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Federal government hiring more vets

December 16, 2007 12:36 am

THE OFFICE of Per- sonnel Management recently released a report showing a modest increase in the number of veterans working in the federal government.

OPM reported increases in both the number of veterans employed and new hires since fiscal 2005 began on Oct. 1, 2004.

The number of veterans in the federal work force increased by 1,711--from 456,254 in 2005 to 457,965 in 2006. The number of disabled veterans in the work force increased from 92,642 to 97,828 during the same time period.

The number of newly hired veterans increased from 48,257 to 50,108. This represented 22.1 percent of all new federal workers hired--the highest percentage in four years.

When comparing the federal government with the private sector, OPM found that Uncle Sam employs more than twice the percentage of all veterans, twice the percentage of Vietnam-era veterans, and six times the percentage of disabled veterans.

Everyone should applaud OPM's recent efforts to enhance veteran recruitment through its Veterans' Outreach Offices.

In other recruitment news, OPM is touting the continued success of its USAJOBS Web site. From October 2006 to September 2007, OPM reported a record 94,324,604 visitors to the Web-based job site, with more than 1 billion page hits. In the 2008 fiscal year, which just began, visitors to USAJOBS are running a record 10,000,000 a month.

If you would like to see what jobs and career options may be available for you in federal service, just go to USAJOBS at usajobs.gov. Good luck!

Awards for excellence

Congratulations go to federal agencies recently recognized for their managerial excellence. The Presidential Award for Management Excellence is the highest managerial award given to government agencies.

This year's awards went to the Environmental Protection Agency for overall management; the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture and the General Services Administration for agency-wide performance in government-wide management initiatives; and the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development for their innovative and exemplary practices.

Tax benefits

In 2006, Congress extended to retired public safety officers the ability to pay health insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars. Active federal employees have enjoyed this benefit for years.

If you are a retired federal public safety officer, you can exclude up to $3,000 for health or long-term-care insurance paid to the carrier from your annuity. This amount can be deducted from the taxable portion of your annuity on line 16b of IRS Form 1040 or lines on 1040A or 1040NR. OPM will advise you on the amount you paid for these premiums on Form 1099.

Open season confusion

My previous column on the Open Season for Federal Insurance Benefits indicated that the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program was participating in this year's event.

Unfortunately, I misunderstood OPM's Web page and an alert reader advised me of my error. To anyone who may have attempted to join FEGLI and been rebuffed, I regret any inconvenience.

In closing, by now everyone should know that the president has declared Monday, Dec. 24, a holiday for the federal work force. I hope everyone takes this extra day off to spend time with family, loved ones and friends.