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[quote=Anonymous][quote]I'm a lawyer with DOJ and have never worked at the SEC, but I have many friends there.  They all came from firms and are all very happy.  They have no reason to sugar coat it for me, and they have their complaints like people do with any job, but none of them would say it's a bad place to work.  Based on what I know about their jobs, I'm really surprised at some of the low rankings in that link.  For example, SEC attorneys are allowed to telework, they are allowed flex scheduling, they get comp time, and they get paid way more than other government lawyers.  So when I see low rankings for pay or family friendliness or work/life balance, I have to roll my eyes a bit.  Maybe people comparing the SEC to some other cushy government jobs are disappointed, but compared to my job at DOJ (where I work my ass off for less money and zero perks like telework, flex scheduling, etc.) or law firm jobs, the SEC seems pretty awesome.[/quote]

Not the PP you're responding to but I, too, used to work at the SEC and left because of the poor environment.  Leadership is extremely poor, unsupportive and sometimes vindictive.  I realize this behavior exists to some degree everywhere but it wasn't always this way at SEC and it’s like nowhere else I’ve been.  Several individuals I worked with were unfairly targeted and when you witness something like that, it’s incredibly demoralizing. It was abusive.  I think that’s one of the reasons the survey results are so low.  Yes, the money is good and some can telework (not every division allows it or flexible schedules and the agency is proposing to eliminate telework for everyone).  The FLRA recently found the SEC had been negotiating with the union in bad faith. As a result of the finding, the SEC Chairman was required to post this notice http://www.secunion.org/files/ULPFLRANotice.pdf .

I wasn’t eligible to join the union but I know from talking with the stewards that membership was at an all time high.  I also know a lot of non-attorney staff were getting professional liability insurance – people like COTRs and low level contracting officers.  That’s unusual.  The IG they had (David Kotz who left last year) was a whacko who saw wrongdoing at every turn.  His reports/investigations were poorly done and factually incorrect yet ‘leadership’ required concurrence with his findings.  If you were someone targeted in one of his reports (as some people I know were), if you didn’t have professional liability insurance, it became very costly to defend yourself.

I don’t know what division/office your friends work in but it sounds like your friends were in an area where they were shielded.  Not everyone is so lucky.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sec-officials-lawyering-up/2011/09/14/gIQAWmYkSK_story.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_J._Aguirre  - Largest settlement ever disclosed by the MSPB.
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/11/11/Complaint%20to%20CIGIE%20Concerning%20the%20SEC%20OIG.pdf 
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