Biden wants RTO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They’re not talking about returning to office all 5 days of the week. Why is everyone losing their $hit over this?

I'm not losing my $hit, it is very frustrating, given that I have scheduled my kids' multiple therapies around thinking that I would only have to commute two days per pay period (if I am at home I can either use about an hour, vs. about 3 hours of leave, or do it in the early evening, since I have no commute). Now I may have to try to unwind that or pay someone to take them to them as scheduled. It definitely doesn't reflect appreciation for all of the extra hours I have put in for this job, and the work-related travel I already do, which takes me away from my family during non-business hours. I'm likely not quitting the job over it, but it's not a good thing for me or my kids.

What did you do before 2020? My kids were young before telework existed, and I had to use a lot of my leave for those types of things. It's nice to save your leave for just "fun" stuff, but this is life with kids.

It's this type of privilege that pisses the rest of the country off about Feds.

Well I had to use my own sick/annual leave and LWOP for my pregnancies, but I’m glad that my coworkers having babies now get paid parental leave. I truly don’t understand this who attitude of calling anyone privileged who expects better work/life balance than you had.

I’m personally glad that a silver lining of shut downs is that workers finally realized they don’t have to live their lives using their PTO to compensate for their long commutes in order to receive medical care and that they’ve been given flexibility to better balance these needs so they can actually take a vacation.

I’m sorry that you view doing fun stuff as a “privilege” for working parents.

Yeah lots of feds, who earn up to 39 days off a year and get 11 paid holidays a year, can’t take vacations….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They’re not talking about returning to office all 5 days of the week. Why is everyone losing their $hit over this?

I'm not losing my $hit, it is very frustrating, given that I have scheduled my kids' multiple therapies around thinking that I would only have to commute two days per pay period (if I am at home I can either use about an hour, vs. about 3 hours of leave, or do it in the early evening, since I have no commute). Now I may have to try to unwind that or pay someone to take them to them as scheduled. It definitely doesn't reflect appreciation for all of the extra hours I have put in for this job, and the work-related travel I already do, which takes me away from my family during non-business hours. I'm likely not quitting the job over it, but it's not a good thing for me or my kids.

What did you do before 2020? My kids were young before telework existed, and I had to use a lot of my leave for those types of things. It's nice to save your leave for just "fun" stuff, but this is life with kids.

It's this type of privilege that pisses the rest of the country off about Feds.

Well I had to use my own sick/annual leave and LWOP for my pregnancies, but I’m glad that my coworkers having babies now get paid parental leave. I truly don’t understand this who attitude of calling anyone privileged who expects better work/life balance than you had.

I’m personally glad that a silver lining of shut downs is that workers finally realized they don’t have to live their lives using their PTO to compensate for their long commutes in order to receive medical care and that they’ve been given flexibility to better balance these needs so they can actually take a vacation.

I’m sorry that you view doing fun stuff as a “privilege” for working parents.

Yeah lots of feds, who earn up to 39 days off a year and get 11 paid holidays a year, can’t take vacations….

You’re talking about the highest category of leave which isn’t usually parents with young kids. And I’m not sure if you’ve looked at all the random days off on school calendars or had young kids who were forced to quarantine (often for 10-14 days) for close contacts from 2020-2022, but that leave gets burned up quickly. Add in a kid with special medical needs (and many therapies are offered primarily during business hours) and you’re looking at more time off.

And isn’t it better for the employer too if the employee can still work their full work day and then manage family life in lieu of a commute/needing to take off all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Biden admin just keeps pissing the wrong people off and it's going to back fire royally. They keep pushing they will see what's going to happen next election.

+100 THIS!

This idiocy was floated in another thread on this topic. It's as silly now as it was then.

I’m not sure I’d want to f-around with the Virginia vote.

Precisely which Republican candidate will be better for federal workers (i) on WFH issues, and (ii) generally speaking than Biden?

For this 52-year period, the federal workforce has had higher pay raises during a Republican administration. Here is how it breaks out.

The average pay raise per year: 3.71%
Under Republicans: 4.05%
Under Democrats: 3.65%

https://www.fedsmith.com/2021/01/10/50-years-federal-pay-democrats-v-republicans/

Yeah, because Rs screw up the economy so that Ds have to clean up a recession. That always comes with lower inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Biden admin just keeps pissing the wrong people off and it's going to back fire royally. They keep pushing they will see what's going to happen next election.

+100 THIS!

This idiocy was floated in another thread on this topic. It's as silly now as it was then.

I’m not sure I’d want to f-around with the Virginia vote.

Precisely which Republican candidate will be better for federal workers (i) on WFH issues, and (ii) generally speaking than Biden?

DP. All it takes is a a relatively small number of voters to sit out the election, and Virginia is red again. Now, when small business owners in the burbs (who tend to lean right) start losing money to DC… they’ll gladly turn out to vote for republicans. Madness.

Good point. We saw how Youngkin won with the constituent of angry moms.

No shit. This is making me crazy. Call feds lazy or whatever the hell you want, but the fact is the economy around DC has changed for the better in many communities. Business formation is UP. Employment is UP. Employees are happy. The suburbs are booming. You don’t go screwing around with that before the election to satisfy a few rich commercial real estate dudes, or DC politicians. Figure something else out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is Biden’s commercial real estate donor class.

It's more than that. DC is going to face a massive property tax shortfall if office buildings get revalued downward by 50%. CRE pays property tax rates that are 2x of DC homeowners.

It will start a services cut-tax hike spiral on the remaining residents if CRE takes a big haircut. It will be Democratic-voting big cities that will face the brunt of these revenue shortfalls. Crime will go up, schools will get worse, poverty alleviation programs get eliminated, etc.

My kid is in DPR summer camp right now at our local park. It's an amazing program and costs me $150 for two weeks for 8am-6pm daily care + all food covered. It's safe, fun, and has a good curriculum of play + art + learning. It's dirt cheap and he has fun. If CRE gets revalued down by 50%, that summer camp option gets eliminated. Or it goes up in price so much that poor and MC DC families can't afford it.

I live in Arlington and even the county run camps are easily $350-500/week and then often more for extended hours. So I am now supposed to come into DC to buy a sandwich and coffee so you can have your subsidized camp? Are you serious?

Sorry, but it’s not my job as a VA resident to make sure your locality can provide you with $75/week childcare.

+100

WTF

The free preschool in DC is something else too. While the rest of us saps pay through the nose for daycare so we can commute 10 hours a week.

[Anonymous]

Yeah lots of feds, who earn up to 39 days off a year and get 11 paid holidays a year, can’t take vacations…

I always wind up donating leave because I can't take it due to being busy at work.

[Anonymous]

Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Biden admin just keeps pissing the wrong people off and it's going to back fire royally. They keep pushing they will see what's going to happen next election.

+100 THIS!

This idiocy was floated in another thread on this topic. It's as silly now as it was then.

I’m not sure I’d want to f-around with the Virginia vote.

Precisely which Republican candidate will be better for federal workers (i) on WFH issues, and (ii) generally speaking than Biden?

For this 52-year period, the federal workforce has had higher pay raises during a Republican administration. Here is how it breaks out.

The average pay raise per year: 3.71%
Under Republicans: 4.05%
Under Democrats: 3.65%

https://www.fedsmith.com/2021/01/10/50-years-federal-pay-democrats-v-republicans/

Yeah, because Rs screw up the economy so that Ds have to clean up a recession. That always comes with lower inflation.

I agree with you that Rs are awful, but no one has pointed to anything where the R presidential candidates said they would force federal employees back to the office. If Biden makes me spend 15 hours per week commuting just to please his rich donors, he is not getting my vote. I have no clue why anyone would support a candidate who gives such a strong middle finger to you. We don't know if a R would be better, but based on what Biden is advocating, it won't be any worse. So I'll take my chances.

[Anonymous]

It's too late to bring people back to the office. If they had done it after the vaccines that would have been one thing. But for the past year or two it has been about flexibility and that presents a problem in taking it away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Biden admin just keeps pissing the wrong people off and it's going to back fire royally. They keep pushing they will see what's going to happen next election.

+100 THIS!

This idiocy was floated in another thread on this topic. It's as silly now as it was then.

I’m not sure I’d want to f-around with the Virginia vote.

Precisely which Republican candidate will be better for federal workers (i) on WFH issues, and (ii) generally speaking than Biden?

For this 52-year period, the federal workforce has had higher pay raises during a Republican administration. Here is how it breaks out.

The average pay raise per year: 3.71%
Under Republicans: 4.05%
Under Democrats: 3.65%

https://www.fedsmith.com/2021/01/10/50-years-federal-pay-democrats-v-republicans/

Yeah, because Rs screw up the economy so that Ds have to clean up a recession. That always comes with lower inflation.

I agree with you that Rs are awful, but no one has pointed to anything where the R presidential candidates said they would force federal employees back to the office. If Biden makes me spend 15 hours per week commuting just to please his rich donors, he is not getting my vote. I have no clue why anyone would support a candidate who gives such a strong middle finger to you. We don't know if a R would be better, but based on what Biden is advocating, it won't be any worse. So I'll take my chances.

DeSantis wants to do much worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

Fed WFH made housing much more expensive in places far beyond the beltway, where non feds, or even feds who work in facilities in those areas cannot afford homes in those areas--ask me how I know. So now housing is expensive close to DC and all up and down the east coast and possibly beyond. This change has only benefited feds who work from home. I know, that is all who you care about, but other people have other concerns. It is not all about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

Fed WFH made housing much more expensive in places far beyond the beltway, where non feds, or even feds who work in facilities in those areas cannot afford homes in those areas--ask me how I know. So now housing is expensive close to DC and all up and down the east coast and possibly beyond. This change has only benefited feds who work from home. I know, that is all who you care about, but other people have other concerns. It is not all about you.

Housing prices going up in areas where you already own land is not a bad thing. Those people have been selling out, developing, and making bank—not the feds who are buying the housing. But you can thank them for the increased services your area is getting due to the increased tax base, maybe you could vote for politicians that support building affordable units with any new development. That model has worked in many places.

Long commutes because of unaffordable housing has been the norm for a while, sounds like you thought you were immune?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

Fed WFH made housing much more expensive in places far beyond the beltway, where non feds, or even feds who work in facilities in those areas cannot afford homes in those areas--ask me how I know. So now housing is expensive close to DC and all up and down the east coast and possibly beyond. This change has only benefited feds who work from home. I know, that is all who you care about, but other people have other concerns. It is not all about you.

LOL. Actually it is all about me first and foremost. If I don’t look out for number one, who will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

Fed WFH made housing much more expensive in places far beyond the beltway, where non feds, or even feds who work in facilities in those areas cannot afford homes in those areas--ask me how I know. So now housing is expensive close to DC and all up and down the east coast and possibly beyond. This change has only benefited feds who work from home. I know, that is all who you care about, but other people have other concerns. It is not all about you.

LOL. Actually it is all about me first and foremost. If I don’t look out for number one, who will.

Well the government is doing the same thing--doing what it thinks is best for the government and country as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another thing no one is talking about is the effect that RTO will have on real estate values and development. People moved further away from DC, homes are being built to satisfy that demand for more affordable places to live and raise a family. New business sprung up in places that were deserted a few years ago.

Say feds need to RTO back to 2020 levels—what happens to those outer burbs and developments (that tend to vote for republicans)?

The economics of WFH are not simple and saying we need to keep DC dry cleaners in business at the expense of other communities and families, is not a good look.

Productivity is up despite the usual anti-WFH people claiming it’s not.

I’m happy to go into the office, because I bought my house near the beltway a long time ago when it was more affordable. The commute still sucks, but I make an okay wage and I don’t have kids in daycare. I don’t see how junior employees with kids can make it work anymore. Costs for childcare and education are just astronomical and wages are not increasing for feds. Feds had an effective 1.5% pay CUT last year after inflation. They don’t need another hit. I just don’t get it all.

Fed WFH made housing much more expensive in places far beyond the beltway, where non feds, or even feds who work in facilities in those areas cannot afford homes in those areas--ask me how I know. So now housing is expensive close to DC and all up and down the east coast and possibly beyond. This change has only benefited feds who work from home. I know, that is all who you care about, but other people have other concerns. It is not all about you.

LOL. Actually it is all about me first and foremost. If I don’t look out for number one, who will.

Well the government is doing the same thing--doing what it thinks is best for the government and country as a whole.

DP. So you’re telling me you like government now? Something about your posts tells me you’re full of crap. You just don’t want liberals moving into your neck of the woods. They might vote for things that actually help poor people.