Any possiblity to telecommute from overseas?
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Anonymous
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I am a fed employee with two small kids. I like my job because I telecommute 2 days a week. However, my husband just got an offer to relocate to Europe. My boss would not let me work remotely 5 days a week. Do you know which agency may be open to this? I really want to stay fed.
I do not make a lot of money but my husband's job is not stable. |
Anonymous
| What do you do? |
Anonymous
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The only places I know that do this are places where the agency has posts overseas. Sometimes you can get one of the slots in your host country, of if you are part of a tandem couple and the other person is posted in the host country. But I suspect you'd know of you were part of one of those organizations.
You may be able to ask to be a local hire at an embassy or military base, but you'd be competing with State and military spouses for those jobs. |
Anonymous
| We have someone who does this in DHHS but they worked at the agency for years and then moved abroad, and it was agreed the situation would be temporary (less than one year), at which point the individual would leave the government. I can't see us ever allowing it for a new employee. Given that you want to switch agencies, I don't see it happening, especially since I'm assuming your skill set isn't hyper-specialized if you are able to move between agencies. |
Anonymous
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No. But there are a fair number of overseas postings for civilians across the agencies, you may be able to get one of those vacancies, depending on your skill set.
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Anonymous
| How are you going to sort out your taxes |
Anonymous
+1 It's not just a matter of taking your laptop and working remotely. |
Anonymous
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Almost impossible to do.
First, doubtful that your agency telework policy permits this. You've read this and know it well, right? Second, there is employer discretion in any case, telework is not a right. Third, you probably have to be able to report to your duty station with a certain amount of time to be on regular telework (I've seen examples including 2 hrs., or 50 miles, or 100 miles). I was a telework coordinator for a large national federal office (LE related) and there is no way that your situation would ever meet the requirements of any telework policy that I have seen. |
Anonymous
| my agency (NRC) does allow this in some circumstances. I can't imagine they would allow it for a new hire, however. |
Anonymous
It's not that difficult to sort out, but she will be double taxed. |
Anonymous
| I know someone at DOJ who did it for a year. It was for a specific time period while her husband had a short-term position there. |
Anonymous
Um, no, probably not. You do know there are tax treaties to allow taxpayers to avoid double taxation? |
Anonymous
NP. I don't know the details, but I believe there is an upper limit to the amount which is exempt from double taxation. If OP and her DH are both working, they may well be above that limit. I do know that a friend went to work for his US-based employer in London, and part of the comp package/negotiation was that they would gross up his comp because it was above the limit and therefore subject to double taxation. It's certainly a good idea to research this. |
Anonymous
Yes, I a aware of that, as I actually telecommute from abroad for a significant part of the year. It is pretty difficult to avoid double taxes. |
Anonymous
No, if you are posted overseas with the Fed, you pay US taxes and are not liable for the other country's taxes. You remain a resident of the last state you lived in before going overseas. (And don't try and cheat MD or VA out of their cut. If you leave from there and return to there, they will nail you for all the years you were overseas plus penalties). It may not be the same if you are a local civilian hire with the USG. |