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Washington, D.C.—The annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings demonstrate the success agencies can have in working with employee representatives to make meaningful differences in the work lives of employees. The rankings also highlight problem areas where agencies are plagued by funding, staffing or management issues.

“My message to agencies looking to improve their rankings is to work with your employee representatives to tackle real problems and make a meaningful difference,” said National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) National President Tony Reardon. “This shouldn’t be about scores or rankings. It should be about building a reputation as a place where people look forward to coming to work.”

The top-ranked Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where employees serve on Workplace Excellence Councils, works with NTEU to find ways to make the FDIC more competitive with the private sector to attract and retain workers, Reardon said.  At the Securities and Exchange Commission, the most improved midsized agency, NTEU has been successful at putting in place improvements to work life and compensation programs, he said.

“Generally speaking, agencies that have reached out to NTEU to try to improve working conditions have higher rankings, while agencies that are reluctant to work with us receive lower rankings,” said Reardon. “We also see lower rankings in agencies where budget cuts, staffing problems and resource issues are tantamount.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ranked 291 out of 305 agency sub-components, suffers from an ever-increasing workload, severe staffing shortages and internal and external challenges in hiring employees quickly enough to fill the gaps, Reardon said. NTEU successfully pushed for increased funding in the 2017 continuing resolution as a stop gap measure to deal with an influx of asylum seekers at the southwest border, but a more permanent funding solution is needed.

The Internal Revenue Service, which ranks 230 out of 305 agency subcomponents, has suffered massive budget cuts and staffing declines of more than 20,000 employees. “This is an agency of committed public servants. It’s a tragedy that the agency that collects 93 percent of all government revenue is forced to struggle with insufficient funding,” the NTEU leader said. 

Budget challenges also are an issue at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where rankings have declined over the last several years.

Ranked last among small agencies, the Federal Election Commission, has been troubled by low morale and management issues. NTEU has been urging agency management to work with the union to tackle pressing issues with little success, Reardon said.

“Rankings such as these are a tool but where the rubber meets the road is how employees are treated every day in the workplace,” Reardon said. “Even agencies with financial challenges can work with employee representatives to make employees feel valued and respected. We’re ready to talk.”

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.