morale | The Contracting Education Academy

Now that the shutdown has ended, it’s business as usual again in Washington. At the Pentagon, that’s the problem. In a word: uncertainty.

“I know there are no guarantees in life, but we can’t continue to do this to our people, having them live under this cloud of uncertainty,” said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Hagel said that the shutdown harmed everything for the Defense Department from training to the trust of key allies. But instead of waking up Thursday to a normal budget cycle, Pentagon planners instead are right back to where they started before the shutdown — under the budgetary thumb of sequester and continuing resolutions that temporarily fund the government weeks or months at a time.

Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

“Morale is a huge part of this,” Hagel said. “We won’t be able to recruit good people. Good people will leave the government. They’re not going to put up with this. Good people have many options.” Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

Bob Hale, Pentagon comptroller, was blunter as usual.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/10/after-shutdown-uncertainty-still-plagues-pentagon/72158.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Saturday that most of the 400,000 civilian defense workers who were furloughed due to the government shutdown can go back to work, ending a work stoppage that the Pentagon’s top budget official criticized as “a colossal waste of time.”

“I am now directing the military departments and other DOD components to move expeditiously to identify all employees whose activities fall under these categories,” Hagel said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “I expect us to be able to significantly reduce – but not eliminate – civilian furloughs under this process. Employees can expect to hear more information from their managers starting this weekend.”

Hagel and his staff have been huddling all week to find a way to exempt more workers from furloughs after President Obama signed the Pay Our Military Act late Monday, just hours before the shutdown, that keeps uniformed personnel on the job. The law was vague and brief, but said “the Secretary concerned determines [who provides] support to members of the Armed Forces.”

“The Department of Defense consulted closely with the Department of Justice, which expressed its view that the law does not permit a blanket recall of all civilians,” Hagel said. “However, DOD and DOJ attorneys concluded that the law does allow the Department of Defense to eliminate furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/management/2013/10/hagel-orders-most-400000-furloughed-civilian-employees-back-work/71384

After the shutdown, uncertainty still plagues Pentagon

SecDef orders most furloughed civilian employees back to work

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