Monthly Archives: September 2024

With about half of its leased office space set to expire in the next five years, the General Services Administration is wagering that workspaces shared by multiple agencies could be how federal employees return to the office. 

But a Government Accountability Office report published Wednesday that examined the GSA’s coworking pilot program said there needs to be better data illustrating its use and potential cost savings before it attempts to scale the practice.  

After emerging from the pandemic and the emergence of telework, GSA’s Public Buildings Service conducted an initiative to tackle the twin goals of developing new workspace configurations to accommodate the future of work and helping reduce the footprint of federal real property.

As part of that initiative in July 2023, GSA launched a pilot program consisting of six coworking locations nationwide that could serve all federal employees and similar coworking spaces in its own Workplace Innovation Lab at its Washington, D.C. headquarters.

GSA officials tailored the coworking spaces around agencies’ needs and other factors like transit access, building amenities, ease of use and privacy and security and continued to engage them to further modify the spaces as needed. 

Because of those efforts, GAO said that GSA properly designed the pilot around some of the leading practices it defines for success. However, the watchdog noted that for GSA hasn’t fully developed practices that would allow the pilot to further scale and track potential cost savings gains. 

While GSA does collect use and user satisfaction data on the coworking sites through surveys, officials told GAO that the data may not accurately capture the extent of the site’s usage. 

“Specifically, GSA officials told us they may be missing data on some users because GSA relies on users to scan a quick response (QR) code to check in to the space when they arrive, and not all users do so,” the report said. “GSA officials told us that while GSA staff at the coworking spaces try to manually enter information for users who have not scanned the QR code so they receive the satisfaction survey, GSA may still not be identifying all users.”

Between May 17, 2023, and Aug. 1, 2024, GSA counted “at least 924 users, from 59 federal entities, have visited federal coworking spaces at least 1,839 times,” but said there could be more unaccounted users because they may not check in with the QR code.  

While GSA officials said they planned to roll out a new reservation system that would automate the booking of coworking space, users may still not check in to it when they arrive. 

The other challenge facing the program is that GSA officials have yet to develop a system to inform how they may scale it beyond the pilot stage to new locations. 

GSA told GAO factors like agency interest could lead it to open new coworking spaces, but the watchdog noted that the agency hasn’t defined a metric to illustrate what adequate interest would be or what factors would result in closing an existing location.

“More broadly, while the pilot thus far has focused on gathering input from coworking space users, GSA has not developed scalability criteria that would enable it to assess whether a coworking service would succeed in a broader, non-pilot setting,” the report said. 

GAO pointed out that while GSA currently doesn’t charge for the use of a coworking site, to scale the program, it would plan to in the future. That would require formal policies from participating agencies on coworking space use, which GSA has yet to evaluate. 

Agency officials told the GAO that hadn’t developed the scalability criteria because they were still focusing on coworking input and cost analysis of running the spaces, but planned to once they understood the cost targets and potential agency appetite for the spaces. 

However, GAO said it would better serve GSA to weigh scalability now to better ensure success. 

“Establishing scalability criteria early in the pilot program, rather than waiting until decisions regarding pricing are complete, will better position GSA to ensure it is gathering the information needed to inform sound decisions moving forward,” the report said. “Moreover, developing well-defined scalability criteria that provide evidence to inform decisions on whether to integrate pilot activities into federal space planning would better position GSA to develop strong, defensible conclusions regarding the future of the pilot.”

Finally, while GSA has targeted cost and space savings as a long-term goal of its coworking plans, and has identified potential challenges, it doesn’t yet have a system in place to track cost savings. 

GSA officials said no system is currently in place because they didn’t expect agencies to make long-term coworking commitments while still in the pilot stage of the program, but planned to ultimately use lease cost avoidance methodology and lessons learned to develop such a system in the future.

GAO offered three recommendations, including that GSA improve its usage data, develop criteria to inform scalability and a system to track potential cost and space savings. GSA officials concurred with the recommendations and said they would create plans to implement them. 

The U.S. Capitol Police are welcoming a special security designation from the Department of Homeland Security for Jan. 6, 2025, when Congress will gather to certify the Electoral College vote count for the winner of the presidential election.

The last time Congress undertook the responsibility, a pro-Trump mob attacked the building, eventually breaking through police barricades, severely injuring officers and disrupting the process.

The rioters were spurred on by false claims from former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that he won the 2020 election when he had in fact lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were evacuated or told to shelter in place in their offices as one of the most secure buildings in the country was overrun.

Federal prosecutors have since secured convictions or plea deals for hundreds of the people who attacked law enforcement and obstructed Congress’ responsibility to certify the vote that day.

United States Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger released a written statement Thursday saying the “National Special Security Event designation will further strengthen our work to protect the Members of Congress and the legislative process.”

“The United States Capitol Police has been preparing for the January 6 count, as well as the Inauguration, for several months,” Manger added. “We have made hundreds of changes and improvements over the past three years, and we are confident that the Capitol will be safe and secure.”

National Special Security Events, or NSSEs, are somewhat expected for major events, like State of the Union speeches, presidential inaugurations and the presidential nominating conventions that the Democrats and Republicans hold every four years.

This, however, will be the first time that one has been issued for Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote.

The designation means the U.S. Secret Service will be the lead federal law enforcement agency planning security for the event, despite it being held in the U.S. Capitol, where USCP typically holds the top jurisdiction.

“National Special Security Events are events of the highest national significance,” Eric Ranaghan, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Dignitary Protective Division, said in a written statement released Wednesday. “The U.S. Secret Service, in collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”

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If a federal employee is considering filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alternative dispute resolution is a process available to them that could resolve their issue without litigation. But an August EEOC report on the federal government’s use of ADR found that agencies may not be implementing it in a way that makes complainants trust the option. 

Under ADR, a neutral entity helps parties reach agreement through techniques like mediation. It can reduce conflict, cost and delays. 

Since 2000, every agency has been required to provide its employees with access to an ADR program both during the pre-EEO complaint and formal complaint stages. 

“EEOC has always been involved with trying to prevent and resolve discrimination cases, and if conciliation, one of their processes, doesn’t work, then it often or can lead to litigation,” said Stephen Paskoff, who has been involved with EEO issues since 1974 both as a former EEOC litigator and head of a human capital consulting firm. 

A survey EEOC conducted as part of the report found that 46 out of the 72 complainants who responded felt the ADR process was not fair. In contrast, 21 of the 23 manager respondents said the opposite.  

Out of a possible survey size of about two million federal employees, only 217 responded to the survey. So EEOC did not use results to produce findings or recommendations. 

“I want to know more,” Paskoff said. “But the people may have felt that they weren’t fairly heard or fairly represented, or possibly that the mediators were siding with the respondent or government representatives rather than with them. It’s hard to tell.”

Notably, 17 complainants who responded to the survey said that retaliation after participating in ADR had caused them to consider leaving the federal workforce. 

A similar report from EEOC in fiscal 2021 found that approximately 40% of federal agencies in fiscal 2019 had incomplete ADR policies, with failing to state the timeline involved in the process being the most common issue. 

That report also found that:

• A third of agencies did not regularly self-assess their program’s effectiveness. 
• 60% of agencies do not provide ADR for sexual harassment complaints. 
• Almost 19% of agencies permitted the manager accused in the complaint to be the settlement authority and nearly a quarter did not require managers to participate in ADR.

August’s report also found that ADR was offered to and accepted by complainants significantly more during the pre-complaint than the complaint stage. 

Referencing a line in the report, Paskoff said this is “likely because during the pre-complaint phase both parties may still have an opportunity to preserve their relationships and prevent an escalation of conflict.”

EEOC recommended that: 

• Agencies ensure employees and managers receive annual training on ADR. 
• Leaders show support for the process by publicizing the agency’s ADR policy statement. 
• Agencies create a tool to collect feedback after the mediation process. 

Paskoff also pointed out that having EEO rules and guidelines aren’t enough. Agencies actually have to follow them. 

“In the work we do, one of the things that we should say is the best form of alternative dispute resolution is to resolve it before the other forms of dispute resolution are needed,” he said. “Get people to talk about it. If people are doing things that are grossly wrong, that should be called out and raised immediately, which is a cultural standard that is too often said but not embedded into organizational processes in the way things actually work.”

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th! To improve your luck on this day, some people say that you should find a four-leaf clover. It has also been said that on this day, you should wear your clothes inside out to have less chance of something bad happening.  

Although taking chances on Friday the 13th is an old superstition, one thing that you should not take a chance on is the possibility of needing long-term care. Planning for the potential need for long-term care will benefit you and your family in the following 13 ways: 

1. Peace of mind: Having a plan can help you and your family know how you would like to be cared for should you ever need help caring for yourself.  
2. Avoid financial burden: Avoid becoming a financial burden on your family by having a plan. 
3. Avoid hard decisions: Decide how you want to be cared for so that your family doesn’t have to decide for you. 
4. Protect your assets: Long-term care is expensive and can deplete your retirement assets quickly; have a plan to cover the cost should you need care. 
5. Choose the care you want: There are a variety of ways to plan that include home modifications to make aging in place an option, moving to a community that has long-term care available should it be needed, having discussions with family members who may be needed to provide care. 
6. Safeguard your retirement funds: You can protect your retirement savings by allocating a portion of your retirement budget to pay for long-term care insurance. 
7. You’ve planned to manage the challenges: Face this potential need as you would any other future need. Have a plan for the financial, personal, and emotional challenges that may arise.  
8. You’ve made a plan that will stick: Preparing a Living Will that clearly states what medical treatments you wish, or do not wish to receive if you can’t answer for yourself.  Elder law attorneys can help you create a legal framework to ensure that your medical and financial wishes are fulfilled. 
9. Understand that Medicaid, not Medicare, pays for long-term care – if you qualify: Medicaid is available only to people who meet certain financial requirements (with limits on income and assets). Medicare covers care after a hospital stay to help beneficiaries recover from an illness or an accident.   
10. Caregivers of veterans should know: You’re not alone, more than 5.5 million people serve as informal caregivers for older/disabled veterans across America. Over nine million older adults have served in the military. Veterans are often eligible for benefits within and outside the VA system. Learn about resources for veterans. 
11. Fall prevention may avoid long-term care: Falling is not a normal part of aging. You can prevent falls by doing the right exercises, making your home safer, getting regular health checkups, and more. One in four Americans age 65+ falls each year. Learn more at the National Council on Aging. 
12. Get your head out of the sand: Long-term care is needed often because of a crisis such as “mom fell,” “my wife doesn’t seem to remember me anymore,” or “dad had a stroke.” This can happen to anyone. People who need long-term care may initially stay in the home, for most there will come a time when professional help or facility care may become necessary.  
13. The cost of care is increasing: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Medicaid spending for home and community-based services totaled $105 billion in 2020, and Medicaid spending for institutional care totaled $68 billion. By 2030, that spending is expected to grow to $160 billion for HCBS and $80 billion for institutional care. Out-of-pocket spending and payments made by private long-term care insurance plans, the DoD, the VA, and state and local governments is estimated to have totaled $76 billion in 2020 and will grow to $104 billion by 2030 under current law. 

According to the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, long-term care is described as care that involves a variety of services designed to meet a person’s health or personal care needs when they can no longer perform everyday activities on their own. Many people will need long-term care at some point. However, it can be difficult to predict how much or what type of care a person might need.  

Now, if you are reading this and thinking, I am too young to worry about this, think again. There are benefits to buying long-term care insurance at a younger age. I purchased a FLTCIP policy 19 years ago, at age 47. It currently has a weekly benefit amount of $1,604.54 ($6,953/month or $229.22/day), a $1,095-day benefit period (3-years) and a 3.9% automatic compound inflation option with a maximum lifetime benefit of $250,995.90. This policy has a 90-day “elimination period,” which is the number of service days needed before being eligible for benefits paid for by the policy. It’s like a deductible. My premium is currently $89.74 per month. There have been substantial price increases since the time I purchased this policy, but I am paying less per month now than I did then. Instead of paying the higher rates, I downgraded my policy from a five-year benefit period with 5% inflation protection.   

As the FLTCIP is not currently available to new applicants, I priced a similar policy sold by Mutual of Omaha using their online long-term care premium calculator. These estimates are based on a MutualCare Secure Solution policy with a 36-month benefit multiplier, 90-day elimination period, 3% compound lifetime inflation, and partner premium allowance if applicable (the FLTCIP policies are all individual policies).  At age 66 for a married woman living in Florida, it would cost $977 / month for this policy today. Private LTC policies vary by gender and location. This same policy for someone living in Pennsylvania would cost $708/month. If I were a man in Florida, the same policy would only cost $585 / month. The FLTCIP policies were not priced by gender or state of residence.   

If you are considering this type of coverage to help you plan for the possibility of needing long-term care in the future, don’t wait too long to act. Hopefully, there will be news from OPM soon about the return of FLTCIP.