Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
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Anonymous
VLJ RTO is paused until they hear different |
Anonymous
To my knowledge, the VA memo which went out last week indicated that our remote work agreements cannot be terminated until we have a workspace assigned to us in writing. That puts much of the BVA in limbo right now due to the 425 I Street constraints. |
Anonymous
| The other big question is whether they'll find space for the non-DC area people in their localities or if they'll try to recall everyone to DC... |
Anonymous
:?: summarily fired? Guessing that a big portion of the Board will be then because the guidance was to respond.
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Anonymous
| Can I just get fired already so I can file for UE and go fishing? |
Anonymous
| Not at the board, but just saw reports of mass layoffs. Is the BVA affected? |
Anonymous
You should have taken the fork. |
Anonymous
People who took the fork offer were forked over in other places. They were fired. |
Anonymous
Not to my knowledge. They went after BUE probies within the VA but I think it was limited to support staff. As far as I know, they didn't hit mission critical roles such as healthcare providers, judges or decision drafting attorneys. |
Anonymous
Board attorneys were not permitted to take the fork offer. |
Anonymous
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“No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.”
Anyone gotten any guidance on the implications of this? Will they find us a local space or is it back to DC or fired? |
Anonymous
There's no space to find. I wouldn't worry about it. They'll likely make exceptions for BVA. Congress is already leaning on the secretary to do so. |
Anonymous
Unless you have more information than what I've found out there, i think that what you said is, unfortunately, probably just wishful thinking. The letter from congress to collins was signed only by the ranking Democrat members of the House and Senate committees. There's no indication in the letter of support from the Republican majority. Pressure from Democrats and the union is not going to sway anything. Collins seemed to agree wholeheartedly when Blackburn echoed Musk during confirmation proceedings, saying that telework is unethical, teleworkers don't actually work, and telework policies favor federal employees at the expense of the public (and veterans specifically, in our case). The union, VLJs, and SSCs keep saying that the Board is in a better position than most when it comes to telework. That may be true, but in the end it doesn't seem like it will mean much. |
Anonymous
I agree. I would not be surprised if they try to recoup some of the space at 425 I Street. There is at least one empty floor in the building. |
Anonymous
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So they order folks to 425 I St. That's more than 50 miles from most BVA attorneys and VLJs, so the government has to pay to relocate them. Does BVA have the money for those relocations, let alone the money to update and re-outfit 425? There's a lot more to be worked out here. In short, no one knows exactly what the (seemingly increasingly distant) future holds. BVA is in a unique position due to its both its distributed nature and the sheer number of folks who perform services directly related to statutory duties.
BVA is mostly attorneys and judges, and folks that support attorneys and judges. It's not doing things like establishing random policies and interpreting environmental laws in an ever broadening manner. In short, there's not a ton of fat to trim or non-essential personnel. We can't control what happens. No sense in worrying about it. |