8 hrs a day “working,” govt job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was one of the things that bothered me when I worked for the government. I am a rule follower and recognize that “not” working during work hours could be perceived as fraud. The most annoying part was not having enough work to do during the day! As long as you’re getting work done on time and a strong performer, what’s the harm in running errands if you have time? Should be nothing, but I never did that when I worked for the government. I always stayed logged in!

My problem is, how do you define working during work hours? Someone in the cube down the hall is physically present in her cube and her computer is turned on, but she barely, hardly does any work. I am a strong performer at work. I am also present and when I am, I work hard and get things done on time (and at triple the rate of this particular co-worker) but if I take more than 15 min to run an errand, I’m the one defrauding the government.

Two different things. Your coworker's performance should be managed by her employer. Running an errand takes more than 15 min. Do it during your lunch break, not during your 15 min break or it can be considered time fraud.

For the federal government, time and being present matters.

But even in the office, there are large numbers of people not really doing much of anything during their 40 hours.

But they are at least available if/when people need them. Versus feds who are off running errands and not available at all.

I am a fed and that's what I don't get about these WFH/remote work threads. People seem to think they can just do their one report or write their one code and that's all they need to do. They can run errands or do whatever they want as long as they get their one report done. That's not how the federal government works. You need to be available to collaborate, answer questions and should ask for more work if you only have 2 hours of work a day. I've seen people get disciplined for only working 2 hours a day and constantly telling their managers they have too much work.

Just because someone is present and “available” doesn’t mean that they’re working. I can call someone down the hall—she’s available, but if I ask her a question, she will say I don’t know. If I ask her to help with something, she will say she cannot. I’ll take errand-running person who might be out when I call the first time but will be back 20 minutes later and will actually DO something productive. I don’t think people understand just how many government workers literally do almost nothing for 40 hours a week. But they’re sitting there in their cube and they’ll answer the phone if you call and the idea that that constitutes acceptable “work” is so stupid.

[Anonymous]

I felt the same when I was working from home. Taking a few minutes here and there to switch laundry, let the dog out, get a package from the porch, etc was no different than being interrupted at work for non-work related things.

I like my office and this is not a criticism. Some of my coworkers chit chat away from their desks frequently throughout the day (me too but not as much). I think this is good for office morale as nobody's happy in a super strict environment. Doing little things around the house is no different.

I focused much better at home.

PS: coffee meeting with your supervisor is work.