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Higher pay, strong benefits and expanded telework must be part of the federal government’s future if it wants to recruit and retain a professional, skilled workforce.
This was NTEU’s message in testimony submitted Thursday to a House panel for the second in a series of hearings on the future of the federal workforce.
“The pandemic has proven, once and for all, the value of robust telework and remote work programs in the federal government. Any employee who has successfully teleworked through the pandemic – and there are tens of thousands of them – should be considered telework eligible from now on, post-pandemic,” said National President Tony Reardon in testimony to the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations.
Competitive pay and benefits —including strong retirement and health care benefits and paid family leave—are also critical to attracting the next generation of federal workers, Reardon said.
NTEU continues to support legislation in the House and Senate that would provide federal employees with an average 5.1 percent increase in 2023. The administration has proposed an average 4.6 percent raise next year.
A work environment that is based on merit, values its employees and engages with their representatives is also key, Reardon added.
NTEU’s testimony reiterated support for an amendment that recently passed the House that is designed to prevent any future president from unilaterally implementing a new Schedule F classification, similar to an attempt by the previous administration.
“We must ensure that this assault on the merit-based civil service cannot happen again,” Reardon said.