RTO:Traffic is atrocious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive to the metro and take that in? If it’s taking you two hours anyway wouldn’t you rather read or sleep during that time?

+1
DH has an 80 minute commute each way whether by metro or by car, and he would much rather get exercise walking to/from metro and zone out on the metro itself.

Who can zone out on metro? Between the feral teens, mentally unstable hobos and aggressive panhandlers, I am on full alert.

What line are you riding?

The Virginia lines are not like this at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The benefit of RTO is that you can do way less work. Instead of judging solely on performance and productivity you get credit for showing up. Now when I go into the office I accomplish very little and this seems to be consistent with most people. They’ve let high performing staff leave over RTO so I assume this means showing up in person is THE most important thing.

From a common sense perspective I don’t understand any of this and assume it will eventually change.

you have it wrong, you get judged on both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

You missed my point. A sick child under 7 is not self sufficient and you need to take care of them while working. A child who is 7, 8, or 9 is fairly self sufficient and you theoretically don’t need to check in on them as much and disrupt the workday. A sick child under 7 should be watched and taken care of and you shouldn’t be working while taking care of a sick baby, toddler, or preschooler.

nobody said you can work a normal 8 hours with a sick small child. But you can absolutely work during naps, with the TV on, and in the evenings and mornings when the other parent is home. I and many other feds did this when we had reasonable WFH policies specifically because we are dedicated to our jobs. But now that there is no WFH we just go completely off line and take sick leave. How is that a good thing?

That's what sick leave is for though. I think there has been this expecation that we work while sick or while we have a sick child, and I don't think that's great either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s been great to RTO. Just leave earlier.

It's not the morning commute, it's the afternoon. Takes twice as long as in the AM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

You missed my point. A sick child under 7 is not self sufficient and you need to take care of them while working. A child who is 7, 8, or 9 is fairly self sufficient and you theoretically don’t need to check in on them as much and disrupt the workday. A sick child under 7 should be watched and taken care of and you shouldn’t be working while taking care of a sick baby, toddler, or preschooler.

nobody said you can work a normal 8 hours with a sick small child. But you can absolutely work during naps, with the TV on, and in the evenings and mornings when the other parent is home. I and many other feds did this when we had reasonable WFH policies specifically because we are dedicated to our jobs. But now that there is no WFH we just go completely off line and take sick leave. How is that a good thing?

That's what sick leave is for though. I think there has been this expecation that we work while sick or while we have a sick child, and I don't think that's great either.

I agree with this. Unless your employer is very restrictive about leave just take it. Take sick time. Most 3 and 4 year olds are not napping for hours. I know that some DCUM parents claim their kids nap for hours, but let’s call a spade a spade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

Leaving a tween home with a fever or cough for 10 hours is not alright. They often are too weak to get water or understand when their symptoms worsen.

Then go in for 3-5 hours and take sick leave for the rest of the day? Life is not frictionless all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

No everyone does not have “lots of sick time” as a fed. and again, being forced to take leave means we can literally do zero work even if we wanted to. What’s entitled about people saying that it would be efficient to allow them to keep the ball rolling even when home with a sick kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The benefit of RTO is that you can do way less work. Instead of judging solely on performance and productivity you get credit for showing up. Now when I go into the office I accomplish very little and this seems to be consistent with most people. They’ve let high performing staff leave over RTO so I assume this means showing up in person is THE most important thing.

From a common sense perspective I don’t understand any of this and assume it will eventually change.

Ah..so you weren't one of the high performers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

No everyone does not have “lots of sick time” as a fed. and again, being forced to take leave means we can literally do zero work even if we wanted to. What’s entitled about people saying that it would be efficient to allow them to keep the ball rolling even when home with a sick kid?

I wrote “not everyone has lots of sick time” because I’m well aware that sick time differs. The shaming on here of parents who need to leave preteens or teens home sick to work makes me think that some people don’t have a very good sense of that, however. The OPM website states that federal employees can take up to 13 days (104 hours) of sick time for general family care and up to 12 weeks (480 hours) of such leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. I can understand how a single parent with little to no family help or access to any paid childcare may struggle with this and may need to use some annual leave, but most people can make this work - particularly once their children reach preteen years.

[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:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

No everyone does not have “lots of sick time” as a fed. and again, being forced to take leave means we can literally do zero work even if we wanted to. What’s entitled about people saying that it would be efficient to allow them to keep the ball rolling even when home with a sick kid?

I wrote “not everyone has lots of sick time” because I’m well aware that sick time differs. The shaming on here of parents who need to leave preteens or teens home sick to work makes me think that some people don’t have a very good sense of that, however. The OPM website states that federal employees can take up to 13 days (104 hours) of sick time for general family care and up to 12 weeks (480 hours) of such leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. I can understand how a single parent with little to no family help or access to any paid childcare may struggle with this and may need to use some annual leave, but most people can make this work - particularly once their children reach preteen years.

LMAO! Oh please! What do you think working parents in the 70s, 80s & 90s did. You are the exact reason people are having to RTO.

[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:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

No everyone does not have “lots of sick time” as a fed. and again, being forced to take leave means we can literally do zero work even if we wanted to. What’s entitled about people saying that it would be efficient to allow them to keep the ball rolling even when home with a sick kid?

I wrote “not everyone has lots of sick time” because I’m well aware that sick time differs. The shaming on here of parents who need to leave preteens or teens home sick to work makes me think that some people don’t have a very good sense of that, however. The OPM website states that federal employees can take up to 13 days (104 hours) of sick time for general family care and up to 12 weeks (480 hours) of such leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. I can understand how a single parent with little to no family help or access to any paid childcare may struggle with this and may need to use some annual leave, but most people can make this work - particularly once their children reach preteen years.

Oh just cut it out. Nobody is shaming anyone here. All you are doing is making the case for why strict RTO is harmful. Shame those guys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

You missed my point. A sick child under 7 is not self sufficient and you need to take care of them while working. A child who is 7, 8, or 9 is fairly self sufficient and you theoretically don’t need to check in on them as much and disrupt the workday. A sick child under 7 should be watched and taken care of and you shouldn’t be working while taking care of a sick baby, toddler, or preschooler.

nobody said you can work a normal 8 hours with a sick small child. But you can absolutely work during naps, with the TV on, and in the evenings and mornings when the other parent is home. I and many other feds did this when we had reasonable WFH policies specifically because we are dedicated to our jobs. But now that there is no WFH we just go completely off line and take sick leave. How is that a good thing?

That's what sick leave is for though. I think there has been this expecation that we work while sick or while we have a sick child, and I don't think that's great either.

I agree with this. Unless your employer is very restrictive about leave just take it. Take sick time. Most 3 and 4 year olds are not napping for hours. I know that some DCUM parents claim their kids nap for hours, but let’s call a spade a spade.

The problem with this is that many people have jobs where the work piles up like crazy when they take leave. It’s not like a retail job where someone else simply covers for you while you’re out. So taking an entire day or two off with absolutely no work getting done can be really stressful because it means you’re going to be scrambling to catch up when you finally get back. It’s frustrating to know that you could use your time productively but you aren’t allowed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this thread is tone deaf and insensitive. Thousands of federal workers have been illegally robbed of their livelihoods, and 10,000 will be RIFed from HHS. Probably hundreds if not thousands of federal contracts have lost their jobs, too. Most of them would happily sit in traffic to earn money to feed their kids.

People are allowed to complain about multiple things. Especially when this RTO was intended to make things more painful and push ppl out. It's all part and parcel of the same awful goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people don't want to pay for childcare like everyone else did before covid, they want to pocket the extra money and also live far out to pocket even more money!

We have childcare*, but two parents commuting every day means we will have to find a daycare with even longer hours. And pretty much impossible to have dinner together as a family.

* People like to throw around accusations of parents not having childcare, but I literally don't know anyone who was working from home while taking care of a young child.

Plenty also only need intermittent childcare and don't know what to do.

We're dual feds. DH is often called to crises out of town. Normally I work 6-3:30 and get the kids from school, dh takes them to school. What can I do when he's out of town? Just take 2.5-3 hours of annual leave a day? There isn't an option for before school care that you pay per day and I don't need it daily. It's also currently full.

Schools just aren't set up for working parents and previously our works took the full brunt of that. Now both school and work are unfriendly to everyone. I like working in the office, but the complete lack of any flexibility is killing me.

Yes but this isn’t a new problem. Intermittent childcare has always been a need and has never been available.

Right. And the new inflexible policy (intended to punish and traumatize feds) now means that instead of the worker being able to continue working from home with a sick kid, they have to take sick leave and do no work.

How is that a good thing for government efficiency?

Back in the late 90s my parents left my siblings and I home alone when we were sick starting when we were 10. There is a pretty narrow window when you have to stay home with a sick child who is self sufficient and doesn’t need you.

A whole 10 years is not a “narrow window” (and I’m not leaving my 13 year old home sick either.) Even when my younger kid was sick there was time to work during naps and in the AM and evening when the other parent was home.

In 5 years they're legally an adult and you're not comfortable leaving them home sick? Yikes.

why would I leave my sick child at home if I didn’t have to? I’m sure I could but I actually care about my kid.

If you care about your child and have take sick time take sick time. Leaving a preteen or teen at home sick isn’t ideal but not everyone has lots of sick time or vacation time. The entitlement on here is crazy. This is something parents have dealt with for decades, but now that you have to navigate this it is an outrage?

No everyone does not have “lots of sick time” as a fed. and again, being forced to take leave means we can literally do zero work even if we wanted to. What’s entitled about people saying that it would be efficient to allow them to keep the ball rolling even when home with a sick kid?

I wrote “not everyone has lots of sick time” because I’m well aware that sick time differs. The shaming on here of parents who need to leave preteens or teens home sick to work makes me think that some people don’t have a very good sense of that, however. The OPM website states that federal employees can take up to 13 days (104 hours) of sick time for general family care and up to 12 weeks (480 hours) of such leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. I can understand how a single parent with little to no family help or access to any paid childcare may struggle with this and may need to use some annual leave, but most people can make this work - particularly once their children reach preteen years.

LMAO! Oh please! What do you think working parents in the 70s, 80s & 90s did. You are the exact reason people are having to RTO.

There were far fewer working parents, there was way more generous sick leave (remember before it become combined PTO), and honestly children were left home neglected. I was a latch leg kid, and if I parented like my parents, CPS would be visiting.