City of D.C. going to 1 day a week telework

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My spouse works for Maryland state government and they were ordered back into the office 3 days a week like 2 years ago. I don't really get what the big deal is here. I guess 3 days would be better than 4, but I also think it's insane that there are people who haven't set foot in an office since March 2020. That was 4 years ago! It's crazy this took so long. If I was a DC employee who was required to work in person (teacher, police officer, public works employee, DMV, etc.) I'd have such immense scorn for the lazy middle managers parked on their butts in suburban home sending emails all day and never bothering to come into the office.

But you are ok with middle managers parked on their butts in urban offices sending emails all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is because biden won't order federal employees back to the office. bowser is trying to get him to do that and this is a way to try to increase the pressure.

Oh please. There’s no good reasons for Feds to RTO (or anyone else), especially if that’s just to support the DC economy. For Bowser to think that this is going to do anything is ludicrous and shows nothing but her desperation. No one in the Admin pays attention to her.

Many cities are having this issue. Don't just blame Bowser. I don't like her, but people need to get back to the office.

No they don’t need to get back to the office. The work is getting done. There’s absolutely no reason.
Don’t look to workers to subsidize the city. Those days are long gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My spouse works for Maryland state government and they were ordered back into the office 3 days a week like 2 years ago. I don't really get what the big deal is here. I guess 3 days would be better than 4, but I also think it's insane that there are people who haven't set foot in an office since March 2020. That was 4 years ago! It's crazy this took so long. If I was a DC employee who was required to work in person (teacher, police officer, public works employee, DMV, etc.) I'd have such immense scorn for the lazy middle managers parked on their butts in suburban home sending emails all day and never bothering to come into the office.

But you are ok with middle managers parked on their butts in urban offices sending emails all day.

Yes because if they are in the office, there is a greater likelihood they will be held accountable for their duty to the city and its citizens. I actually think it's important that DC citizens be able to interact with the people you run the city and services that residents pay for, and while some amount of WFH is fine with me, I want city employees physically in office more than half the time. Especially since my taxes pay for those offices, their computers, the servers they rely not do their job, etc.

I don't care what private sector companies choose to do with regards to WFH. My taxes don't pay their rent or their salaries. Not the case with DC government.

[Anonymous]

Honestly DC has innumerable problems right now. We need all hands on deck. I think it's a good idea to bring all the city workers back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is because biden won't order federal employees back to the office. bowser is trying to get him to do that and this is a way to try to increase the pressure.

Oh please. There’s no good reasons for Feds to RTO (or anyone else), especially if that’s just to support the DC economy. For Bowser to think that this is going to do anything is ludicrous and shows nothing but her desperation. No one in the Admin pays attention to her.

Many cities are having this issue. Don't just blame Bowser. I don't like her, but people need to get back to the office.

No they don’t need to get back to the office. The work is getting done. There’s absolutely no reason.
Don’t look to workers to subsidize the city. Those days are long gone.

Lol, who is subsidizing who here. Municipal taxes pay DC government worker salaries. Expecting those workers to come to offices in the city they serve is not asking them to "subsidize the city." It's expecting them to do their jobs in a way that meets the needs of the people they serve and who pay their salaries.

If you don't like it, get a job with a private company that guarantees WFH. I don't care. But if you work for the city, you work for taxpayers, and taxpayers want people back in their offices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is because biden won't order federal employees back to the office. bowser is trying to get him to do that and this is a way to try to increase the pressure.

Oh please. There’s no good reasons for Feds to RTO (or anyone else), especially if that’s just to support the DC economy. For Bowser to think that this is going to do anything is ludicrous and shows nothing but her desperation. No one in the Admin pays attention to her.

Many cities are having this issue. Don't just blame Bowser. I don't like her, but people need to get back to the office.

No they don’t need to get back to the office. The work is getting done. There’s absolutely no reason.
Don’t look to workers to subsidize the city. Those days are long gone.

I wish the work were getting done, but the facts show that DC's local government is a mess, and the job is not getting. Go back to the office.

[Anonymous]

[My pedantic trigger is when people refer specifically to DC as a city; as a political entity, Washington, DC is not a city. There is no "city government," there's a District government; there is no city council, there's a District council; there are no city employees, there are District employees.

Now, I am not triggered when the District and other metropolitan entities are being referred to collectively as "cities" or when DC is compared to "other cities." I also don't get DC having a State Board of Education but presume that reflects something in the USC or DOE regs.

I apologize for using your time to air my grievance.]

[Anonymous]

The problem is this memo does NOT cover OAG because it is an independent agency. THAT is the office that needs to go back to work in person everyday, given the crime and other issues in the area. There are some attorneys at OAG who have now moved out of state because previous Attorney General Karl Racine gave everyone the option to work remotely forever. THIS is a huge problem. Everyone in that office needs to be onsite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many DC government office workers are there? (Not federal)

36,000 I think.

but that number includes teachers who were already not teleworking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:City employees will rebel over this. Bowser will back down. It will return to no more than two days in office. Guaranteed.

No chance.

That’s the whole point. This is a way to reduce headcount without calling it a downsizing.

It's not a bad idea. DC government agencies are filled with people who barely work. Also, the people most likely to object to this are people who live outside DC. If the upshot of this policy is that a bunch of DC employees living in VA/MD decide to quit instead of drive (you know they would drive not take public transportation) to work in DC 4 days a week, because they care so little about getting their jobs done that actually going to an office where they might interact with the people they supposedly serve is unreasonable to them, I am all for it. Take them off the payroll and keep them from becoming pension eligible. Fill those positions with DC residents who won't clog the streets with cars everyday.

I am not a Bowser fan but support this move. It's overdue in my opinion.

1. DC Government employees don't get pensions.
2. There are plenty of people in the District who "work" and get terminated if they don't - see the OEA decisions available online.
3. DC government employees should not be required to take public transportation given the horrible crime in DC. You can if you want to though.
4. Most DC government employees have little to no interaction with the public - i.e., policy analysts, attorneys, etc. You need to disabuse yourself of the notion that every DC employee is a receptionist or sloth-like front desk agent. There is the same variety of positions in District Government that there is in the federal government and the pay is similar.
5. DC residents get hiring PREFERENCE when there are job openings. The reason DC residents haven't been hired is because clearly, the Maryland and Virginia candidates were more qualified. You can address that issue with your Mayor and/or the school Superintendent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[My pedantic trigger is when people refer specifically to DC as a city; as a political entity, Washington, DC is not a city. There is no "city government," there's a District government; there is no city council, there's a District council; there are no city employees, there are District employees.

Now, I am not triggered when the District and other metropolitan entities are being referred to collectively as "cities" or when DC is compared to "other cities." I also don't get DC having a State Board of Education but presume that reflects something in the USC or DOE regs.

I apologize for using your time to air my grievance.]

DC is both a district and a city, and no one is confused by what is meant when people talk about "city government." Get help. You don't have a grievance, you have a personality disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:City employees will rebel over this. Bowser will back down. It will return to no more than two days in office. Guaranteed.

No chance.

That’s the whole point. This is a way to reduce headcount without calling it a downsizing.

It's not a bad idea. DC government agencies are filled with people who barely work. Also, the people most likely to object to this are people who live outside DC. If the upshot of this policy is that a bunch of DC employees living in VA/MD decide to quit instead of drive (you know they would drive not take public transportation) to work in DC 4 days a week, because they care so little about getting their jobs done that actually going to an office where they might interact with the people they supposedly serve is unreasonable to them, I am all for it. Take them off the payroll and keep them from becoming pension eligible. Fill those positions with DC residents who won't clog the streets with cars everyday.

I am not a Bowser fan but support this move. It's overdue in my opinion.

1. DC Government employees don't get pensions.
2. There are plenty of people in the District who "work" and get terminated if they don't - see the OEA decisions available online.
3. DC government employees should not be required to take public transportation given the horrible crime in DC. You can if you want to though.
4. Most DC government employees have little to no interaction with the public - i.e., policy analysts, attorneys, etc. You need to disabuse yourself of the notion that every DC employee is a receptionist or sloth-like front desk agent. There is the same variety of positions in District Government that there is in the federal government and the pay is similar.
5. DC residents get hiring PREFERENCE when there are job openings. The reason DC residents haven't been hired is because clearly, the Maryland and Virginia candidates were more qualified. You can address that issue with your Mayor and/or the school Superintendent.

TL;DR

go back to the office or quit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is because biden won't order federal employees back to the office. bowser is trying to get him to do that and this is a way to try to increase the pressure.

Oh please. There’s no good reasons for Feds to RTO (or anyone else), especially if that’s just to support the DC economy. For Bowser to think that this is going to do anything is ludicrous and shows nothing but her desperation. No one in the Admin pays attention to her.

Many cities are having this issue. Don't just blame Bowser. I don't like her, but people need to get back to the office.

I took a Fed job based on the fact it's 1 day a month telework. Prior to that, I was a SAHM. We don't *need* my meager salary but it's nice to have a little extra, takes some pressure off DH as the sole provider, plus it's something to do while the kids are in school. My DH has weird work hours so the telework factor is what makes it all possible for me in the first place; to work around other needs at home. I'm not sure what sort of schedule my office had pre-Covid, but I will absolutely quit if I have to add 3 hours a day commuting to/from downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many DC government office workers are there? (Not federal)

36,000 I think.

but that number includes teachers who were already not teleworking

That doesn't sound like equity. DC teachers should be allowed to work from home as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is because biden won't order federal employees back to the office. bowser is trying to get him to do that and this is a way to try to increase the pressure.

Oh please. There’s no good reasons for Feds to RTO (or anyone else), especially if that’s just to support the DC economy. For Bowser to think that this is going to do anything is ludicrous and shows nothing but her desperation. No one in the Admin pays attention to her.

Many cities are having this issue. Don't just blame Bowser. I don't like her, but people need to get back to the office.

No they don’t need to get back to the office. The work is getting done. There’s absolutely no reason.
Don’t look to workers to subsidize the city. Those days are long gone.

I wish the work were getting done, but the facts show that DC's local government is a mess, and the job is not getting. Go back to the office.

DCHR (DC government human resources) studies done during the pandemic showed that productivity INCREASED during remote work. This decision is not about productivity and work, it is about political optics and finances. That is all. The fact that this came out of the blue a few weeks after the last telework policy revision is a clear sign of Bowser's desperation. It was not planned or rolled out in the normal manner, and agencies are scrambling to implement and message it right after they went through the last round of telework policy updates a month ago. It's a bad look and undermines agency leadership confidence in the administration.