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telework and the federal attorney
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Anonymous
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Federal employee (and 1 day a week teleworker) here - I maybe eat lunch once month? I rarely get time for lunch, mostly rush job at my desk. On telework days...rush lunch at my table.
I'd love to have the private sector deal with a "network lunch" - it erks me that people have the image of feds taking long lunches. I haven't had a long lunch in months. |
Anonymous
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One of the VA teleworkers here. I can telework 3-4 days from home but must come into the office 1-2 days a week.
I waste equal amounts of time in or out of the office. The difference is when I was only in the office, I only worked 8:30-5. Now I work 8:30-5 and sometimes a couple hours after 8pm as well, including a couple hours on the weekend. I still work 40 hrs a week but I have the flexibility to make up time when I am slacking during the day or if I have an appt, etc. I also dont have to take off of work to wait for the cable guy, plumber, etc. I have production requirement - have to turn in x number of cases per week - and have quality requirements as well, as all of my cases are reviewed and signed by my supervisor. I've been teleworking 2-3 days a week for 4 months now and my supervisors say my production and quality has only improved. I see my officemates and "network" and many of my friends are attys and I hang out with them on the weekends, if you want to count that as networking as well. I come into the office to particpate in trainings, occasional meetings and social events - holiday parties, etc. I think working at home 5 days a week would be sad and lonely but the flexibility of a few days is amazing. Its a really good gig - if you can get it. |
Anonymous
I have a lot of work to get done. If I don't work through lunch it'll mean I'm staying late or working when I get home. Also people tend to schedule meetings for lunchtime, either because it's the only time people have left free or because it's convenient for things like "team meetings". |
Anonymous
| I dunno... I worked with someone who managed to put on a good worker face everyday in the office but came in late, went home early, had 1 to 2 hour lunches, spent most of the time web surfing, attending events and chatting it up in the office and outside. I would estimate she probably spent 2 hours max each day doing actual work. And she got promoted because she was smart about playing the part not to mention quite popular. This compared to someone I know who telecommutes 100% but works his ass off billing his hours, being given credit only for the hours billed and collected, not for billable hours worked. |
Anonymous
| Although I live very close to my government office, I telework once or twice a month, whenever I have a big project that I don't seem to be able to focus on at the office. At home, I can concentrate undisturbed. At the office, there are often too many distractions to really focus on the really complicated legal questions. |
Anonymous
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Yet another VA teleworker here. I take issue with the posters on this thread who accuse all teleworkers of being lazy or having "light days." Trust me, none of my days are "light." I put in my 9.5 hours compressed schedule a day. Sometimes I make up time at night if I have an appointment or etc., but I think that telework actually makes me more productive since I'm not taking leave to go to my appointment, as I would if I were in the office. And the ability to work from home when DS is sick is crucial. DH and I both have work-at-home capability, so when he is unable to go to daycare, we both stay home, and one of us takes the morning shift with him while the other works, and then we switch after his nap. We make up the lost time after he goes to bed at night.
The flexibility that my telework position offers me is absolutely key as a mother to a toddler and one on the way. None of us at my agency who are offered this privilege -- and that's what it is, a privilege -- take it for granted. I'm one of the top producers at my agency and I plan to stay that way. Painting all teleworkers with the broad brush of "lazy" is short-sighted. |
Anonymous
| In the same post you talk about how productive you are while teleworking but also say you do it when you have to take care of a sick kid? Those things are mutually exclusive. Anyway, I thought agencies require teleworking employees to have someone else to care for their children on days they telework. If they don't, that further confirms my feeling that teleworking is a joke. |
Anonymous
Please reread her post... You are the joke. |
Anonymous
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"Its a really good gig - if you can get it. "
And how! |
Anonymous
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Oy vay - haven't had time to read all of this (weird) thread, but to respond to the OP - if you are looking for telework, you really can't think of your job search agency by agency. It will be very office, or even manager, specific. Attorneys in my office can telework one day a week, but those in another branch of our GC can telework two days a week.
It shocks me that on a board for moms, so many posters are opposed to telework instead of supporting arrangements that help women achieve work-life balance. Attorneys in my office have a very strong work and performance ethic. I have no idea if people are doing their laundry on their at home day, but, the bottom line is, if they have a deadline, it gets met. In my office, participating in telework has no impact on whether someone is seen as an asset to the office or is promotable or not. The fact of the matter is that most attorneys in my office are GS-14s or 15s anyway, so promotion is not a huge concern. Offering people a telework option is a way to retain talent. My office hires attorneys primarily from top law firms. This is the kind of work-life perk that people are looking for in exchange for a massive pay cut. Moreover, I think much of the discussion on this board overlooks what is probably the major systemic reason for encouraging telework. It gets people off of the roads and public transportation! Imagine if all feds telework one day a week, that could cut traffic almost 20 percent a day - so critical in this region, particularly heading into the future. This benefits everyone, not just those who choose to telework. |
Anonymous
Yes, yes, yes, and yes, agree on all your very well articulated points. I feel like the people against it are likely people who don't have flexibility and so why should others have it, because I've not read one good argument against it on this thread. |
Anonymous
| 16:27 maybe the private sector workers don't spell it "erks" lol. |
Anonymous
| If you're interested in moving beyond just processing cases and being a worker bee, you'll take time for lunch even if it means staying late or working at home in the evenings. That's a smart tradeoff, and I say that as a mom with two small children. |
Anonymous
| 23:26, so you work 9.5 compressed hours? Let me guess, this is so you get every other Friday off? I work ten 9.5 hour or more days out of ten and have way less job security. And you telework too. Cush-y. |
Anonymous
| 21:11, extremely good example of why you shouldn't telework. |