Brown & Goodkin

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: We will provide free consultations to any of these Secret Service Agents with FECA claims due to Coronavirus at no charge.

Veterans often end up working as federal/civilian employees once they leave active duty. At Brown & Goodkin, we are humbled with the opportunity to serve many veterans who have been injured or who have become disabled through their employment after serving our country. Today we pay special tribute to all veterans. ... Have you ever wondered the history of Veterans Day? For example, why isn’t it on a Monday like so many other federal holidays? It turns out we honor our vets on the 11th of November for a reason. If you do not know, we hope you enjoy learning a little history as we celebrate this important day together. https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

Thank you to our many postal worker clients who delivered over 100 million ballots!

To quote the owner of our firm, Our firm will represent any Secret Service Agent who has contracted COVID-19, at no charge.

Our firm will represent any Secret Service Agent who has contracted COVID-19, at no charge.

More changes ordered by a federal judge that will affect Postal Workers including overtime.

Curious to see whether this will help or hurt the thousands of Postal Workers who work tirelessly to make sure the mail is delivered on time.

On Labor Day our firm thanks the millions of federal employees who keep us safe at home and abroad, keep our mail flowing, take care of our veterans, keep our parks open, make sure our food and medications are safe and perform thousands of other unseen tasks that make our lives better. We thank the many federal unions including the AFGE, NALC, APWU, NRLCA, FLEOA, NAPFE, NARFE, and many more who fight daily for the rights of these workers to maintain safe and healthy work environments that benefit us all.

Respect to our current and former USPS clients who keep the mail moving every day.

Our many postal worker clients deserve to be treated far better than they are right now.

This is consistent with what our many clients who work for the Veterans Administration have reported.

Terrible news. We are offering free consultations with our attorneys for any Postal Workers who have contracted COVID-19.

Our concern is that this will lead to increased pressure on Postal Employees to get more work done in less time, which will lead to more stress and more injuries.

The Postal Service is a "service" not a business. Whether these changes will be implemented or are practical remains to be seen.

Have you ever called the Office of Personnel Management [OPM], trying to get a simple answer, only to find a repeated busy signal? If so, you are not alone. ... At Brown & Goodkin, we take the frustration out of the retirement process by navigating the complex legal system so you don't have to. Brown & Goodkin has handled thousands of disability retirement cases over the last 40 years. We have expertise with CSRS, FERS, and FSPS retirement programs. When Brown & Goodkin handles your disability retirement on your behalf, you can spend less time listening to busy signals and more time taking care of yourself. According to the publication 'FEDweek', OPM recognizes these deficiencies and has invested in improvements, yet the jury is still out on the success of of their efforts. *********************************************** *********************************************** FEDweek Weekly Round Up "OPM Retirement Services Program Gets Mixed Review" Published: July 9, 2020 in A new inspector general report credits OPM with making some improvements in services to retireesa function for which OPM has been much criticized for years, including previously by the IG itselfalthough it found that some customer service problems remain. The report followed up on a 2016 audit finding that annuitants using OPM’s toll-free number were encountering busy signals as well as long wait times when attempting to contact customer service and that OPM was not providing timely responses to customer inquiries. The IG said that since then, OPM’s Retirement Services branch has made a number of enhancements to its customer service function including several improvements in providing timely responses to annuitants’ inquiries such as addressing the backlog of written inquiries with the development of two new processes, which have helped to reduce the written correspondence backlog by three-fifths. OPM also has improved in annuitants’ access to its customer service via a toll-free number, the report said, including through hiring some 63 additional staff. That reduced the average wait time from about 16 to about 9 minutes. However, annuitants are still having trouble reaching a customer service specialist as there is still a large number of abandoned calls and busy signals, it added. It cited a 2018 OPM customer satisfaction survey finding 19 percent of respondents reported making calls that never were answered, down by just two points from 2015, while 8 percent said they were transferred multiple times, also down by two points. Further, the IG said that to test the responsiveness of legal administrative specialists to questions from retirees, it left voicemails with 44 of them. However, only 13 of them responded to the voicemails. Auditors added that at least we did not find any full voicemail boxes, as reported in our 2016 evaluation report. To read the report direct from FEDweek, visit: https://www.fedweek.com//opm-retirement-services-program-/

I can’t imagine not being able to put a stamp on an envelope and have a postal worker send it to someone!

Postal workers were left out of Congress’ recent Cares Act, yet postal workers are considered to be essential workers. USPS is looking at being in the red upward of 13 billion dollars this year. In an effort to salvage the receipt of the good old birthday card by mail, postal workers have dubbed today Save the Post Office Day. The head of the Montana Postal Workers Union said all that is needed to save the post office is for every household to purchase one book of stamps. We anxiously await what happens next to nearly half a million government workers across America.

Last week travelers were met with more changes through the screening lines due to new TSA procedures, but this time it was for protection from Covid-19. Some fear these changes are not enough and are not protecting the employees or the public. To date, 695 TSA employees have become sick from the coronavirus and five have died. A TSA manager from the Midwest filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, claiming he and his coworkers tried to protect th...e public, but their attempts were fruitless. If you work for a federal agency and are concerned about filing a whistleblower complaint, Brown & Goodkin can help. Please remember, you have a limited time to file these claims, so please seek legal advice from a professional quickly so you do not lose rights to any potential claim by waiting too long. Brown & Goodkin has handled multiple whistleblower claims for multiple agencies over the years. Please give us a call, contact us on the web, or send an email to: [email protected]