Surprise email from Supervisor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HI OP - I was once a supervisor in a federal agency. I'm so sorry for the email. I'm reading something concerning in the email. In addition to the telework day chain he or she mentions 8 hours a day. That I read means that someone knows you aren't at your desk for that minimum. That plus trying to change a fixed telework day is alarming. They may be starting a paper trail. Do you have any review coming up

Yes I have 90 day evaluation coming up.

I would start looking for a new job. They are creating the necessary paper trail for releasing you.

But why? As a taxpayer, I have to say, I would not be very happy to learn that after likely spending thousands of dollars and who knows how many work hours recruiting, hiring, and onboarding OP - they are going to fire her, and start all over again, about something this ridiculous and trivial. What a country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HI OP - I was once a supervisor in a federal agency. I'm so sorry for the email. I'm reading something concerning in the email. In addition to the telework day chain he or she mentions 8 hours a day. That I read means that someone knows you aren't at your desk for that minimum. That plus trying to change a fixed telework day is alarming. They may be starting a paper trail. Do you have any review coming up

Yes I have 90 day evaluation coming up.

I would start looking for a new job. They are creating the necessary paper trail for releasing you.

But why? As a taxpayer, I have to say, I would not be very happy to learn that after likely spending thousands of dollars and who knows how many work hours recruiting, hiring, and onboarding OP - they are going to fire her, and start all over again, about something this ridiculous and trivial. What a country.

A-men

“Supervisors” vs managers in a nutshell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You know nothing of OP’s supervisor and nothing about being a fed supervisor. Who are you to judge?

What judgment? Offering an alternative to the narrative that is being constructed by people here with very little information. OP asked to switch their days because of an issue and the supervisor did not respond. That’s poor form. Then OP’s supervisor went straight to upper management without talking to the employee. Also seems like poor form to me.

I know enough to say that.

You don't know that at all.

That is what OP said happened. Supervisor did not speak with her or respond to her email before copying upper management. Wild.

Perhaps the upper manager was the one who noticed that the employee was not at work when they were supposed to be. Or perhaps someone on another team raised the issue (or another issue with OP) with their supervisory chain. CC'ing the manager may not be an escalation so much as an FYI to let leadership know that the message has been communicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You know nothing of OP’s supervisor and nothing about being a fed supervisor. Who are you to judge?

What judgment? Offering an alternative to the narrative that is being constructed by people here with very little information. OP asked to switch their days because of an issue and the supervisor did not respond. That’s poor form. Then OP’s supervisor went straight to upper management without talking to the employee. Also seems like poor form to me.

I know enough to say that.

You don't know that at all.

That is what OP said happened. Supervisor did not speak with her or respond to her email before copying upper management. Wild.

Perhaps the upper manager was the one who noticed that the employee was not at work when they were supposed to be. Or perhaps someone on another team raised the issue (or another issue with OP) with their supervisory chain. CC'ing the manager may not be an escalation so much as an FYI to let leadership know that the message has been communicated.

That is possible, but OP said manager never spoke with them before that. Seems like manager missed a step in communication and has set OP to feel confused and scared. I don’t like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You don’t know that at all. But we do know that OP has communication issues and poor judgment

I think OP communicates fairly well but comes off as inexperienced, and is displaying good instincts by asking for advice. YMMV

Maybe you can tell us what OP means then. Quoting OP's posts:

"I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do"

This makes it sounds like there was one, specific day in which OP could not make it to the office (car issues, or a plumber coming, or something along those lines). OP emailed the supervisor (to suggest an alternate day) who never responded until weeks later to admonish OP about sticking to the approved days. This is probably in violation of the OP's telework agreement, which almost surely states they need supervisor permission and not just notification, but it does come off as possibly OTT on the supervisor's part to relay a message weeks later about a one-time emergency switch.

"The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request."

Here OP is saying parking was an issue for several weeks, but it was a one off request. That is not clear to me. What is a one off request for one day, or a one time request to change the day indefinitely until parking was settled, which OP continued to do without having received approval?

"Our agency has a parking request queue which fills up months ahead of time. She may have started and not realized her in office days were already oversubscribed in parking. I doubt it was part of her intake briefing of current allocation."
"OP here that is absolutely correct. It was part of intake but I couldn’t find anything for my in office days for first 5 weeks. Now I am all set for future weeks."

Again, not clear to me. If this was 5 weeks how was it a one off request? Since OP didn't know it would end up taking 5 weeks, now I am thinking OP said they would change telework days indefinitely, and it turned out to be 5 weeks. That's at least 5 days of working on the wrong day, but could even be something like 15 instances if they are scheduled to work in person 3x a week. That's quite significant and in that case I am not surprised her supervisor wrote her an email "weeks later" (because the issue had been going on for weeks). Then add the fact that OP wasn't at their desk for 8 hours on their ad hoc unscheduled in office days and has not been clear about where they were.

In some agencies they would mark you AWOL for all that, and the supervisor was being kind to just send an email. So it really depends on what the facts are here. I am also doubting that in less than 90 days, OP has proven herself to be an excellent employee that deserves a bit of latitude. It's likely that not much work product has been produced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You don’t know that at all. But we do know that OP has communication issues and poor judgment

I think OP communicates fairly well but comes off as inexperienced, and is displaying good instincts by asking for advice. YMMV

Maybe you can tell us what OP means then. Quoting OP's posts:

"I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do"

This makes it sounds like there was one, specific day in which OP could not make it to the office (car issues, or a plumber coming, or something along those lines). OP emailed the supervisor (to suggest an alternate day) who never responded until weeks later to admonish OP about sticking to the approved days. This is probably in violation of the OP's telework agreement, which almost surely states they need supervisor permission and not just notification, but it does come off as possibly OTT on the supervisor's part to relay a message weeks later about a one-time emergency switch.

"The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request."

Here OP is saying parking was an issue for several weeks, but it was a one off request. That is not clear to me. What is a one off request for one day, or a one time request to change the day indefinitely until parking was settled, which OP continued to do without having received approval?

"Our agency has a parking request queue which fills up months ahead of time. She may have started and not realized her in office days were already oversubscribed in parking. I doubt it was part of her intake briefing of current allocation."
"OP here that is absolutely correct. It was part of intake but I couldn’t find anything for my in office days for first 5 weeks. Now I am all set for future weeks."

Again, not clear to me. If this was 5 weeks how was it a one off request? Since OP didn't know it would end up taking 5 weeks, now I am thinking OP said they would change telework days indefinitely, and it turned out to be 5 weeks. That's at least 5 days of working on the wrong day, but could even be something like 15 instances if they are scheduled to work in person 3x a week. That's quite significant and in that case I am not surprised her supervisor wrote her an email "weeks later" (because the issue had been going on for weeks). Then add the fact that OP wasn't at their desk for 8 hours on their ad hoc unscheduled in office days and has not been clear about where they were.

In some agencies they would mark you AWOL for all that, and the supervisor was being kind to just send an email. So it really depends on what the facts are here. I am also doubting that in less than 90 days, OP has proven herself to be an excellent employee that deserves a bit of latitude. It's likely that not much work product has been produced.

Get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

You young people. Get.there.earlier.use.public.transportation. Why is it so hard for you people to understand the world doesn’t revolve around your needs. Lol.

Our agency has a parking request queue which fills up months ahead of time. She may have started and not realized her in office days were already oversubscribed in parking. I doubt it was part of her intake briefing of current allocation.

That’s what it sounded like to me. I think OP is communicating just fine. I don’t get why so many of you are having terrible understanding a simple issue.

People are trolling OP. They're scaring the shit out of her and making her feel like a terrible employee just so they can pat themselves on the back.

Let me guess what generation you are from. Bosses don’t like to be given an “fyi” that an employee is switching agreed upon teleworking dates. In a probationary period, no less. They like it even less, when the employee explains they can’t possibly make it to work on agreed upon day because of…parking. As I type this out, I call troll on this. Especially, since they threw in the not at the desk 8 hours a day to make it even crazier.

Please guess which generation I'm from. I'll give you a hint, I didn't have a cell phone until after college. I believe in treating professionals like professionals. I don't have time to worry about stuff that has nothing to do with the agency mission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, I don’t really care if my team members switch their telework days unless I had planned for in-person meetings etc. it makes zero difference to our work.

Some of you sound extremely uptight. To the PP who said they have 105 direct reports in government… I really doubt that!!

OK, I had three deputies under me, but 105 total. And I had to deal with the personnel issues of all 105.

Your deputies handled requests about switching telework days I’m sure. And I bet they had further management under them that could handle those things. Don’t tell me you had three deputies and you personally handled small stuff like that. That reflects poorly on your ability to delegate.

When did you retire?

I didn't. SES 4 when i left. Labor law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You know nothing of OP’s supervisor and nothing about being a fed supervisor. Who are you to judge?

What judgment? Offering an alternative to the narrative that is being constructed by people here with very little information. OP asked to switch their days because of an issue and the supervisor did not respond. That’s poor form. Then OP’s supervisor went straight to upper management without talking to the employee. Also seems like poor form to me.

I know enough to say that.

You don't know that at all.

That is what OP said happened. Supervisor did not speak with her or respond to her email before copying upper management. Wild.

Perhaps the upper manager was the one who noticed that the employee was not at work when they were supposed to be. Or perhaps someone on another team raised the issue (or another issue with OP) with their supervisory chain. CC'ing the manager may not be an escalation so much as an FYI to let leadership know that the message has been communicated.

It could even be the noisy cubicle person. Something happened somewhere and now they've started the paper trail with cc's to supervisors. THAT is what is important and now OP must take steps to repair the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

Oh, OP, you aren’t a problem solver are you? You think you are fixing things but you just don’t understand that being new means you keep quiet, do your work, pay attention to how things work. You accommodate them and once you’re established yourself as a good work, then you can slowly see about getting things changed.

OP literally solved the problem by offering to switch telework to a different day. Which is a totally logical thing to do.

Except that isn’t how it works in Op’s agency. Or she wouldn’t have received the email from her supervisor.

Or OP’s supervisor is rigid, in addition to being a poor communicator. Come on people.

You know nothing of OP’s supervisor and nothing about being a fed supervisor. Who are you to judge?

What judgment? Offering an alternative to the narrative that is being constructed by people here with very little information. OP asked to switch their days because of an issue and the supervisor did not respond. That’s poor form. Then OP’s supervisor went straight to upper management without talking to the employee. Also seems like poor form to me.

I know enough to say that.

You don't know that at all.

That is what OP said happened. Supervisor did not speak with her or respond to her email before copying upper management. Wild.

Perhaps the upper manager was the one who noticed that the employee was not at work when they were supposed to be. Or perhaps someone on another team raised the issue (or another issue with OP) with their supervisory chain. CC'ing the manager may not be an escalation so much as an FYI to let leadership know that the message has been communicated.

That is possible, but OP said manager never spoke with them before that. Seems like manager missed a step in communication and has set OP to feel confused and scared. I don’t like that.

I don't see that at all.

[Anonymous]

PP, I think you’re reading a lot into what OP said which seems fairly clear to me.

There was an issue with parking and OP suggested a different telework day as a temporary solution. This is not crazy to ask and supervisor should have discussed it with OP immediately instead of waiting weeks. If OP started showing up on a different day for several weeks and her supervisor said nothing, that’s on the supervisor.

We also don’t know if OP has a reason they need to be able to park or not. Some government buildings are not accessible by public transport. Some people have to drive because they can’t walk, or they have to pick kids up after work, or whatever. We have no idea. That’s why a manager should talk to their new employees when issues come up like this.

The 8 hours a day thing—again we have no idea what is going on there, OP is guessing since her supervisor didn’t say. If a supervisor or anyone else noticed OP was missing, it’s quite easy to send an email and ask them where they are. Didn’t happen.

Her boss recruited and hired her, she should want to see her succeed, not fail. Doesn’t sound like boss is very committed to that if they can’t be bothered to talk to their employee about issues like this right away.

But you know, OP must be a bad employee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HI OP - I was once a supervisor in a federal agency. I'm so sorry for the email. I'm reading something concerning in the email. In addition to the telework day chain he or she mentions 8 hours a day. That I read means that someone knows you aren't at your desk for that minimum. That plus trying to change a fixed telework day is alarming. They may be starting a paper trail. Do you have any review coming up

Yes I have 90 day evaluation coming up.

I would start looking for a new job. They are creating the necessary paper trail for releasing you.

But why? As a taxpayer, I have to say, I would not be very happy to learn that after likely spending thousands of dollars and who knows how many work hours recruiting, hiring, and onboarding OP - they are going to fire her, and start all over again, about something this ridiculous and trivial. What a country.

That's a bit extreme. You don't know anything about the situation, the hiring, etc. Nor do you know anything about OP's performance. You are hearing here only her side. And it sounds like she is hiding facts, still, like where exactly does she go when she goes to the quiet place, and what was the reason for needing the day off (never answered, if that is what happened - hard to tell) and whether or not she asked to have her telework day changed permanently. Just too much confusion in the story.

[Anonymous]

I just asked my fed manager DH - he thinks we are overreacting and that OP’s manager poorly communicated, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that OP’s supervisor didn’t say anything to OP before raising the issue up and basically accusing OP of time card fraud without a conversation. That’s pretty crappy.

And the OP did say they were working somewhere else for any reason. So the supervisor has no way of knowing. They see their employee is jot there but timecard says they are working.

easy solution—ask the employee where they were before escalating. Seems over the top to do that to a new employee who is getting used to a new environment, based on the information we have here.

The employee should talk to their supervisor and clarify expectations regarding presence at their desk vs. working elsewhere in the building because of noise. They should also confirm which days they will be in the office per their telework agreement and stick to those days as requested by their supervisor. Hopefully that is all that’s going on here but I doubt it.

I'm pretty sure they already know . . . in a "quiet place", like home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
i am a new fed.

I was surprised to receive an email from my supervisor asking me not to change my telework days and spend a minimum eight hours a day in the office. I had notified him few weeks ago a situation that would prevent me to be on the office on a specific day I had suggested. an alternate day he never responded. After a few weeks. He sent an email copying my skip Level asking me to stick to my approved in person days only. I am very confused. Is this a disciplinary action? Why did he never speak to me or respond to my communication sent earlier and just sent me Written, communication adding my skip level. I thought i was keeping him informed it looks like something is amiss. I am anxious and confused. what should I do

Was it a one off re: telework day you were seeking permission to change or is it that you want a permanent, ongoing schedule change?

Them thinking you are not working 8 hours because you are not at your desk is a really unfortunate impression that has been created and one that will take time and consistency to correct. You need to understand you are asking permission to make changes, OP, not informing. They think you are playing fast and loose and are taking advantage. You need to correct that in words, in writing and in consistent action of being where you are supposed to be during agreed to hours. If you need a different work station make a proposal to your boss and get his/her decision.

The agency parking was full on the first few weeks of my in person day hence I requested a different day when parking was available. So one off request.

You young people. Get.there.earlier.use.public.transportation. Why is it so hard for you people to understand the world doesn’t revolve around your needs. Lol.

Our agency has a parking request queue which fills up months ahead of time. She may have started and not realized her in office days were already oversubscribed in parking. I doubt it was part of her intake briefing of current allocation.

That’s what it sounded like to me. I think OP is communicating just fine. I don’t get why so many of you are having terrible understanding a simple issue.

People are trolling OP. They're scaring the shit out of her and making her feel like a terrible employee just so they can pat themselves on the back.

NO, they are not. she posted here to ask for advice. She got it. She even thanked the posters. YOU are the one reading into the situation.