New! Time and Leave Guidance for the Labor Day Holiday

Labor Day, Monday, September 4th, is a Federal holiday for pay and leave purposes for all federal employees.

Full-time and part-time employees scheduled to work on Monday, September 4th are excused from duty and are entitled to holiday pay for that absence.  

• Employees on a standard or flexible schedule are provided with 8 hours of holiday pay.  
• Employees on a compressed schedule are provided holiday pay for the number of hours they would have been scheduled to work (i.e., 8, 9, 10 or 12 hours).

Full-time employees not scheduled to work on Monday, the calendar holiday, are eligible for a substitute “in-lieu-of holiday.”  For this holiday, the in-lieu-of holiday is the scheduled workday immediately preceding the Labor Day calendar holiday. For most full-time employees in this situation, the in-lieu-of holiday will therefore be observed on Friday, September 1, 2023.

Part-time and intermittent employees not scheduled for duty on September 4th are not entitled to an in-lieu-of holiday.

To record holiday time off, use the Time Reporting Code "002-Holiday Observed.”  Do not place any information into the “Additional TRC,” “Labor Code” or “Task Code” fields on the timesheet. 

Certain employees may be required to work on federal holidays. Such employees are eligible for “holiday premium pay” for up to 8 hours of holiday work under a standard or flexible schedule and up to the tour’s length (i.e., 8, 9, 10 or 12 hours) under a compressed schedule. To report holiday premium pay, use Time Reporting Code “011 - Holiday Worked.”

Please direct questions on the timesheet reporting to your local timekeeper and time administrator.

It's Not Too Early to Start Thinking About End of Year Performance Conversations

The deadline to complete and acknowledge FY23 performance appraisals and FY24 performance plans in HR Links is November 14th, 2023 for non-SES employees. Taking the time to prepare before writing your self-assessment will help you effectively reflect on your performance during the appraisal period. One thing you can start doing today is gathering relevant documents and information for the appraisal cycle throughout the year. Things to consider tracking and reviewing include:

• What work was assigned
• When work was assigned
• What instructions were given concerning the following:
  • Time requirements, if applicable
  • Cost requirements, if applicable
  • Quality requirements
  • Process requirements (i.e. steps to follow or procedure to use)
• Recognition or compliments you received from customers or co-workers
• Examples of work products that reflect your best work
• Notes on challenges you faced in the workplace, such as systems problems, lack of training, or unforeseen circumstances

Need More Info?

Check out the new Planning Performance, End of Year Performance, Giving and Receiving Feedback, and Writing Strong Accomplishment Narratives job aids!

🥝 Weekly Wellness Wrap-up 🧘 This week kicked off with a foot-grounding exercise for Mindful Monday, while Grati-Tuesday provided an opportunity to share appreciation for a peer, leader, or team at GSA. 

A new cooking demonstration was posted this week as a surprise addition for Wellness Wednesday. You won’t want to miss trying fruit salad with yogurt (external link), presented by Engagement Team member LaTanya Benson!

Thank you to all who joined Get-Together Thursday, as Mindful GSA Ambassador Monica Suber-Duffy guided the OCFO through a mindfulness exercise. The event presentation is available now. If you are interested in joining the Mindful GSA Community of Practice, you can join the Google Group.

The end of August is quickly approaching, but there are still activities planned for our final week. Submissions for the scavenger hunt will be accepted until August 30. This week’s Mindful Monday, Grati-Tuesday, and Fitness Friday activities are posted on the Wellness Month page. Please let us know how we’re doing!

👟 It’s Fitness Friday! We close out with the final two Fitness Friday videos. This workout focuses on abdominal muscles and the stretching video demonstrates a few quick stretches for office workers.

ChairWorkouts: Immediate Ab Burn (external link)

5 Best Stretches For Office Workers (external link)

Did You Know...? You — yes, YOU — Can Submit a Shout Out?

Shout outs are a great way to recognize colleagues for going above and beyond. If you've ever wondered how to submit your own kudos, here's how:

1. Open the shout outs submission form.
2. Fill out the form completely. Don't forget to include your full correspondence code (e.g., BGA or BR3B) and the correspondence code of everyone receiving a shout out.
3. Attach a photo, if you have one.
4. Submit.

It's that easy! If your shout out is received by 4 p.m. Thursday (or Wednesday when Friday is a holiday), it'll appear in the next Week in Review. Try it out today and let your colleagues know how much you appreciate them.

Don't Let the Next Lunch With a Leader Pass You By!

Sign up today to join Evan Farley for lunch on Wednesday, September 13th at noon by signing up here.

Lunches are limited to 20 people, so sign up today!

Every week we will feature OCFO colleagues who have been recognized by their peers for their great work and character. This is a quick, easy, and fun way to acknowledge and thank one another. 

To recognize one (or more) of your peers in the next Week in Review, use the OCFO Shout Outs Google Form.

Top 10 Deep Learning Software Manufacturers to Know

As AI continues to rapidly evolve, deep learning software manufactures are playing a pivotal role. Analytics Insight recently captured the top 10 deep learning software manufacturers of today, cataloging their contributions, strengths, and impact on the ever-expanding frontiers of deep learning. Get to know them!

Continuous Leadership Journey: Relationship Management and Networking

This month's CLJ provides resources for building and maintaining relationships. Check out the many great courses, videos, and additional resources aligned to this topic in the online CLJ channel: Networking & Building Relationships and take the Building Collaborative Relationships skills benchmark survey.

Updated! Upcoming Budget Line of Business Training & a Fall Virtual Forum Save the Date

(All times Eastern)

Advanced Excel 4B: Macros - Sep. 7 (1:30 p.m.)

Career Development Convo: USAJobs/Resume Best Practices - Sep. 28 (noon)

Budget Line of Business Fall 2023 Virtual Forum is Around the Corner! 

Planning for the fall 2023 virtual forum is underway! This year’s fall forum is scheduled for October 16th to the 19th. The event will be packed with insightful and skilled presenters on budget, technology, and career development. 

If you are not already subscribed to the forum newsletter, you can subscribe here.

Interested in Speaking at a Budget Line of Business Forum?

Are you an expert in Excel, Power BI, or Tableau? Do you have a dashboard to showcase, presentation on AI, innovative processes for data visualization, or meaningful ways to tell stories with data? Are there lessons-learned that you can share with the budget community?

The Budget Line of Business is looking for volunteers for future forums. If you have technical or data analytics experience and knowledge to share, contact Aisha Suresh at aishwarya.suresh@ed.gov, by August 31st to explore the opportunity further.

Updated! GSA IT Training Classes Help You Perfect Your Google Workspace Skills

Make the Most of Google Meet (August 29) - Google Meet is the standard GSA meeting tool, but are you getting the most out of your virtual meeting experience? Whether you're a meeting host or an attendee, you'll learn something new in this beginner's course.

Get to Know Google Docs (August 31, September 21) - This class will cover how to create and save a document, work more quickly with templates, navigate menus and toolbars, and set margins and more with page setup.

Google Slides: Shapes, Pics & Vids (September 6) - Learn how to wow your audience with animations and transitions; insert text, shapes, images, and videos; crop and mask, add WordArt, and more.

GSA Virtual Meeting Options (September 26) - Learn about the tools available for hosting virtual meetings, their features, and how to select the right tool for your needs.

Work Together in Google Sheets (September 28) - Learn how to share sheets with others, collaborate with others in a sheet, protect cell ranges, use cell and version history to track changes, and more.