Return to work- fed edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in forced telework in a for profit company and hate it.

Why I pay utilities, printer paper, my own coffee, annoying being home 24/7. My kids are older so no advantage and cut out salary around 50k as we get to work from home.

Some people love it. But it should not be forced. We gave up our lease so no office.

It should be back to office for us who want it

They cut your salary?!

I heard of this happening. Not that drastically of course though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any other feds get their marching orders this week? We all just got 30 day notices on our return to work.

Personally I do want to return to work, but even I was shocked. Coworkers are a little bitter.

About time. Some of us have had to come in the whole time due to our classified nature of work. Its amazing how many folks claiming to work from home have been slacking. Hell to get hold of CO which would be instant has been taking weeks.

This is exactly the problem. The people who claim they are working, fearful of the pandemic, yet spend the day out and about, like it's nothing - leaving the coworker to pic up the mess.

Here's the thing: The title "supervisor" means you have been in your job many years, it does not mean you are good at what you do, and it definitely does not mean that you don't show up to work. Sickening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in forced telework in a for profit company and hate it.

Why I pay utilities, printer paper, my own coffee, annoying being home 24/7. My kids are older so no advantage and cut out salary around 50k as we get to work from home.

Some people love it. But it should not be forced. We gave up our lease so no office.

It should be back to office for us who want it

They cut your salary?!

I heard of this happening. Not that drastically of course though.

I think it makes sense, if you are high enough paid. Some of the low paid workers are having to report five days, only to get their car totalled (hit and run, ask me how I know), and having to take on extra expenses like a rental car, to get to work, to a job that doesn't really appreciate you anyway. Not to mention, pay for parking every day, and pay for work outfits, and the extra three hours getting ready and commuting two ways. Not worth it. My family needs me more.

Meanwhile the high paid workers make an appearance for maybe two days in two months, and get assigned parking that stays vacant most of the time. When it starts costing money to go into the office, there is a big problem. This, on top from any legitimate health concerns one might have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Nice! Which agency?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any other feds get their marching orders this week? We all just got 30 day notices on our return to work.

Personally I do want to return to work, but even I was shocked. Coworkers are a little bitter.

About time. Some of us have had to come in the whole time due to our classified nature of work. Its amazing how many folks claiming to work from home have been slacking. Hell to get hold of CO which would be instant has been taking weeks.

This is exactly the problem. The people who claim they are working, fearful of the pandemic, yet spend the day out and about, like it's nothing - leaving the coworker to pic up the mess.

Here's the thing: The title "supervisor" means you have been in your job many years, it does not mean you are good at what you do, and it definitely does not mean that you don't show up to work. Sickening.

This is old "I manage with my eyes" approach. Time has changed, you better too. You manage the work, not evert min of your staff's day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m one of the few people who actually hates teleworking and, even though we’re at a “max telework” status at our agency, I make excuses to go in. No pushback, so far.

Several people go in daily at my agency, just because they want to. You don't need an excuse, just like you shouldn't need an excuse to telework. You should be able to work where you are happiest unless your work duties actually require you to be somewhere specific.

Agree. Especially if you have a good or great track record, are professional and responsible. The ones taking advantage (ie: doing minimal or no work) should be in the office forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any other feds get their marching orders this week? We all just got 30 day notices on our return to work.

Personally I do want to return to work, but even I was shocked. Coworkers are a little bitter.

About time. Some of us have had to come in the whole time due to our classified nature of work. Its amazing how many folks claiming to work from home have been slacking. Hell to get hold of CO which would be instant has been taking weeks.

This is exactly the problem. The people who claim they are working, fearful of the pandemic, yet spend the day out and about, like it's nothing - leaving the coworker to pic up the mess.

Here's the thing: The title "supervisor" means you have been in your job many years, it does not mean you are good at what you do, and it definitely does not mean that you don't show up to work. Sickening.

This is old "I manage with my eyes" approach. Time has changed, you better too. You manage the work, not evert min of your staff's day.

The whole idea is that some jobs require you to available for at least part of the time, not at the mall (or where you have no access to the documents/work). Maybe that is not you, but in my office some people disappear, and that is not what was asked of them, so it is an epic fail on their part. If it is not you, don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Nice! Which agency?

+1

NVM saw it is FDA, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Nice! Which agency?

FDA

Is the going in “twice a pay period for four hours each” a way to get around the requirement that if an employee does not report to their office at least twice each biweekly pay period, the employee would require a change in their official worksite on sf-50 and official pay purposes to their home?

Has any agencies provided instructions on how employees request change in their duty station to their home and fully convert to remote work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Nice! Which agency?

FDA

Is the going in “twice a pay period for four hours each” a way to get around the requirement that if an employee does not report to their office at least twice each biweekly pay period, the employee would require a change in their official worksite on sf-50 and official pay purposes to their home?

Has any agencies provided instructions on how employees request change in their duty station to their home and fully convert to remote work?

Not sure. They said that OPM guidance requires going in 2x/pp but they are allowing 72 hours of telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Another fda employee. CDER was going to do 1 full day per pay period. Which center are you at? I think I would like 2 4-hours days better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mid-size agency has said employees won't be required to return until September, at the earliest. And even that date could be pushed back if things get worse. In the interim, they will allow people to volunteer to come back once case counts reach a certain threshold.

Again, which agencies are we talking about here?

I’m guessing this is FERC. This has been announced internally so you should know if you work there.

Which agency are you interested in? Has yours not announced, or are you asking for purposes of job hopping to a better place? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

We just had the meeting about re-entry and I discovered that many in my office are very very very cautious, to the extent that it appears it is going to be drama. Like the office is going beyond CDC guidelines, and there are still people freaking out. I was fine going in until I realized a significant chunk of people are going to be covid neurotics.

On the plus side, we are allowed to say "I have allergies" and just telework always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just had the meeting about re-entry and I discovered that many in my office are very very very cautious, to the extent that it appears it is going to be drama. Like the office is going beyond CDC guidelines, and there are still people freaking out. I was fine going in until I realized a significant chunk of people are going to be covid neurotics.

On the plus side, we are allowed to say "I have allergies" and just telework always.

My husband is a teacher and had this meeting before his private school went back. By the third week, the same people screaming about the air exchange rate in the bathroom were eating maskless in groups indoors (prevaccines). They will calm down once it doesn’t get them what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most employees at my agency will be allowed to telework 72 hours/pay period. This requires going in twice a pp/4 hours each time (so once a week for a half day).

Another fda employee. CDER was going to do 1 full day per pay period. Which center are you at? I think I would like 2 4-hours days better

OC but I think this is FDA wide.