I was called back from vacation...for an empty soda bottle

[Anonymous]

That's crazy. I'm a fed and my desk is in a lab so I'm not allowed to have food or drink there. Whenever we have inspections someone gives me a heads up to put my bottle of water and coffee cup in a drawer. I've been caught once but there weren't any reprecussions just a gentle reminder not to drink in the lab. I wonder which agency this is.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't know what three letter agency you are working for but I know the one that screwed us all is going apeshit over everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Been in meetings all morning about this. The pm I am referring to is in my company. He was given a list of issues by the govt pm, with a complete by date of today. The govt pm did not mean to call anyone back from vacation for this. There are three issues that they have to deal with: my time, my travel expenses, and the misreprestation of the reason for the call back: made it sound like there was a real issue.

They also now have my resignation letter. But, at this point, they are trying to talk me into staying.

Okay, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. I would be crazy crazy pissed, and... it sounds like they are acknowledging it was a huge screw up. If they reimburse you (and maybe award you some additional leave), I'd still be angry when I thought back to the incident but I wouldn't quit.

Let this sit over the weekend. Don't end up jobless with no unemployment, unless you want to, because of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Been in meetings all morning about this. The pm I am referring to is in my company. He was given a list of issues by the govt pm, with a complete by date of today. The govt pm did not mean to call anyone back from vacation for this. There are three issues that they have to deal with: my time, my travel expenses, and the misreprestation of the reason for the call back: made it sound like there was a real issue.

They also now have my resignation letter. But, at this point, they are trying to talk me into staying.

Okay, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. I would be crazy crazy pissed, and... it sounds like they are acknowledging it was a huge screw up. If they reimburse you (and maybe award you some additional leave), I'd still be angry when I thought back to the incident but I wouldn't quit.

Let this sit over the weekend. Don't end up jobless with no unemployment, unless you want to, because of this.

+1. Someone should end up jobless over this, but that someone isn't you. Unbelievable!

[Anonymous]

This whole story is crazy. Crazy crazy.

[Anonymous]

OP had already stated that this was a contracting position where he only worked one day per week. He has other jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP had already stated that this was a contracting position where he only worked one day per week. He has other jobs.

You may not be completely right. It sounds like this is just a program he supports once a week. He could be resigning from the company he works for because of this lousy co worker.


Op, are they taking any action against the pm?

[Anonymous]

Do you regularly have these sorts of miscommunications, OP. I wonder if you could have done more to avoid this situation.

[Anonymous]

And the lazy government pm couldn't clean up? Or the janitor? The whole thing should go to the inspector general. A lot of people should be fired. Starting with the idiot who would consider some soda bottle a problem. Morons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you regularly have these sorts of miscommunications, OP. I wonder if you could have done more to avoid this situation.

Really? Every post has one of you. Op seems rational, reasonable, and intelligent but it has to be op's fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Problem is being escalated. I have been assured that I will be reimbursed for the travel expenses, and I was told to bill my travel time to his project (saving vacation time).

Procedurally, it seems that I was called back illegally -- because the wording implying it was a national security issue. So, they are investigating what happened. The PM will be spending his time today justifying his action to very senior management. And likely, it will be his last act as PM.

Isn't billing your travel time to the project in violation of time reporting for federal projects?

Big difference between billing the time to the project and billing to the client. I work as a contractor, and we have a way to bill costs to a project code in alignment with company policy but often those specific charges never get passed on to the government. Example: time spent on performance reviews/evaluations. We may bill that time to the project for internal records but we wouldn't pass that along to the government unless it was specifically allowed in the scope of the contract.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the government , I am sure to fix this issue a spreadsheet will be enacted which will later turn into a multi million dollar shitty web app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap. I'd be livid and ask for plane fare reimbursement.

Defo ask for reimbursment. This is beyond the pale.

[Anonymous]

OP here. First of all, the resignation letter was a stunt -- a bargaining position. I work because I enjoy the work...I could easily retire early (I am in my mid 50's, own my house, have made some good investments (thanks Apple).

I know have the whole story (I think). Our contract requires us to keep the space clean. Gov't PM told Company PM that our cubicles did not pass safety inspection -- and gave a laundry list. Said they had to be addressed by Friday. (Pre-inspection walk through was on Tues; final inspection no earlier than friday).

Company PM passed the issues to the owners of the cubicles with a message urgent problem at work; you are required back ASAP. There are three or four scenarios where that can (and has) happened. We can not talk about those details remotely. He could have told me that my cubicle needed to be cleaned....I would have arranged for one of my colleagues to take care of it.

Yesterday afternoon, the customer called me to apologize. He said if he knew I would be called back, he would have done it himself.

My line management is horrified. It went up to a senior VP, who called me in, apologized, and gave me a spot bonus to cover my expenses (actually, covered about 5x my expenses). And, I was told to charge my labor for my vacation (all week) to unbillable on the project, meaning it comes out of PM's profit and loss.

PM is currently in hot water because he intentionally misled me to get me back -- a violation of the company ethics policy. I spent two hours yesterday with a company lawyer to understand what happened. They will not tell me what happens to the PM, as it is a personnel issue. However, I have been assured that I will no longer work for him -- he is being replaced on the project. I know this is his only project.

Oh, and my manger ripped up my resignation letter.

I was commended for being dedicated enough to come back early. Officially, that was the basis for the spot bonus.

[Anonymous]

That company PM sounds like a true nutjob. He couldn't just go clean up the area himself? That's his job.