Welcome to the 5th Policy Report of the 2021 calendar year!

Recently issued directives:   

1.    FSM 8100- Anti-Harassment Policy (3/25/2021)
     
This directive recodes FSM 1765 to FSM 8000 and reorganizes and updates policy and direction. Revises section to include 5 U.S.C. Section 571, Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996; 5 U.S.C. Section 7901 and Departmental Regulation (DR) 4710-001, Alternative Dispute Resolution (April 5, 2006); 5 U.S.C. 552a; and 5 CFR Part 735 and DR 4070-735-001, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct.

2.    FSH 6509.11k_40_Sections 42 and 49- Safety Boot Reimbursement (3/31/2021)

Revises entire section to reflect new procedures for special exception request to process reimbursement and payment of reimbursement expenses, every three years, for a total cost of $500 to eligible employees who are required to wear fire and field-going safety boots.

3.    ID FSH 5109.34-2021 AD Pay Plan (3/31/2021)
    Sets out the revised Pay Plan for Emergency Workers (Casuals) effective April 1, 2021.

Regulatory actions:
No new regulatory actions were published from the period of 1/15/2021 to present.

Directives published for public comment:
No new directives were published for public comment from the period of 1/15/2021 to present.

Upcoming events:
Please join the Directives and Regulations branch for a 1-hour Teams webinar to learn about changes to the directive development process, procedures to make proposed directives available for public comment, and be introduced to new tools and resources designed to support the policy development process. The specific time and link for the webinar is as follows (please click on the session link to join):

• April 8th 4-5pm (ET)  

For any questions or additional information about these webinars please contact Lisa Shores (lisa.shores@usda.gov) or Miranda Galadima (Miranda.galadima@usda.gov). We look forward to your participation.