Forty Years of Defending Career Federal Executives
This year marks 40 years of the Senior Executives Association (SEA) serving as the voice of career leaders and aspiring leaders. Today, SEA is just as committed to defending merit-principles, promoting excellence in government, and ensuring adequate compensation for senior leaders as we have been since our creation in 1980. While these battles change in nature over time, their foundation remains the same: ensuring a qualified and professionalized senior leadership cadre across federal agencies is equipped to serve the American people.
Through our history, SEA has achieved a variety of legislative and administrative successes. In recent years, these victories include:
Secured Passage of Legislation to Credit FERS Employees for Unused Sick-Leave - SEA was instrumental in introducing the concept for this legislation to Rep. Moran (D-VA) and then working with Members of Congress to secure passage of this legislation.
Pushed Legislation to Allow Agencies to Reemploy Annuitants without Penalty to their Annuity - SEA worked with relevant House and Senate Committees to ensure that this legislation passed as part of the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act.
Protected Senior Executives in Whistleblower Reform Legislation - SEA worked closely with Senator Collins (R-ME) and the Administration to craft an acceptable compromise to ensure that jury trials were not included in the final version of the whistleblower reform legislation.
Ensuring SL/STs Receive 8 Hours of Annual Leave per Pay Period - Another provision pushed by SEA that brought SL/STs to the same level as the SES and allows SL/STs to accrue 8 hours of annual leave per bi-weekly pay period.
Raising the SL/ST Pay Cap - In late 2008, SEA was successful in working with Congress to pass legislation to lift the SL/ST pay cap. The pay cap for SL/STs is now at Level II for a certified agency, up from Level III of the Executive Schedule.
To learn more about SEA’s legislative victories over time, read SEA Interim President Bob Corsi’s September 2020 Action Column covering 40 years of defending good governance.
Recently, SEA has been actively working to ensure federal employees have adequate workplace flexibility and leave options during the coronavirus pandemic. This has involved both close work with lawmakers and coalitions efforts.
In July, SEA released a comprehensive report with recommendations on Transforming the Governance of Federal Human Capital Management. This report reflects SEA’s significant role in research and thought leadership in policy surrounding civil service modernization.
Finally, SEA has been critically involved in discussions surrounding the President’s recent Executive Order on Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service. SEA strongly opposes this Order and is actively working with partners, stakeholders, and lawmakers to protect the merit-based, non-partisan nature of the civil service.
As Interim President Corsi noted in a press release on the issue, “America’s nonpartisan civil service has been the envy of the free world for over a century for a reason. While it is not perfect, it is the premier alternative to a one-party state in which government services are determined by partisan affiliations. This order chooses propaganda over policy and partisanship over progress. The American people deserve better than the erosion of their federal government for partisan propaganda. They deserve a merit-based government.”
SEA looks forward to hosting our annual Leadership Summit virtually this year from Dec. 8 through Dec. 10, 2020. With the theme The Future of Government Leadership Now, SEA present a three-day virtual leadership summit designed to empower participants to take ideas about the future of work and apply them today.
Between the pandemic, the shift to fully remote work environments, changing economy and talent drivers, the ideas that drive how work and leadership will be handled in the future are being tested immediately. The Government's leaders are being challenged to meet this new work dynamic head on - which may require different ways of thinking and being.
Through evocative keynote speakers, breakout panel discussions, engaging thought leadership presentations, curated exclusive salons, and a dynamic virtual experience, the summit will provide tools, resources, and ideas to focus you around the themes of Self, People, and Systems. The summit will bring together colleagues from across government to learn and connect.
Click here to register now.
The column part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDmanager audience.
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