December 2022 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Winding Down 2022
FELTG Readers,
It’s been quite a year. While the pandemic is still lingering, we’ve at least started to see what the new “normal” life looks like. We’ve connected with you a lot on virtual training (it’s nice to have moved past all the 2020 tech issues, isn’t it?), but have also been able to see many of you again in person this year – a highlight for sure. We’ve gotten your email questions, read your LinkedIn comments, your Zoom chats, your class feedback – and we appreciate it all.
I hope as the year winds down that you find time to relax, celebrate the holidays if that’s your thing, travel if you want to, stay home if that sounds better, take a few days off work – or go into the office when it’s quiet, which I know some of you like to do.
Thanks for a fantastic year, and we can’t wait to see you in 2023. But we’re not done just yet – check out the inside of this newsletter for information on remaining 2022 events.
In the final newsletter this year, we discuss due process, the FLRA, workplace antisemitism, strategic planning, and more.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
Due Process Lessons From Three New MSPB Cases
By Deborah Hopkins, December 6, 2022 As we continue MSPB Law Week (next held March 27-31), I thought I’d share a few of the new Board’s decisions on appellant allegations of due process violations. From my read, the Board seems to be closely following four decades of...
3 Reasons Why Member Grundmann is Optimistic About FLRA’s Future
By Dan Gephart, December 6, 2022 As she nears completion of the first six months of her tenure as a Federal Labor Relations Authority member, Susan Tsui Grundmann is very optimistic about the agency. We caught up with Member Grundmann a couple of times over the past...
No Need to Cringe: Make Strategic Planning Your Friend
By Scott Boehm, December 6, 2022 Every office is required to develop a strategic plan. Yet, when most people hear the words “strategic planning,” they tend to cringe. I felt the same way in 2005 when our staff conducted its first strategic planning process. I didn't...
Your Agency’s DEIA Strategy Should Address Workplace Antisemitism
By Dan Gephart, December 6, 2022 Five years ago, it was young men carrying torches and shouting “Jews will not replace us” on the eve of the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Four years ago, it was a 46-year-old man killing 11 and wounding six at the...
Concerned About Employee Mental Wellness? Here are Some Solutions
By Shana Palmieri, LCSW, December 6, 2022 The ongoing impact of the pandemic is clear: There are drastic increases in the rates of anxiety and depression and a growing need for access to behavioral health treatment. Prevalence rates of anxiety and depression rose 50...
The Good News: A Letter to Santa 2022
By Ann Boehm, December 6, 2022 Dear Santa: I hope you and Mrs. Claus are doing well. Has inflation hit the North Pole? Kind of crazy how it’s hit everyone this year! Is the staff recovering from the pandemic? Any mass resignations or “quiet quitting” by the elves? I’m...
Clean Record Agreements: You Can Use Them Now, But Should You?
By Barbara Haga, December 6, 2022 With issuance of OPM’s final regulations covering Parts 315, 432, and 752 on Nov. 10, 2022 (87 FR 67765), the prohibition on clean record agreements will end. Effective Dec. 12, you are free to hide the dirty laundry to your heart’s...