It found in the survey that since 1993 only 18 percent of managers reported that they had gained more flexibility to take necessary staffing actions. The Clinton administration has been trying to give agencies the tools and authority they need to tailor governmentwide rules to their own situations. OPM wants to beat that 18 percent showing by removing administrative and policy barriers and putting more personnel authority in the hands of managers. The results of OPM's efforts should be known in about two years, says the agency. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed a suit brought by five federal workers who said they had been harmed by being placed in the wrong retirement system.
Help is in the works, however.
That bill would permit those who choose to move to FERS to make retroactive contributions to the TSP fund, including agency matching contributions, as well as allowing them to capture lost TSP earnings. The Senate bill, which differs somewhat from the House version, has not yet been acted upon. The Clinton administration is expected to back the legislation but to oppose paying any lost earnings. MSPB regional and field offices, says the board, continued to process cases in an average of 108 days. In those cases that went all the way to the full board, the average completion time was about 10 months.