how the Board could streamline its...
Final Agency WHAT?
By Deborah Hopkins, May 16, 2018 Remember in grade school, learning about homonyms? In case you don’t remember, homonyms are words which sound alike or are spelled alike, but have different meanings. Think to, too, and two; or they’re, their and there. It’s not always...
He Said, She Said – But What Did They Say?
By Meghan Droste, May 16, 2018 We all know people who are able to make a decision right away—they can pick what to order after a quick glance at a menu, they can buy the first item they see, and they can plan a vacation on the fly. I am sure those people are lovely...
Ten Ways to Provide Bad Training
Here at FELTG, we are very fortunate to work with some of the best trainers in the business. The following guest article is written by one of them and is reprinted with the permission of the author. By Michael Vandergriff, May 16, 2018 After training managers,...
Tips from the Other Side: Developing a Record on Joint Employment
By Meghan Droste, May 16, 2018 As the regular readers of this column know, I generally represent employees, both in the federal and private sector. In my time I have also represented federal agencies, so I have seen how resources can be stretched thin at times. ...
Successful Management of Employees with PTSD in the Workplace
By Shana Palmieri, May 16, 2018 With 8 million adults experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a given year, 7-8% of adults have PTSD at some point in their lifetime, and rates as high as 20% in a given year for veterans, chances are you have employees...
Bullied by the Union – What Can You Do?
By Deborah Hopkins, May 16, 2018 Questions, we get wonderful questions from our wonderful class participants. This one combines the very contemporary issue of workplace bullying with the old-as-the-hills concept of union official robust debate: Dear FELTG, Where can I...