A lot of my coworkers are taking the fork offer

[Anonymous]

SSA just pushed out an email from HR that this is legal and they will honor it. (SSA by itself cannot make this legal). But, they exempted huge portions of the workforce form eligibility (I’m one). The are also offering VERA— but again, exempting huge portions of the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSA just pushed out an email from HR that this is legal and they will honor it. (SSA by itself cannot make this legal). But, they exempted huge portions of the workforce form eligibility (I’m one). The are also offering VERA— but again, exempting huge portions of the workforce.

I posted the above. I guess this insulates me from RIFs? (We also have huge sections exempted from the hiring freeze. Our personnel numbers are the lowest they have been in 50 years. Not per capita, as a hard number. As the boomers require. The backlogs are crazy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many people posted on this site that if they had to RTO, they were quitting? Why wouldn’t these people take the offer if they were planning on quitting instead of going back anyway?

never underestimate the power of federal workers' spite, amanda!

We are resilient AF.

Honestly, the biggest takeaway I hope people get from this is that federal employees are gritty and committed—despite the narrative. We do a lot with a little, put up with enormous loads of BS, and handle ourselves pretty well.

As a non fed who in the past has questioned the productivity of feds (after seeing some bad apples), I have a fresh perspective and am rooting for you all! Stuck it to them.

Thank you for this.

Part of me is really feeling the "we can do anything with Spite." But the biggest part of me is sad and scared for the people we serve.

We're the plumbing and electrical wiring of this country's house. It's often hidden, and a little unglamorous, and when you have to think about us, it's usually because something went wrong. Of course you are going to be mad -- the promise was that we had a well-run country that would be your springboard for entrepreneurship, raising a family, doing hard years of training and work to move up the economic ladder; heck -- even just have a picnic at a state park without contaminated water.

You were supposed to be able to buy food without cutting into meat and finding abscesses. You were supposed to be able to count on a trip to see family without being killed in a plane crash.

All of that is work. Up to 2 million people are involved in that work, one way or the other. You know how there's an arsehole in your family, say, one for every 20 or 30 in the extended family, if you're lucky? We've got them, too. Sorry.

But you know how your own house falls apart without maintenance? This country does, too.

It's NOT heroic. It's NOT that we are fabulous exciting saints. We're people who fill in spreadsheets, and make small decisions, and drive to places to do inspections, and order parts, and all of it. And if we aren't there, the place is likely to fall down.

There are ways to make changes, improve efficiency, all of it. But this yahoo is setting the place on fire.



I hate this.

I am going to keep doing my job. I hope it all works out. I don't know what else to do.

This is perfect. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the persistent insistence no one is taking it or should take it utterly clueless. Buy outs are common in the private sector and guess what, people take them. All the time. Turnover in any large corporation, even those with excellent reputations for being employee friendly is typically around 10% in a given year. People leave all the time. If you were already thinking about moving on and leaving your agency for something else, this is as good an opportunity as any.

Big differences:
Buyouts are cash payments. Federal government is only authorized to give you a 25k cash payment. This isn't a buyout, it's a promise that you can work remotely until September, possibly with administrative leave, if so authorized, and with the ability to get a second job, if your agency doesn't prohibit it. That's a lot more strings than a private sector buyout.

Private sector employees are at will. They understand that if they don't take the buyout, they can just be fired during the next round of cuts, with limited or no severance. Federal workers have more job protections than private sector workers so they are giving up more when they take a buyout. While RIFs may be possible in the neat future, there is a process, and there are certain rights that come in terms of payouts and getting bumped up the list when you apply for other jobs. Schedule F is a process to be played out. It's not simple because the federal government can't just up and fire you, unless you're on probation, which is a group of people more likely to take this deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lol. I think the OP is trying to “Baldoni” us. Lol. No idiot would accept these offers. Even folks I know who were contemplating retirement imminently are now holding off because things are so unstable right now.

There are plenty of idiots in the Federal employ.
Think of this as natural selection.

[Anonymous]

Shows the mentality of the WFH or bust, more productive WFH crowd. No problem with pay for no work. Must not be an unfamiliar concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids. Nobody is taking that trash offer.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shows the mentality of the WFH or bust, more productive WFH crowd. No problem with pay for no work. Must not be an unfamiliar concept.

Except that is not what the offer really is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m taking it. No way I’m returning to the office. Working remotely has allowed me to work two jobs. I’ll never work in an office again.

You should be fired for working two jobs. Good riddance.

Yes, stealing someone else’s opportunity to earn a wage is cruel.

As a fed, you're not allowed to moonlight.

Go to work for the private sector company you are regulating, collect two salaries despite the blatant conflict of interest, use OPM's email to sue when you get fired

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe you

plus 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shows the mentality of the WFH or bust, more productive WFH crowd. No problem with pay for no work. Must not be an unfamiliar concept.

Except that is not what the offer really is.

Well it's a scam but latest is you are free to visit your dream vacation spot...

[Anonymous]

My SES boss said they won't honor it if there's work that needs to be done. Which there is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they are crazy because I doubt that they will actually get the full “buyout.” It will also make work awful for me - I’d guess that about half of my immediate coworkers are taking it. And we are already swamped. But I question the prevailing sentiment that “barely anyone will take this.” At least in my division, that is not true.

do it do it do it

leave federal feeding trough

[Anonymous]

You must work with a lot of dummies

[Anonymous]

Let's say you're a 25-year-old litigation paralegal. Your skills can get you a job at basically any law firm or government agency. Of course you're going to take the deferred resignation. It's 8 months of pay for doing nothing, and at the end of it, it's doubtful that you'll have difficulty finding a new job.

I think lots of the folks on here are very senior and/or in specialized roles where it makes no sense to take the deferred resignation. But try to put yourselves in the shoes of younger people in less specialized areas.