For Feds, who monitors return to work?

[Anonymous]

I am guessing the supervisors, but to what extent, I have no idea. I can say that it's a half-assed approach at the State Department. Some managers are better than others with monitoring and keeping track. Then again, State has some of the worst front-line managers in the govt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This must be the beech! Has new group to torture until they run for the elevator cuz they cannot take the shit and abuse anymore!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

It’s dumb and not how you treat competent adults. I’m not a teenager. I don’t need a “check in.”

[Anonymous]

I'm full-time telework but required to report to the office two days a pay period. My agency hasn't said whether or not I need to do 8 hours on those days so if I have no meetings etc I show up for 30 minutes then complete the rest of the day at home. My time sheets make us specify how many hours we worked in the office or on telework which I accurately report. As with most things in government, if you lie about your hours they can easily catch you and fire you for fraud. If you tell the truth you just get a verbal warning for mistakenly violating the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am at an Operating Division within HHS and they said they are going to be running reports from our time and attendance system.

I’m at FDA and our time cards (ITAS) do not currently indicate whether we are working from home or in the office. But almost everyone is fully remote for the next 6 months under the pilot program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

My god, how infantilizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

I think you should assume people are working unless they report otherwise. It’s an utterly useless way of “touching base.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

I think you should assume people are working unless they report otherwise. It’s an utterly useless way of “touching base.”

+1. This seems really inefficient. We have a team calendar where people indicate if the days they are off so everyone knows whether a particular person is available that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

I think you should assume people are working unless they report otherwise. It’s an utterly useless way of “touching base.”

+1. This seems really inefficient. We have a team calendar where people indicate if the days they are off so everyone knows whether a particular person is available that day.

How is entering something on a calendar more efficient than sending a chat message/email? And what if your work environment is flexible enough that you may not know in advance which days you'll be working?

I'll also note that this message is to the whole small team. It functions much more as a "good morning!" like you would say to someone if you walked by their office in the morning. It creates a sense of connection on the team. Nobody has every objected. And the chat runs all day with exchanges about work stuff and normal small chat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

I think you should assume people are working unless they report otherwise. It’s an utterly useless way of “touching base.”

+1. This seems really inefficient. We have a team calendar where people indicate if the days they are off so everyone knows whether a particular person is available that day.

How is entering something on a calendar more efficient than sending a chat message/email? And what if your work environment is flexible enough that you may not know in advance which days you'll be working?

I'll also note that this message is to the whole small team. It functions much more as a "good morning!" like you would say to someone if you walked by their office in the morning. It creates a sense of connection on the team. Nobody has every objected. And the chat runs all day with exchanges about work stuff and normal small chat.

Because you only enter something on the calendar if you are off, not every day when you are working. Once you decide to be off you just add it to the calendar.

Sending it to the whole team makes it sound even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The managers. Our policy is an email when you start the day. We are supposed to add the location as part of the return to the office.

Eg. I'm starting my day and working the full tour of duty from the office today.

Been a fed for 10+ yrs and this sounds craxy to me! So infantilizing.

This really is not uncommon or onerous. My DH has been doing it for six years (in his agency that has always been primarily remote.) it is an extremely low effort way for a manager (and team) to know who is available on any given day, particularly when the culture supports a lot of flexibility and variance in when people work.

Wouldn't a manager just assume you are available on a scheduled work day?

Manager Joe, I am working today. I will breathe oxygen. I will take my required 30 minutes lunch break. I will sign off at the end of my day.

I don't get this objection. We are talking about an organization that supports fully remote work as well as extremely flexible work schedules. It asks for an email/chat message at the start of a workday. And even THAT is too much "control" for some people?

A manager wants to know who is online and working that day. They want to touch base with their employees once a day that they don't see in person more than 4 times per year. It takes ten seconds.

I think you should assume people are working unless they report otherwise. It’s an utterly useless way of “touching base.”

+1. This seems really inefficient. We have a team calendar where people indicate if the days they are off so everyone knows whether a particular person is available that day.

How is entering something on a calendar more efficient than sending a chat message/email? And what if your work environment is flexible enough that you may not know in advance which days you'll be working?

I'll also note that this message is to the whole small team. It functions much more as a "good morning!" like you would say to someone if you walked by their office in the morning. It creates a sense of connection on the team. Nobody has every objected. And the chat runs all day with exchanges about work stuff and normal small chat.

Because you only enter something on the calendar if you are off, not every day when you are working. Once you decide to be off you just add it to the calendar.

Sending it to the whole team makes it sound even worse.

Why?