Telework Time & Attendance Investigations (Federal)

[Anonymous]

People who think this way and are so invested in monitoring the behavior of others typically aren’t very bright and are usually projecting something about themselves.

[Anonymous]

Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

Yes - this is stupid and VERY easy to audit.

[Anonymous]

Lol. Just another thinly veiled attack on telework. As if being at the office means that you’re “working.”

[Anonymous]

Even with the amount of time I slack off at home, I still get far more work done than I did in the office. No more people stopping by to chit chat all the time.

[Anonymous]

We have Microsoft teams and it shows me as yellow unless I’m actively using teams. If I’m using word or outlook it shows me as yellow. It’s a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask anyone at any federal agency to do anything and they tell you that they’re swamped. If you probe deeper, they get defensive. The reality is, they’re slacking and they don’t want you to ruin the party.

+1

Not just federal agencies, sadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who think this way and are so invested in monitoring the behavior of others typically aren’t very bright and are usually projecting something about themselves.

Or they are just tired of people robbing the system - people like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

Can you explain? I don't understand the point you're making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

Can you explain? I don't understand the point you're making.

I think PPs point is they are working remote in states they never received official permission to be in and no tax states will audit you harsher. Plus when you file taxes and it doesn’t match your federal employer tax filings - problem.

[Anonymous]

My agency was mostly remote pre-pandemic. They did some tracking audit using one specific software (so if you were on the phone and not using your computer actively, or doing other things that would cause your presence indicator to go inactive which happens all the time).

They said we were missing like 3 minutes a day. Mind you, stuff like sitting in my boss's office talking about work wouldn't count in that. They made a big deal that somehow we could do X amount more work in 3 minutes a day if you added it up over the year. If anything the fact that they couldn't find 3 minutes a day on this very specific software means people are doing more than their timesheet time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

Can you explain? I don't understand the point you're making.

I think PPs point is they are working remote in states they never received official permission to be in and no tax states will audit you harsher. Plus when you file taxes and it doesn’t match your federal employer tax filings - problem.

PP here and it's actually the reverse that they moved from no tax states to states with income tax but are still using the old address. I think all of the addresses will match up because the agency still thinks they're in the no tax state but if they ever audited the IP address for their remote logins it would be from a different state. They are dodging paying state income tax and also getting a higher locality pay than they would otherwise get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly OT but I know of a few people using residences in states with no state income tax. Seems like a really dumb idea and easy way to get fired since they can tell where you're logging in from but maybe the govt is too busy with other stuff to do anything about it.

Can you explain? I don't understand the point you're making.

I think PPs point is they are working remote in states they never received official permission to be in and no tax states will audit you harsher. Plus when you file taxes and it doesn’t match your federal employer tax filings - problem.

PP here and it's actually the reverse that they moved from no tax states to states with income tax but are still using the old address. I think all of the addresses will match up because the agency still thinks they're in the no tax state but if they ever audited the IP address for their remote logins it would be from a different state. They are dodging paying state income tax and also getting a higher locality pay than they would otherwise get.

The first pp makes no sense. In order to move to a no tax state and not pay income tax you would have to move your duty station to that state. At the very least you would have to file a form saying you will pay no state taxes, either will get you caught and fired easily if audited.

The second situation I suppose you could do by moving and just not reporting the move. However, I've heard HR across the gov is on to people claiming they live in a higher locality when they don't. HR catches them and issues a debt notice making them repay the difference in salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who think this way and are so invested in monitoring the behavior of others typically aren’t very bright and are usually projecting something about themselves.

Or managers would just like another tool to use. I have employees who do little to no work but say they’re working on X.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My agency was mostly remote pre-pandemic. They did some tracking audit using one specific software (so if you were on the phone and not using your computer actively, or doing other things that would cause your presence indicator to go inactive which happens all the time).

They said we were missing like 3 minutes a day. Mind you, stuff like sitting in my boss's office talking about work wouldn't count in that. They made a big deal that somehow we could do X amount more work in 3 minutes a day if you added it up over the year. If anything the fact that they couldn't find 3 minutes a day on this very specific software means people are doing more than their timesheet time.

Ok? Well maybe it wasn’t a good fit for your work but it would work at a lot of places. We call through our computers and shouldn’t be using home phones.