December 2002
"NEWS
BITE"
Honolulu-Pacific
Federal Executive Board
RECORDS MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Do all of the employees
in your office know what their records management responsibilities are?
Do they know how long to keep records? Or how to determine whether
their e-mail is a federal record?
The National Archives
and Records Administration (NARA) Pacific Alaska Region will be offering
Basic Records Operations training in Honolulu on Tuesday, January
28, 2003, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The workshop is designed
to help Federal agency staff properly manage both paper and electronic
records. The workshop covers Federal records management laws,
NARA regulations and agency records retention schedules. Registration
is $125 for this full-day workshop.
A Transfer and Reference
Services training session will be offered on Wednesday, January 29,
2003, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This free one-half day
workshop provides instructions for retiring records to NARA’s Pacific
Alaska Region record center and reference service procedures for records
in storage.
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Would you like someone
from NARA to discuss records management at a one or two-hour staff meeting
or management briefing? NARA officials will be available on
January 30 to 31 to conduct briefings/staff meetings that will discuss
the records management issues that are most important to your office.
There is no cost for these briefings.
For workshop registration
or further information on scheduling a records management briefing,
contact Mary Olson at the NARA/Pacific Alaska Region 206-526-6501.
Registration instruc-tions and information are also available at www.archives.gov/records_management/training/training.html.
2003 EXCELLENCE IN FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AWARDS LUNCHEON
The FEB recently issued
the nomination guidelines for the 2003 Excellence in Federal Government
Awards luncheon. The guidelines were emailed to agencies and posted
on the FEB website at www.honolulu-pacific.feb.gov.
One change this year
is that the Military Officer and Enlisted Service Member of the Year
categories will be expanded to both large (301 and over employees) and
small commands (300 or less employees).
Mark your calendars…the
awards luncheon will be held on May 7, 2003, at the Sheraton
Waikiki Hotel.
IRS NEEDS COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
The Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) has a Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that
has been providing free income tax preparation assistance in the community
for over 25 years. The program is sponsored by organizations that
rely upon volunteers to help prepare federal and state income tax returns
for those in need.
The IRS, State of Hawaii,
Department of Taxation and trained sponsors provide volunteers free
training on how to prepare basic individual income tax returns and,
in some cases, how to file them electronically. Instruction will
cover both federal and state tax returns. All materials and training
are provided at no cost to the volunteer.
Anyone can be a volunteer
and federal employees make excellent volunteers! Volunteers
receive double benefits—tax law knowledge and an opportunity to provide
worthwhile community service. The IRS will provide a Certificate
of Recognition honoring your community service.
Volunteer services are
only needed from February through the middle of April and training is
usually provided in December and January. It is a short-term commitment
for a worthy cause.
If you would like to
volunteer or your organization would like information about starting
a volunteer program in your community, please call the IRS at 539-1503.
AS A SUPERVISOR OR MANAGER, HOW CAN I GET
THE
MOST FROM THE GOV ONLINE LEARNING CENTER?
The Gov Online Learning
Center (with current and future modules) at www.golearn.gov contains a wide array of e-training courses
that are of high and common interest across government. (This
website is a product of the Office of Personnel Management and is provided
free of charge to federal employees.) As a first step, you should
become familiar with the training courses and services available on
the Gov Online Learning Center. Then, as with all training, it
is important to:
Determine your employees’
training needs
Evaluate if e-training (online
web-based training) is an appropriate venue (e.g., some people do not
learn most effectively online or will need guidance to learn online
effectively; or the subject matter or phase of learning necessitates
instructor interaction).
Assess the resources available
on the Gov Online Learning Center and how they can meet your employee
training needs.
Provide the necessary resources
to employees to complete their needed training (e.g., time, computer,
Internet access, etc.).
Upon completion of training,
assess your employee’s performance, reinforce the training through
guidance and/or application and determine need for additional or follow-up
training.
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E-training can be effective
alone or in combination with other forms of training, such as on-the-job
or classroom training. As with any kind of training, e-training
will be most effective when time is given to learn and to apply on the
job. By taking an e-training course yourself, you can support
this opportunity for training based on your own experience. Visit www.golearn.gov to begin your E-training experience.
GSA RELEASES 2003 PER DIEM RATES
The General Services
Administration announced the 2003 federal per diem rates, leaving most
lodging rates unchanged from this year.
The new rates for official
business travel by federal employees took effect October 1 and can be
downloaded from www.gsa.gov.
GSA’s Office of Governmentwide
Policy decided to hold most lodging rates at fiscal year 2002 levels
and to maintain the standard continental U.S. (CONUS) rate of $55 for
lodging and $30 for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE).
GSA established the standard CONUS per diem rate for all cities not
specifically shown in per diem rate listings.
But M&IE rates increased
in more than 400 cities, and a new $50 M&IE rate was created for
San Diego; San Francisco; Palo Alto; San Jose; Los Angeles; Detroit;
Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago; St. Louis; Manhattan; Cincinnati; Philadelphia;
Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
GSA is continuing to
expand its Federal Premier Lodging Program which seeks to guarantee
that a certain number of rooms are available within the per diem rate
in specific geographical areas. Before the program was launched,
there was no guarantee that rooms would be available at the federal
rate.
GSA plans to have contracts
in all of the top 75 travel destinations by the end of 2002.
FEDERAL PAY AND BENEFITS 101: BASIC
FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
This “just published”
FREE special report contains the basic facts about your federal pay
and benefits you need to know to ensure a successful career in the federal
government. Every federal employee should print out this informative
report and keep it handy at all times. It contains brief, concise
(and the absolute latest) facts about your:
Pay
Other Forms of Compensation
Leave
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance
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Retirement
Thrift Savings Plan
You can download this special FREE report
at www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/default.asp by going to the upper left-hand corner of the
page.
The
“News Bite” is published by the:
Honolulu-Pacific Federal
Executive Board, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Box 50268, Honolulu, Hawaii
96850, telephone
808-541-2637.
CHANGE IN FEB E-MAIL ADDRESSES
The FEB recently changed
our office e-mail addresses. The new addresses are:
L.A. Burke – laburke@hpfeb.org
Gerry Reese – gareese@hpfeb.org
Please make sure you
send all e-mails to the new addresses.
TRAVEL INFORMATION YOU CAN USE
Starting November 4,
2002, the standard personal exemption (the total value of merchandise
travelers may bring back to the United States without having to pay
travel duty) increased from $400 to $800.
The duty-free exemption
applies if:
Items are for your personal
or household use.
Items are in your possession
when you return to the United States. Items sent later may not
be included in your $800 duty-free exemption.
Items are declared to Customs.
If you do not declare all items that you obtained during your trip,
you risk forfeiting them.
You are returning from an
overseas stay of at least 48 hours.
You have not used your exemption,
or any part of it, in the past 30 days. If you use part of your
exemption, you must wait another 30 days before you are allowed another
$800 exemption.
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Family members who live
in the same home and return together to the United States may combine
their standard personal exemptions. Children and infants are allowed
the same exemption as adults, except for alcoholic beverages and tobacco
products.
Only 1 liter of alcohol
and 200 cigarettes or 100 cigars may be included in this exemption.
Items purchased in “Duty Free” shops are subject to duty if the
value of your total purchase exceeds $800.
Visit the U.S. Customs
Service web site at http://www.customs.gov/travel/travel.htm for more information.
TO FIND OR GIVE HELP, CALL 2-1-1
We all know to dial 911
in an emergency, but who do you call when you don’t know where to
turn for health and human services? The answer is 2-1-1.
Aloha United Way information
and referral specialists answer approximately 4,000 calls to 211 each
month. It is a free and completely confidential service available
to everyone in Hawaii 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Especially
as we face continuing economic and international challenges, AUW wants
our federal community to know they can call 211 for help in locating
appropriate community services. The information in the 211 database
is also available online on the Aloha United Way website at www.auw.org.
For more information,
as well as flyers, posters and ads for publication in agency newsletters,
please contact Havinne Anderson, 211 program director, at 211 or via
email at havinne@auw.org.
LOOKING FOR A GREAT PLACE TO EAT?
The Officers’ Club
at Kaneohe Bay was recently renovated and officially rededicated on
October 4, 2002. The renovation is the building’s first major
facelift since its original construction in 1942. The club is
a full-service facility for private dining, meetings and catered events.
The Officers’ Club
ambience blends the Aloha spirit of the islands with the commitment
to tradition and camaraderie so important to the Marine Corps culture.
The result is a rare and unforgettable hospitality experience.
The Club boasts a breathtaking panorama of the Windward coast of Oahu.
The Officers’ Club
offers a daily luncheon menu that includes time-tested favorites, sometimes
with a local twist. The Club also serves a very popular Sunday
brunch and everyone’s favorite
Mongolian BBQ on
Wednesday and Friday
evenings. The Club offers catering menus for any event or
occasion to include, but not limited to military functions, promotions,
wedding ceremonies and receptions, anniversaries, birthdays, theme events,
cookouts, parties and holidays.
Officer’s Club membership
dues are $13 per month. You may choose to have this account set
up to bill monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. Every
month you will receive a sheet of coupons in the mail to use at the
club.
For more information
contact the following people at 254-7650:
General Manager – Greg
Heseltine
Membership Coordinator
– Lisa Penzenstadler
Catering Manager –
Araceli Tezuka
COMPUTERS FOR EDUCATION
Over the past several
weeks, the FEB received several requests from schools for donations
of computer equipment. Executive Order 12999 directs federal agencies—to
the extent permitted by law and where appropriate—to transfer computers
and related peripheral tools determined to be excess to the needs of
the agency directly to schools and nonprofit educational organizations.
The order also encourages federal employees to volunteer their time
and expertise to assist teachers and to connect classrooms
Please contact the FEB
at 541-2637 for additional information or to donate computer equipment.
THE
STAFF OF THE HONOLULU-PACIFIC
FEDERAL
EXECUTIVE BOARD WISHES YOU
A
JOYFUL AND PEACEFUL HOLIDAY SEASON.