OPM Guidance on COVID-19

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

I hope we get similar leniency. I’ll do my best, but I hope management will understand employees with young kids are just not going to be as productive. However, our upper managers aren’t known for being very employee-friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

When they go to sleep, work from 8pm- midnight. Work during their 2 hour nap. And then find another 2 hours when they're busy watching Frozen 2 for the 50th time.

[Anonymous]

Also, unless you work on something virus related, or national security or something, I have a feeling a lot of things are going to slow way down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

When they go to sleep, work from 8pm- midnight. Work during their 2 hour nap. And then find another 2 hours when they're busy watching Frozen 2 for the 50th time.

My kids don’t nap and I’m not allowed to work past 6 pm or on weekends. Maybe that will change, but as of now local management hasn’t even sent out a cursory email with handwashing reminders. Yet they’re positively shocked every year when the FEVS survey comes back with abysmal upper management reviews. Hmmmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what the SEC has been doing the last couple of days? They are the first agency to go through all or virtually all telework so it would be interesting to know what guidance/rules they have put out.

Most people already telework regularly to some degree so it's not that much of a change. Trainings have been cancelled as has SEC Speaks (major external outreach event). They don't want us to use video through WebEx or other bandwidth intensive applications so as not to overload the system. They are also asking us to use our laptops rather than Citrix.

Have they given guidance about what will happen when/as schools are closing? That’s where things will get tricky for a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

When they go to sleep, work from 8pm- midnight. Work during their 2 hour nap. And then find another 2 hours when they're busy watching Frozen 2 for the 50th time.

NP- my kids are of similar age but the oldest doesn't nap anymore. So I could stick her in front of the TV while the youngest naps and hopefully get a solid 1.5-2 hrs in, but otherwise I'd be putting in my hours after they go to bed at 7:30pm. She'll barely sit through an entire movie as it is, particularly with the nice weather we've been having.

I mean, I'm lucky if I can prep a meal during naptime on the weekends. I just don't get that much done while caring for a toddler and a preschooler. Maybe I'm just incompetent?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard HHS has gone to telework and the building is pretty much closed (lights out, but security is still there).

I hadn’t heard that on the news, but I heard it directly from two people who work in the building.

Are other federal offices on telework? Since the non-fed offices in dc typically follow their lead, it would be helpful to know.

That’s not the case with HHS at all.

I heard the building at 301 7th St, SW is essentially closed and everyone was told to telework. Two feds told me that. They said security guards are still there, but lights are out and it’s a ghost town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great that some of you get don’t ask don’t tell. My boss asks and forces annual leave. Same with snow days. And I can’t make up the hours on other days even though I’m technically on maxiflex. My boss told me to take it up with whoever wrote the rules.

Whoever wrote the rules needs to understand the rules don’t apply anymore. This is not a typical situation. I’m sorry your boss sucks.

OPM has new rules that permit teleworking w/ a dependent home, tracking hours actually worked and taking leave as needed.

I can’t even imagine what this will look like with a 2 and 4 y/o. Well I worked for 25 min. while they watched a show. Then I had to stop for 5 min. to get snacks. And then I worked for another 8 min., but had to take a break to wipe my 4 y/o’s butt. And then I wrote half an email, but my 2 y/o decided to start climbing the furniture so I had to stop and get him down. Then I finished my email, but my kids started fighting and had to be separated.

I mean, how is this even feasible. Maybe for a day or two, but weeks on end??

All that you have to do is make a "good faith assessment" that you worked 8 hours or that you got all of your work done per my bureau's policy.

I hope we get similar leniency. I’ll do my best, but I hope management will understand employees with young kids are just not going to be as productive. However, our upper managers aren’t known for being very employee-friendly.

Hopefully your lower/middle managers can protect you from that.

[Anonymous]

^ Nah, you're not incompetent. My 1.5 and 3.5 year old can't occupy themselves. The 1.5 year old can occupy himself for maybe 15 minutes and that's pretty long for his age. The 3.5 year old can watch a full movie, but not several in a row. She was sick with the flu a few weeks ago and watched an entire 8 hours worth of movies (she was too sick to play and just asked to watch movies, so I let her).

Anyways, our plan is to swap. DH works 6am-2pm and I work 2-10pm. It's hell for both of us though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what the SEC has been doing the last couple of days? They are the first agency to go through all or virtually all telework so it would be interesting to know what guidance/rules they have put out.

Most people already telework regularly to some degree so it's not that much of a change. Trainings have been cancelled as has SEC Speaks (major external outreach event). They don't want us to use video through WebEx or other bandwidth intensive applications so as not to overload the system. They are also asking us to use our laptops rather than Citrix.

Have they given guidance about what will happen when/as schools are closing? That’s where things will get tricky for a lot of people.

Especially if the schools employ "distance learning", which means parents have to pick up the teaching slack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what the SEC has been doing the last couple of days? They are the first agency to go through all or virtually all telework so it would be interesting to know what guidance/rules they have put out.

Most people already telework regularly to some degree so it's not that much of a change. Trainings have been cancelled as has SEC Speaks (major external outreach event). They don't want us to use video through WebEx or other bandwidth intensive applications so as not to overload the system. They are also asking us to use our laptops rather than Citrix.

Have they given guidance about what will happen when/as schools are closing? That’s where things will get tricky for a lot of people.

No guidance. My manager is very flexible provided that the work gets done so I am probably going to work 6:30 - 3:00 and my spouse will work 1:00 - 9:30 and perhaps fill in with credit hours/shifted schedules on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard HHS has gone to telework and the building is pretty much closed (lights out, but security is still there).

I hadn’t heard that on the news, but I heard it directly from two people who work in the building.

Are other federal offices on telework? Since the non-fed offices in dc typically follow their lead, it would be helpful to know.

That’s not the case with HHS at all.

I heard the building at 301 7th St, SW is essentially closed and everyone was told to telework. Two feds told me that. They said security guards are still there, but lights are out and it’s a ghost town.

There are many HHS buildings. All agencies under HHS have not been told to WAH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard HHS has gone to telework and the building is pretty much closed (lights out, but security is still there).

I hadn’t heard that on the news, but I heard it directly from two people who work in the building.

Are other federal offices on telework? Since the non-fed offices in dc typically follow their lead, it would be helpful to know.

That’s not the case with HHS at all.

I heard the building at 301 7th St, SW is essentially closed and everyone was told to telework. Two feds told me that. They said security guards are still there, but lights are out and it’s a ghost town.

There are many HHS buildings. All agencies under HHS have not been told to WAH.

Can anyone confirm if that building has gone to telework status?

[Anonymous]

GAO has not officially strongly encouraged everyone with a telework agreement to telework - - with the normal caveats, unless there is a reason you need to be in the building.