Improving Work–Life Balance for Female Civil Servants in Law Enforcement: An Exploratory Analysis of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act

In late 2019, Congress passed the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA) establishing parental leave for most federal civilian employees. The new law provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave within 12 months after the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child occurring on or after October 1, 2020. Despite its recent enactment, this study draws on survey data from 224 civil servants across 39 federal law enforcement agencies to examine the implications of FEPLA for improving work–life balance in the federal sector. Findings suggest that FEPLA will likely improve work–life balance for female civil servants. However, women may also be afraid to use FEPLA due to perceived loss of future promotional opportunities or other workplace visibilities.

A Descriptive Analysis of Pediatric Transports Throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Background The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) has over 375,000 military personnel, civilian employees, and their dependents. Routine pediatric care is available in theater, but pediatric subspecialty, surgical, and intensive care often require patient movement. Transfer is frequently performed by military air evacuation teams and intermittently augmented by civilian services. Pediatric care requires special training and equipment, yet most transports are staffed by non-pediatric specialists. We seek to describe the epidemiology of pediatric transport missions in INDOPACOM. Methods A retrospective review of all patients less than 18 years old transported within INDOPACOM and logged into the Transportation Command Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System (TRAC2ES) database from June 2008 through June 2018 was conducted. Data are reported using descriptive statistics. Patients were categorized into four age groups: neonatal (<31 days), infant (31-364 days), young children (1 to <8 years), and older children (8-17 years). Results During the study period, 687 out of 4,217 (16.3%) transports were children. Median age was 4 years (interquartile range 6 months to 8 years) and 654 patients (95.2%) were transported via military fixed-wing aircraft. There were 219 (31.9%) neonates, 162 (23.6%) infants, 133 (19.4%) young children, and 173 (25.2%) older children. Most common diagnoses encountered were respiratory, cardiac, or abdominal, although older children had a higher percentage of psychiatric diagnoses (28%). Mechanical ventilation was used in 118 (17.2%) patients, and 75 (63.6%) of these patients were neonates. Conclusions Within TRAC2ES, nearly one in six encounters were patients aged <18 years, with neonates or infants representing nearly one of three pediatric encounters. Slightly more than one in six pediatric patients required intubation for transport. The data suggest the need for appropriately trained transport teams and equipment be provided to support these missions.

Introduction

The introduction of this book explains how industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists and human resources leaders can use I/O research and best practices to understand military veterans and military families. This knowledge can help employers find, hire, and retain veterans as civilian employees in their organizations. This chapter first describes the American military as an organization, the demographics of the military, and why service members and veterans are different from other groups of individuals; it offers insight into the types of individuals who self-select into the military and then describes how the military develops the traits, skills, and competencies (including nontechnical “soft” skills) that are in high demand but short supply in the civilian labor market. In concludes with an explanation of how the military culture impacts the service members and how these elements create veteran employees who may differ in their tenure and their performance in civilian organizations.

Military Veteran Employment

Companies that can hire and retain military veterans will have a strong competitive advantage over their competitors that lack this capability. This book will help business leaders obtain that advantage. The chapters in this book draw from the research and findings from Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology and Human Resources (HR) research to describe how to find, communicate with, recruit, develop, lead, and retain military veterans and their family members as civilian employees. Unlike other books on this topic that lack evidence-based content, this book draws upon science, research, and best practices to provide guidance organizations can implement to drive their success. Topics in this book include sourcing, communications, and recruiting military veterans and their spouses; reviewing résumés to extract cross-corporate competencies; branding your organization to successfully appeal to this population; understanding and challenging your misconceptions of the military and doing the same with veterans’ misperceptions of civilian employment; addressing culture mismatches between civilian and military cultures and improving cultural communication and understanding; improving person-job-organization fit for veterans and military family members to retain them in their jobs; providing culturally sensitive mentoring and leadership; understanding the training veterans receive and their personality traits and culture—and how these can benefit your organization; hiring and retaining wounded warriors and veterans with disabilities; creating and utilizing veteran mentoring programs and affinity groups; providing effective supervision for veteran employees; supporting National Guardsmen and Reservists working as civilian employees, and retaining these employees to gain a further competitive advantage for your organization.

Supporting the National Guard and Reservists as Civilian Employees

Members of the military’s National Guard and Reserves acquire numerous competencies and technical skills through their training that could be valuable to civilian organizations. For employers seeking to hire and retain National Guardsmen and Reservists, understanding the challenges faced while managing dual employment can aid organizations that are striving to become or improve their support of employees also serving in a Reserve component. This chapter reviews distinctions between the National Guard, Reserves, and active duty before outlining legal rights of employers and service members who work for nonmilitary organizations. The chapter then provides a business case for employing National Guardsmen and Reservists while describing prominent corresponding challenges experienced by all stakeholders. It concludes with best practices for organizations striving to be military friendly to National Guardsmen and Reservists.

Homesickness: a comparative study of defense and civilian employees and individual differences

Purpose Most of the studies in the field of homesickness are confined to students; this study aims to explore the feeling of homesickness among working professionals. Also, it tends to examine individual differences in the experience of homesickness across employees of different gender, ages, experience, family type, etc. The study also aspires to compare homesickness among military and civil employees. Design/methodology/approach The study explores five dimensions of homesickness, namely, missing family, missing friend, rumination about home, feeling lonely and adjustment problems. The collected data is subjected to reliability, validity and confirmatory factor analysis. Further, t-test and analysis of variance are used to explore homesickness differences across soldiers and corporate employees. Findings The study reveals that homesickness is significantly higher for employees in the male, unmarried, nuclear family, above the age of 45 years, and below the graduation category. Also, defense people experience more homesickness than civilian employees. Originality/value This study is one of the pioneer studies that compare homesickness among defense and civilian employees. Also, variables such as type of family, the experience of employees and marital status have hardly been explored in the literature of homesickness.

„Dwójka” i miasto. Agendy polskiego wywiadu i kontrwywiadu wojskowego w międzywojennej Bydgoszczy (1920–1939)

In Bydgoszcz, with a population of just over 100,000, at least seven Polish military intelligence and counterintelligence agencies operated in the interwar period. They are discussed sequentially in the text. In total, taking into account the staff changes, several dozen officers of these services worked in the city, supported by hundreds of non-commissioned officers and civilian employees. It was a noticeable and specific professional group. Some city authorities assessed their presence in Bydgoszcz negatively, complaining and sending inspections.

Prevalence of Current and Past SARS-CoV-2 Infections among Police Employees in Poland, June–July 2020

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We aimed to determine the prevalence of current and past SARS-CoV-2 infections among police employees. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was undertaken among 5082 police employees from Mazowieckie Province, Poland. RT-PCR testing for current SARS-CoV-2 infection and serological tests (ELISA) for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM+IgA and IgG antibodies were performed. Results: All RT-PCR tests were negative. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM+IgA index was positive (>8) in 8.9% of participants, including 11.2% women and 7.7% men (p < 0.001). Equivocal IgM+IgA index (6–8) was found in 9.8% of participants, including 11.9% women and 8.7% men (p < 0.001). The IgG index was positive (>6) in 4.3% and equivocal (4–6) in 13.2% of participants. A higher odds of positive IgM+IgA index was found in women vs. men (OR: 1.742) and police officers vs. civilian employees (OR: 1.411). Participants aged ≥60 years had a higher odds of positive IgG index vs. those aged 20–29 years (OR: 3.309). Daily vaping also increased the odds of positive IgG index (OR: 2.058). Conclusions: The majority of Polish police employees are seronegative for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaping and older age (≥60 years) were associated with a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Peace missions as an element of international security

Peace missions in the modern world are inextricably linked to the political and social processes taking place in specific regions of the globe. When looking closer to the more than fifty-year history of international peacekeeping operations, it should be noted that as time passes, they undergo constant transformations. Their types, goals, and ways of implementation are changing. That is because the environment in which such operations are carried out is changing. They are also transforming the goals and priorities of local and international communities. Permanent modification is also subject to threats in the modern world. Peace missions are conducted under ever-changing social, economic, and political conditions. They must be flexible so that they can adapt to new challenges. Success is never guaranteed because the tasks related to maintaining peace are carried out in challenging conditions. The success of the peace mission depends on many factors, such as the composition of the peacekeeping mission (military personnel, police, civilian employees), logistical support, entrusted tasks and the environment in which the peace mission operates.