Latest news with #ScheduleA
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canucks, top prospect Tom Willander agree to 3-year, entry-level contract
After a surprisingly drawn-out negotiation, the Vancouver Canucks and Tom Willander have agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract that will begin in 2025-26, the club announced on Wednesday. Willander, 20, was drafted No. 11 by the Canucks in 2023. The right-shot Swedish defenseman had a pair of successful post-draft seasons with Boston University, which included scoring 24 points in 39 games as a sophomore in 2024-25. Advertisement Vancouver's prized defensive prospect was initially free to sign an ELC when the Terriers lost the NCAA Frozen Four championship on April 12. Top prospects who are ready to turn pro often sign quickly after their NCAA season is over, allowing them to either burn the first year of their ELC at the end of the NHL season or sign an ELC that begins the following year and sign an amateur tryout in the meantime that allows them to play AHL games. Willander's NCAA season ended so late that immediately signing an ELC and playing in Vancouver's final one or two regular-season games would have been a stretch. However, the idea of him signing an ELC that would begin in 2025-26 and logging significant minutes during Abbotsford's playoff run sounded appealing. Instead, this turned into an unusually complicated stalemate. Finally, the two sides have reached an agreement, and Willander will turn pro next season. The main point of contention in Willander's ELC negotiations was Schedule A performance bonuses. The Canucks had an internal structure for ELC bonuses that was below market value, and management seemed to be stubbornly sticking to that. Vancouver caved to some extent. According to PuckPedia, Willander has $500,000 worth of possible Schedule A bonuses in Year 1, $900,000 in Year 2 and $1 million in Year 3. That's a significant step up compared to Jonathan Lekkerimäki, whose possible Schedule A bonuses were worth $475,000 across each of the three years on his ELC. Willander will be a legitimate contender to win an NHL roster spot out of training camp next season. He plays a remarkably polished, efficient two-way game that leans more toward the defensive side. Willander was effective but a little raw and occasionally mistake-prone during his freshman NCAA season, but his second year with the Terriers was a key step forward, even if the offensive point totals don't reflect growth. The big-bodied, smooth-skating defender excelled as a go-to shutdown option, logging huge minutes in all situations. He had nothing to gain from returning to BU for a third season.
Winnipeg Free Press
06-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
A model employer no more? Disabled workers question the federal government's commitment to inclusion
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS. Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities. His job, he said, was accommodating and enriching, and he wonders if he'll ever get another one like that in the private sector. Spencer Goidel, an Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service who was notified his job would be eliminated as part of the government's efficiency cuts, stands for a portrait outside his home in Boca Raton, Fla., April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin) 'A lot of people who are disabled, they came to the federal government because it was a model employer for disabled individuals, and now they have nowhere else to go,' he told The Associated Press. The irony, he says, is that his job was to help resolve workers' harassment claims before they escalated into full-blown lawsuits against the government. So much for reducing waste, he says. A model employer for disabled workers For decades, the federal government has positioned itself as being committed to inclusive hiring and long-term retention across agencies. But as mass layoffs ripple through the federal workforce under President Donald Trump's Republican administration, disabled employees are among those being let go. Amid the firings, rollbacks of accommodation guidance for businesses and skepticism of disability inclusion practices, advocates and experts wonder if the government's status as a 'model employer' will hold true. Trump has said he ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the government because people should be hired based on work quality and merit alone. However, under Schedule A, candidates already have to be qualified for the position with or without an accommodation. They don't get a job solely because they have a disability. Disability advocates point to a slew of statements from Trump administration officials that indicate they view disabled workers as a liability to the government. Trump criticized the federal government's inclusion efforts in January when a midair collision between a plane and a helicopter near Reagan National Airport killed 67 people. Without evidence, he blamed the Federal Aviation Administration's targeted hiring of people with disabilities for the crash, saying that only 'psychologically superior' air traffic controllers should work for the agency. How the private sector responds Kelly McCullough, legal director at Disability Law Colorado, said the messaging from the Trump administration could affect how seriously the private sector takes on disability inclusion efforts. Recently, she said, the nonprofit has received an uptick in disability discrimination complaints. 'It does make me wonder, if the federal government is setting this example, challenging these ideas of inclusion that have (had) long-standing support from the government … is that trickling down?' she said. 'Is that messaging getting to employers in other contexts?' Trump also rescinded a Biden-era executive order that required federal agencies to create action plans to hire more diverse staff, including those with disabilities. The order calls diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, efforts 'illegal' and says they 'violate the text and spirit' of civil rights. The Trump administration's other actions have caused consternation, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s dismantling of the Administration for Community Living, an agency that serves disabled and aging adults. HHS officials also floated –- and walked back -– a plan to create a registry of people with autism. Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, which advocates for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, said she is concerned about the impact the massive reductions in the federal workforce will have on government services for all Americans as well as the loss of opportunities for workers with disabilities. 'I'm really worried — where are these folks going to go? Who's going to hire them?' she asked. Employment gaps for disabled people have been an issue across the federal and private sectors for years. When the Labor Department began recording disability status in its employment trends in the Current Population Survey in 2009, just 30% of disabled people between ages 16 and 64 were working at least part time. That's compared with 71% of people without a disability. Last year, employment rates for disabled people hit a record high of 38%, but the decades-old disparities still persisted: 75% of people without disabilities were employed that year. Making disability hiring a federal priority Disability hiring in the federal government became a prominent effort in the 1970s, shortly after the passing of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits disability discrimination in federal agencies. Expectations to hire disabled people expanded from there. In 2014, President Barack Obama's Democratic administration began requiring that federal contractors meet specific goals related to hiring disabled people. Three years later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated rules under the Rehabilitation Act. The new rules required federal agencies to set hiring goals for people with disabilities and create plans to help them get jobs and promotions. Anupa Iyer Geevarghese worked as a disability policy adviser at the EEOC when officials updated the regulations. She said it increased progress in ensuring that disabled people had equitable opportunities in the federal workforce. She now worries that progress will be undone as the Trump administration shows little interest in continuing inclusion efforts. 'I think, unfortunately, there are still perceptions about the knowledge, skill and abilities of people with disabilities,' she said. 'As a whole, we're still, as a community, still perceived as people who can't do their jobs, are unqualified, who are uneducated and are incapable … we thought we had combated it, but we are still fighting that fight.' Abby Tighe, a former public health adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was among thousands of federal probationary workers terminated in February. Tighe, 30, has a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, which may eventually affect her ability to walk independently. 'I really truly understand how other people who are using a chair or using some kind of assistance device might be really concerned about that next stage of employment when they can't interview and hide their disability at the same time,' she said. Laid-off federal workers with disabilities worry about the future Some also worry that disabled federal workers may have been disproportionately hurt by the terminations. Tighe and Goidel were hired through Schedule A, which allows a probationary period of up to two years. Other federal employees typically have one year of probation. Tighe suspects that if she hadn't been hired through the special hiring authority, she might still have a job, given that no one else on her team was let go. Goidel says his employment with the federal government motivated him to continue his education and pursue a master's degree in employment law. He says the decision to slash jobs at the IRS' EEO office will mean there are fewer federal workers able to investigate harassment claims and that could result in more litigation against the government. The White House is promoting its efforts to provide services for disabled individuals and veterans. In an email to The Associated Press, a White House official pointed to student loan forgiveness for completely disabled veterans and record low unemployment for people with disabilities during Trump's first term. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, also noted that a multiagency task force was created in 2018 to focus on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. HHS also announced plans for the Administration for Community Living to release more than $1 billion in funding to states to address nutrition, daily living assistance, chronic disease management and more. Goidel says he hopes the Trump administration realizes what it's losing with the layoffs. 'They're taking away people's opportunities, and they're taking away people's livelihoods,' he said. 'They're also hurting people who may need a little extra help to get over the finish line and have that upward mobility.'
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
A model employer no more? Disabled workers question the federal government's commitment to inclusion
Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS. Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities. His job, he said, was accommodating and enriching, and he wonders if he'll ever get another one like that in the private sector. 'A lot of people who are disabled, they came to the federal government because it was a model employer for disabled individuals, and now they have nowhere else to go,' he told The Associated Press. The irony, he says, is that his job was to help resolve workers' harassment claims before they escalated into full-blown lawsuits against the government. So much for reducing waste, he says. A model employer for disabled workers For decades, the federal government has positioned itself as being committed to inclusive hiring and long-term retention across agencies. But as mass layoffs ripple through the federal workforce under President Donald Trump's Republican administration, disabled employees are among those being let go. Amid the firings, rollbacks of accommodation guidance for businesses and skepticism of disability inclusion practices, advocates and experts wonder if the government's status as a 'model employer' will hold true. Trump has said he ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the government because people should be hired based on work quality and merit alone. However, under Schedule A, candidates already have to be qualified for the position with or without an accommodation. They don't get a job solely because they have a disability. Disability advocates point to a slew of statements from Trump administration officials that indicate they view disabled workers as a liability to the government. Trump criticized the federal government's inclusion efforts in January when a midair collision between a plane and a helicopter near Reagan National Airport killed 67 people. Without evidence, he blamed the Federal Aviation Administration's targeted hiring of people with disabilities for the crash, saying that only 'psychologically superior' air traffic controllers should work for the agency. How the private sector responds Kelly McCullough, legal director at Disability Law Colorado, said the messaging from the Trump administration could affect how seriously the private sector takes on disability inclusion efforts. Recently, she said, the nonprofit has received an uptick in disability discrimination complaints. 'It does make me wonder, if the federal government is setting this example, challenging these ideas of inclusion that have (had) long-standing support from the government … is that trickling down?' she said. 'Is that messaging getting to employers in other contexts?' Trump also rescinded a Biden-era executive order that required federal agencies to create action plans to hire more diverse staff, including those with disabilities. The order calls diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, efforts 'illegal' and says they 'violate the text and spirit' of civil rights. The Trump administration's other actions have caused consternation, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s dismantling of the Administration for Community Living, an agency that serves disabled and aging adults. HHS officials also floated –- and walked back -– a plan to create a registry of people with autism. Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, which advocates for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, said she is concerned about the impact the massive reductions in the federal workforce will have on government services for all Americans as well as the loss of opportunities for workers with disabilities. 'I'm really worried — where are these folks going to go? Who's going to hire them?" she asked. Employment gaps for disabled people have been an issue across the federal and private sectors for years. When the Labor Department began recording disability status in its employment trends in the Current Population Survey in 2009, just 30% of disabled people between ages 16 and 64 were working at least part time. That's compared with 71% of people without a disability. Last year, employment rates for disabled people hit a record high of 38%, but the decades-old disparities still persisted: 75% of people without disabilities were employed that year. Making disability hiring a federal priority Disability hiring in the federal government became a prominent effort in the 1970s, shortly after the passing of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits disability discrimination in federal agencies. Expectations to hire disabled people expanded from there. In 2014, President Barack Obama's Democratic administration began requiring that federal contractors meet specific goals related to hiring disabled people. Three years later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated rules under the Rehabilitation Act. The new rules required federal agencies to set hiring goals for people with disabilities and create plans to help them get jobs and promotions. Anupa Iyer Geevarghese worked as a disability policy adviser at the EEOC when officials updated the regulations. She said it increased progress in ensuring that disabled people had equitable opportunities in the federal workforce. She now worries that progress will be undone as the Trump administration shows little interest in continuing inclusion efforts. 'I think, unfortunately, there are still perceptions about the knowledge, skill and abilities of people with disabilities,' she said. 'As a whole, we're still, as a community, still perceived as people who can't do their jobs, are unqualified, who are uneducated and are incapable … we thought we had combated it, but we are still fighting that fight.' Abby Tighe, a former public health adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was among thousands of federal probationary workers terminated in February. Tighe, 30, has a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, which may eventually affect her ability to walk independently. 'I really truly understand how other people who are using a chair or using some kind of assistance device might be really concerned about that next stage of employment when they can't interview and hide their disability at the same time,' she said. Laid-off federal workers with disabilities worry about the future Some also worry that disabled federal workers may have been disproportionately hurt by the terminations. Tighe and Goidel were hired through Schedule A, which allows a probationary period of up to two years. Other federal employees typically have one year of probation. Tighe suspects that if she hadn't been hired through the special hiring authority, she might still have a job, given that no one else on her team was let go. Goidel says his employment with the federal government motivated him to continue his education and pursue a master's degree in employment law. He says the decision to slash jobs at the IRS' EEO office will mean there are fewer federal workers able to investigate harassment claims and that could result in more litigation against the government. The White House is promoting its efforts to provide services for disabled individuals and veterans. In an email to The Associated Press, a White House official pointed to student loan forgiveness for completely disabled veterans and record low unemployment for people with disabilities during Trump's first term. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, also noted that a multiagency task force was created in 2018 to focus on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. HHS also announced plans for the Administration for Community Living to release more than $1 billion in funding to states to address nutrition, daily living assistance, chronic disease management and more. Goidel says he hopes the Trump administration realizes what it's losing with the layoffs. 'They're taking away people's opportunities, and they're taking away people's livelihoods," he said. 'They're also hurting people who may need a little extra help to get over the finish line and have that upward mobility.'
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What I'm hearing about Tom Willander and the Canucks: 3 takeaways
VANCOUVER — At the tail end of a lost season, the Vancouver Canucks managed a 2-1 comeback victory in overtime Monday night at Rogers Arena. It was a game that didn't matter much. And a game that Vancouver was expected to win given that it was facing the San Jose Sharks, who were winless in their previous nine. Advertisement The Sharks had surrendered an eye-popping 46 goals during their skid. Alexandar Georgiev, who owns an .872 save percentage on the season, the lowest mark among all NHL netminders who have started at least 40 games, stopped 35 Vancouver shots to stymie and frustrate the Canucks throughout the night. And while it was a game that underlined the extent of Vancouver's offensive power outage, exacerbated by the quality of the lineup, which has cost it so dearly this season, it was also a night when Quinn Hughes made history. With an assist on the overtime goal, Hughes tied the franchise record for all-time points among defensemen — matching Alex Edler, who took an awful lot longer to set the benchmark of 409. Edler played 925 games and Hughes is at 432. Let's get into observations and the latest on where things stand between the Canucks and Tom Willander in our three postgame takeaways. When we're discussing unsigned draft picks playing at the NCAA level and the likelihood of them turning pro, there's a tendency to engage in hand-wringing and undue dramatics. This is the legacy of Aug. 15 unrestricted free agency and the route selected in the past by Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Justin Schultz to spurn the teams that drafted them. In truth, however, such cases are the exception. They're a rarity relative to the far longer list of Canucks and NHL prospects, the vast majority of whom end up signing with the teams that drafted them. Let's stripe out the drama and sense of impending doom from the discussion about Boston University defender Willander and the Canucks, who find themselves still locked into something of a slow-motion stalemate. Willander, whose NCAA season ended last weekend, went home to Boston from St. Louis over the weekend and resumed his normal student life. He didn't fly west to begin his professional career, even though just about everyone knows he's ready to compete at the NHL level (or at least the AHL level). Contract talks aren't really progressing as hoped for by both sides, and at issue, primarily, are the Schedule A bonuses. Advertisement The Canucks have a relatively strict, somewhat below market value team structure that they use in signing prospects to entry-level contracts, and they're unwilling to bend at this juncture. As an illustration of this, Jonathan Lekkerimäki was the 15th pick at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and his ELC contains $475,000 worth of potential Schedule A bonuses per season — which comes in below 2021 15th pick Sebastian Cossa ($850,000 worth of potential Schedule A bonuses per season) and 2024 15th pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard ($500,000 worth). Both sides seem to largely agree that Willander is ready to begin his professional career. Both sides are largely in agreement that the contract can start with the 2025-26 campaign, with Willander then having the option to sign an amateur tryout and join the Abbotsford Canucks. On the bonus structure, however, Willander's camp is looking at the market price for comparable players — and the maximum bonuses that prospect Zeev Buium signed for with the Minnesota Wild over the weekend — and asking for a commensurate deal. Vancouver, however, is unwilling to bend on its internal ELC structure. The deal could well get done this week, but as of Monday night, there was no agreement in place, contrary to reports. And to this point, negotiations appear to be slow-moving. Willander is back in Boston. He's demonstrating that he's willing to remain at college, which would certainly enhance his leverage. The Canucks, meanwhile, are refusing to blink. Meanwhile, in Abbotsford, Vancouver's AHL affiliate is playoff bound and its season is winding down. The club will have a week of practices after the regular season and prior to the playoffs, so there's still time for a deal to get done and for Willander to get acclimated to a new system and the realities of professional hockey. Advertisement If the deal gets done, Vancouver can get Willander up and running for the postseason push with Abbotsford. And give him an opportunity to gather additional experience and prepare to make the NHL club in the fall. First, however, there needs to be movement. First, the two sides need to find a way to hash out a deal. The best thing about Kirill Kudryavtsev's Canucks debut was that you barely noticed him. He looked steady and not remotely out of place holding down third-pair minutes in his first NHL game. The undersized, responsible, 2022 seventh-round draft pick has been pressed into action by an accumulation of injuries on defense — with a fractured orbital bone sustained by Derek Forbort on Saturday forcing him into the lineup on an emergency recall basis — and he performed solidly. He wasn't spectacular, he didn't stand out, but he did his job ably. Vancouver outshot the Sharks in his minutes, and he was on the ice for Vancouver's only five-on-five goal. It was a promising, if unspectacular debut. As for the first-time goaltender, Nikita Tolopilo, he surrendered only one goal against on an absolutely lethal Macklin Celebrini power-play wrist shot in the second period, but he was otherwise up to the task. Vancouver kept it pretty clean in front of him and dominated the puck throughout the game. It's just one game, of course, and we'll see performance levels vary from young, untested players finding their legs at the NHL level. Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson, for example, have probably held up the best among the auditioning Vancouver players getting extended looks down the stretch. Victor Mancini, on the other hand, has seen his form fade significantly — a reality punctuated by the three minor penalties he took against San Jose. Born in North Vancouver and the son of a former Vancouver Whitecaps player who was a longtime Canucks employee in player health and performance science, Celebrini is one of the best 18-year-old players I've ever seen play at the NHL level. Advertisement It wasn't just his goal — his first scored in the building he grew up in — but it was the repeated sorties through the neutral zone. It was the collection of 50/50 puck battles won along the wall against much older professional players. It was the edge he showed throughout the contest, even getting into it at length with the likes of Conor Garland and Pius Suter. There's a maturity, strength and uncanny level of professionalism that's already evident in his game. When you combine those factors with his absurd skill level, you have a bona fide elite young talent. (Top photo of Macklin Celebrini chasing Quinn Hughes: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Cruel and thoughtless': Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency Noaa
The Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US's pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian has learned. On Thursday afternoon, the commerce department sent emails to employees saying their jobs would be cut off at the end of the day, in a move that one worker called 'wrong all around'. Other government agencies have also seen massive staffing cuts in recent days. The firings specifically affected probationary employees, a categorization that applies to new hires or those moved or promoted into new positions, and which makes up roughly 10% of the agency's workforce. 'The majority of probationary employees in my office have been with the agency for 10+ years and just got new positions,' said one worker who still had their job, and who spoke to the Guardian under the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. 'If we lose them, we're losing not just the world-class work they do day to day but also decades of expertise and institutional knowledge.' Another anonymous staffer called the laid-off workers 'dedicated, hard-working civil servants who came to Noaa to help protect lives and keep our blue planet healthy'. 'These indiscriminate cuts are cruel and thoughtless,' the second worker said. It is not only laid-off employees who will be harmed by the cuts, the second worker said. Ordinary Americans who rely on Noaa's extreme weather forecasts, climate data and sustainably-monitored fisheries will also suffer. 'Words can't describe the impact this will have, both on us at Noaa and on the country,' the employee said. 'It's just wrong all around.' Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy director of Noaa's National Marine Fisheries Service, said Thursday was a 'sad day'. 'There is no plan or thought into how to continue to deliver science or service on weather, severe storms and events, conservation and management of our coasts and ocean life and much more,' he said. 'Let's not pretend this is about efficiency, quality of work or cost savings because none of those false justifications are remotely true.' Among those who received the emails were workers hired through Schedule A, a hiring authority agencies can use to connect with diverse candidates including veterans and people with disabilities. Schedule A workers have a two-year probationary period in which they are at-will employees and enjoy fewer labor protections. The Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen called mass layoffs within the commerce departments 'flatly illegal' in a letter on Wednesday to the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. That same day, climate nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists sent a separate letter to Lutnick, signed by more than 2,500 scientific experts calling for Noaa to maintain its funding and staff. Lutnick previously assured Congress that Noaa would not be dismantled under his watch. 'It seems either Lutnick willingly lied to Congress and the American people or that he has caved in record-breaking time to the destructive agenda of the Trump-Musk regime,' said Dr Juan Declet-Barreto, a senior social scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Rick Spinrad, who served as Noaa administrator until January, said the cuts are 'at best misguided and ill-informed'. At worst, he said, they will be 'dangerously risky to the lives and property of Americans all around the country'. The Trump administration has not commented on the firings.
