Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Hot take: decision writing for the Board is absolutely the best job I’ve ever had. I really can’t understand the level of negativity on this forum. GS-14 max grade is incredible considering how predictable this job is, the low level of responsibility, and the fact that it will likely remain remote.

Yes, it’s not prestigious, but who honestly cares? There are still tens of thousands of attorneys who would kill to be a federal attorney in any capacity.

Complaints about bad VLJs are fair, but bad supervisors are a problem everywhere. I feel bad for people who have to deal with that, but it’s not reasonable to act like this job sucks for everyone just because you’re dealing with a personality conflict.

If you read back you will see that many of the complaints about the job are not about difficulty writing decisions but an environment of harrassment. The harassing behavior has been addressed through various efforts over the past couple of years- most notably by Carole Dibattise - and the situation has improved.

Carole Dibattise was 10 years ago ....

Things have come back around since then

I know when it was.

Are you saying that things are back to being as bad as they were before Dibattiste was at the Board?

Yes. All the way back to the "bad old days" as Carole Dibattise phrased it.

At least now we get proration for leave. We did not have that before 2017.

Counterpoint: the production quota has increased dramatically since before 2017, so even with proration for leave we are much worse off now. We're also back to leadership saying that there is no proration for things other than leave because everything else (including PIV office visits, tech issues, training, ...) is already factored into the quota numbers. For me, that (leadership's "just deal with it and make it happen" attitude) was the hallmark of the bad old days.

On the plus side, due to the expansion of remote work, attorneys at the Board no longer have to dodge objects thrown at them by their Veterans Law Judges.

[Anonymous]

Ten years ago we also had opportunities like overtime, and it was consistent or readily available. Bonuses were also reliable as the qualifiers and amounts were known and clear. & another fluctuating policy — the case requirement. It could go higher this fall, and it was only ever consistent for years because management didn’t want to negotiate with the union. It’s pretty obvious management loathes attorneys with their current policies.

[Anonymous]

10 years ago the quota was based on credits rather than cases and you could meet quota with as few as 2 cases per week.

[Anonymous]

Bonuses finally coming and DVC said higher overall percentage than last year for Outstanding and that anyone FS or higher can also expect a time-off award.

Last year was 4%.

Any guesses on what it will be? 4.25%? What about time-off award?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bonuses finally coming and DVC said higher overall percentage than last year for Outstanding and that anyone FS or higher can also expect a time-off award.

Last year was 4%.

Any guesses on what it will be? 4.25%? What about time-off award?

I remember hearing the 4% figure last year, but never bothered to check it out against what I actually got. I looked at my SF50s and the bonus I got for outstanding in FY24 was a little under 3% of my total salary and around 3.3% of basic pay (absent locality pay). So, wondering where the 4% figure came from.

I suppose we accept whatever they give us. It's not like they're accountable to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bonuses finally coming and DVC said higher overall percentage than last year for Outstanding and that anyone FS or higher can also expect a time-off award.

Last year was 4%.

Any guesses on what it will be? 4.25%? What about time-off award?

8 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ten years ago we also had opportunities like overtime, and it was consistent or readily available. Bonuses were also reliable as the qualifiers and amounts were known and clear. & another fluctuating policy — the case requirement. It could go higher this fall, and it was only ever consistent for years because management didn’t want to negotiate with the union. It’s pretty obvious management loathes attorneys with their current policies.

Management has always hated the attorneys.