New OPM memo on RTO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Telework can be provided for weather-related emergencies, office closures, and other situations where telework serves a compelling agency need.”

So we do have to bring laptops home everyday? Worst of all worlds.

I have a desktop in the office and a laptop for TW. Did you always work on a laptop?

Lots of places only give you a laptop and docking station at the office.

Usually you just bring your laptop home if there is a chance of inclement weather. That’s what I did when I was in a similar work situation about a decade ago.

Since I do not have a desk, I will not have anyplace to store anything...this I will probably use a roller bag for everything from my laptop to my coffee cup, sweater etc.

[Anonymous]

My organization used telework benefits to counter other offers our hires had and to recruit people away from law firms. Yes, bait and switch is crappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Telework can be provided for weather-related emergencies, office closures, and other situations where telework serves a compelling agency need.”

So we do have to bring laptops home everyday? Worst of all worlds.

But if we don’t have telework agreements then we can’t telework. My one year on probation I didn’t have a telework agreement because I wasn’t eligible, so I got any weather or other office closures off.

So basically the idea is, you telework only when it benefits the government and never when it doesn’t. Because you aren’t actually working when you telework but your when we tell you telework.

Which way is up?

+1

If I’m in office 5 days/week then I’m freeing up the space for a real guest room. I’m not going to keep a room as an office in my house in case is snows. If we revoke our telework agreements, how can they force us to telework? And notice the wording says “can approve” not mandate.

How about the liberal telework days for weather or protests? I want to ability to take advantage of them. So if that means working snow days I will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Telework can be provided for weather-related emergencies, office closures, and other situations where telework serves a compelling agency need.”

So we do have to bring laptops home everyday? Worst of all worlds.

I have a desktop in the office and a laptop for TW. Did you always work on a laptop?

Lots of places only give you a laptop and docking station at the office.

Usually you just bring your laptop home if there is a chance of inclement weather. That’s what I did when I was in a similar work situation about a decade ago.

Since I do not have a desk, I will not have anyplace to store anything...this I will probably use a roller bag for everything from my laptop to my coffee cup, sweater etc.

I’d just leave my laptop there in the office. maybe in my manager’s office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Telework can be provided for weather-related emergencies, office closures, and other situations where telework serves a compelling agency need.”

So we do have to bring laptops home everyday? Worst of all worlds.

But if we don’t have telework agreements then we can’t telework. My one year on probation I didn’t have a telework agreement because I wasn’t eligible, so I got any weather or other office closures off.

So basically the idea is, you telework only when it benefits the government and never when it doesn’t. Because you aren’t actually working when you telework but your when we tell you telework.

Which way is up?

+1

If I’m in office 5 days/week then I’m freeing up the space for a real guest room. I’m not going to keep a room as an office in my house in case is snows. If we revoke our telework agreements, how can they force us to telework? And notice the wording says “can approve” not mandate.

How about the liberal telework days for weather or protests? I want to ability to take advantage of them. So if that means working snow days I will.

Currently employees without telework agreements are not telework ready and therefore get the day off. That’s how it was for a year where I wasn’t telework eligible.

[Anonymous]

The head of my department just asked us all to submit updated telework agreements that will nominally be valid for the next 2 years. Either they are trying to get themselves fired or all of us fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of you people saying you are going to cart your laptop back and forth - just DONT. Personally, I have back pain and can't do this. They are just going to have to deal that if I am not in the office, they aren't getting any work out of me. I am not lugging my computer equipment back and forth on the metro.

Heck I’m not even taking my work IPhone home. I hope my industry enjoys everything taking 2x as long.

I do not believe we CAN telework or check emails at home. That would be "telework". It would also be exceeding our 40 hours which we aren't supposed to do.

I'm slightly concerned. I run a program that derails pretty often if I don't check up on it. I can't imagine going on vacation or sick leave and just not checking on things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Telework can be provided for weather-related emergencies, office closures, and other situations where telework serves a compelling agency need.”

So we do have to bring laptops home everyday? Worst of all worlds.

I have a desktop in the office and a laptop for TW. Did you always work on a laptop?

Lots of places only give you a laptop and docking station at the office.

Usually you just bring your laptop home if there is a chance of inclement weather. That’s what I did when I was in a similar work situation about a decade ago.

Since I do not have a desk, I will not have anyplace to store anything...this I will probably use a roller bag for everything from my laptop to my coffee cup, sweater etc.

NP you'll have a rolling "locker". That's what all of our hotelling spots have. It's a small filing cabinet thing that goes under desks and doubles as another chair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The head of my department just asked us all to submit updated telework agreements that will nominally be valid for the next 2 years. Either they are trying to get themselves fired or all of us fired.

Or they are only going to approve situational so they can make you work on snow days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a child care center and our phone is ringing off the hook today.

This makes me want to cry.

Many of us are planning on working 6-2:30 or 7-3:30 so we can spend more time with our kids. Typically my work would hate that (I work with California) but I dgaf.

DH drops the kids off in the morning and I'll get off work earlier to get them.

How do you think the rest of us raised our children? This is why so many of us non-Feds just can't get on board with all this upset. 100% teleoworkforce was never ever the goal. It was temporary and I can't understand how so many people didn't understand that.

I'm the pp you're responding to. My mom wasn't able to keep a full time job, that's how she and all the other women of her generation made it work. She either worked part time, worked weekends or worked at night (which plenty of feds were actually doing on maxiflex- working late at night). That wasn't what I wanted for myself or my generation. I had a third child mainly because of the flexibility of telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a child care center and our phone is ringing off the hook today.

This makes me want to cry.

Many of us are planning on working 6-2:30 or 7-3:30 so we can spend more time with our kids. Typically my work would hate that (I work with California) but I dgaf.

DH drops the kids off in the morning and I'll get off work earlier to get them.

How do you think the rest of us raised our children? This is why so many of us non-Feds just can't get on board with all this upset. 100% teleoworkforce was never ever the goal. It was temporary and I can't understand how so many people didn't understand that.

I'm the pp you're responding to. My mom wasn't able to keep a full time job, that's how she and all the other women of her generation made it work. She either worked part time, worked weekends or worked at night (which plenty of feds were actually doing on maxiflex- working late at night). That wasn't what I wanted for myself or my generation. I had a third child mainly because of the flexibility of telework.

Please stop responding to that person. She's got some sort of bizarre need to troll these threads and has been apparently blocked a few times already.

[Anonymous]

Email came out from our Agency -- noted that they intended to fully comply but will discuss with peer agencies and fulfill collective bargaining obligations in revising the telework policies.

I don't wish to be in my agency leadership's shoes now. I'll gladly take the 2 days/PP TW that we used to have before COVID. Most of us are back 4-6 days/PP anyway and adding a couple of days is not a problem. The pointless pinprick requests for situational TW will drive my poor supervisor mad.

[Anonymous]

which plenty of feds were actually doing on maxiflex- working late at night

Yes, super early morning, late at night, middle of the night when I could not sleep. The government has gotten so many extra hours out of me. But no more, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Ours sent out a very simple one paragraph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ours sent out a very simple one paragraph.

which said?