Our formal telework agreements are cancelled.
They allowed us to replace them with situational telework agreements, but we've been told that no situational or ad hoc telework will actually be approved "until we receive further guidance from the Department."

So for the days that I, my kids, or my elderly mom have medical appointments, I am taking a sick day. Up until now, I have always teleworked on days that I have appointments. I'd take the few hours needed for the appointment, then teleworked the rest of the day. Since my commute is an hour each way on a good day, and my commute is dependent on the I-95 express lanes, it makes zero sense for me to go into the office on appointment days.

If they're going to destroy work-life balance for employees with longer commutes, then I am more than happy to use the sick time I have accrued and barely used over the past 17 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DoD is saying situational telework is only for weather or other emergencies so not to benefit the employee. we were told we could not telework before a medical appointment or for a sick kid. I plan to leave my laptop at the office every day.

Does it really benefit primarily the *employee* to be able to WFH while sick or recovering from surgery? I have 1000 hours of sick leave banked. I think it benefits the agency more than me to be able to work rather than get paid for watching TV for weeks while my foot heals.

Not everyone has 1000 hours. I’m in the negative because I had to borrow sick leave to recover from my c-section, and that was over a year ago. So yes, being able to WFH when I’m sick benefits me because I would lose my job if I could not borrow any more sick leave and ran out of FMLA. And it allows me to recover faster if I’m not run ragged by commuting 2 hours every day.

Why didn’t you have Paid Parental leave if you’re a fed who has a baby just one year ago?

They likely took more than 3 months.

Well, that’d be a personal decision, rather than a medical necessity, barring unusual complications.

Point is, a lot feds have many hours of sick leave banked, and we accrue 13 days a year, and with a ban on telework, the result will be much more paid sick leave being used.

You don't know that. Some babies are born premie or with health issues that require more time at home. Some women suffer medical complications from pregnancy that require more than the minimum recovery.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of little kids with a 2 hour commute (I sought out a remote job because we live near my spouse's 5 day a week in person job), let me tell you how this is going to work.

I'm going to have to use a full day of leave for every appointment and every kid sick day, instead of a few hours split with my partner and/or making up work late. When I inevitably catch the flu or whatever after being home with sick kids, I'll be too low on leave to stay home longer, so I'll be bringing my illness on the train, metro, and into the office.

This is how it was with my oldest before I had a telework friendly job. I went in with pinkeye. I went in coughing and sneezing all day. I just didn't have the leave.

A two hour commute? How are you within 50 miles?

NP here. I live 19 miles from my office (which moved further from me last year). Taking public transportation is a 64 minute ride alone, not including a 20 min drive to the metro station plus a 15 walk once off the metro. I could easily imagine someone having a 2 hour commute even if they live within 50 miles.

I like 18 miles away in Fairfax. Not near a metro. It currently takes 1 hour. I pay for guaranteed parking. I suspect the commute will get worse. It is going suck. My kids have appointments coming up and literally just talked to my husband about how to handle.

There is no way I will drive 1 hour downtown, one hour back home to get my kid to school And the 30 min. To appointment and then reverse to get back to work and then again to get back home. Nope. I will just will not go to work that day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DoD is saying situational telework is only for weather or other emergencies so not to benefit the employee. we were told we could not telework before a medical appointment or for a sick kid. I plan to leave my laptop at the office every day.

Does it really benefit primarily the *employee* to be able to WFH while sick or recovering from surgery? I have 1000 hours of sick leave banked. I think it benefits the agency more than me to be able to work rather than get paid for watching TV for weeks while my foot heals.

Not everyone has 1000 hours. I’m in the negative because I had to borrow sick leave to recover from my c-section, and that was over a year ago. So yes, being able to WFH when I’m sick benefits me because I would lose my job if I could not borrow any more sick leave and ran out of FMLA. And it allows me to recover faster if I’m not run ragged by commuting 2 hours every day.

Why didn’t you have Paid Parental leave if you’re a fed who has a baby just one year ago?

They likely took more than 3 months.

Well, that’d be a personal decision, rather than a medical necessity, barring unusual complications.

Point is, a lot feds have many hours of sick leave banked, and we accrue 13 days a year, and with a ban on telework, the result will be much more paid sick leave being used.

OPM encourages, or at least encouraged, sick leave to be used for birth recovery, followed by PPL. This is why both the birthing parent and non birthing parent get the same amount of time off. I think it’s fair to say that people who used sick leave to recover from childbirth—or who used sick leave to recover from anything recently—might feel blindsighted by the complete telework ban. I 100% anticipated being back in the office full time, I already come in 4-5 days a week, but didn’t think they would go beyond what we had in 2019, which included ad hoc and situational telework. I also don’t have tons of sick leave banked because of childbirth and daycare illnesses. The ability to telework after the baby got better and I was still contagious has been essential in protecting my coworkers and moving projects along.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DoD is saying situational telework is only for weather or other emergencies so not to benefit the employee. we were told we could not telework before a medical appointment or for a sick kid. I plan to leave my laptop at the office every day.

Does it really benefit primarily the *employee* to be able to WFH while sick or recovering from surgery? I have 1000 hours of sick leave banked. I think it benefits the agency more than me to be able to work rather than get paid for watching TV for weeks while my foot heals.

Not everyone has 1000 hours. I’m in the negative because I had to borrow sick leave to recover from my c-section, and that was over a year ago. So yes, being able to WFH when I’m sick benefits me because I would lose my job if I could not borrow any more sick leave and ran out of FMLA. And it allows me to recover faster if I’m not run ragged by commuting 2 hours every day.

Why didn’t you have Paid Parental leave if you’re a fed who has a baby just one year ago?

They likely took more than 3 months.

Well, that’d be a personal decision, rather than a medical necessity, barring unusual complications.

Point is, a lot feds have many hours of sick leave banked, and we accrue 13 days a year, and with a ban on telework, the result will be much more paid sick leave being used.

That is a HUMANE position that most of the rest of the civilized world goes by. Many places it is a YEAR at home and that is as it should be for people who want it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of little kids with a 2 hour commute (I sought out a remote job because we live near my spouse's 5 day a week in person job), let me tell you how this is going to work.

I'm going to have to use a full day of leave for every appointment and every kid sick day, instead of a few hours split with my partner and/or making up work late. When I inevitably catch the flu or whatever after being home with sick kids, I'll be too low on leave to stay home longer, so I'll be bringing my illness on the train, metro, and into the office.

This is how it was with my oldest before I had a telework friendly job. I went in with pinkeye. I went in coughing and sneezing all day. I just didn't have the leave.

I have sympathy for you because this is new, but know that many of us have dealt with this all along and are proof that you’ll be okay.

+1 this was normal until 2020. But it also meant that women who are parents were less likely to advance in their roles. I had kids in daycare and remember breaking down in tears when I got a call to pick them up AGAIN because I thought I might lose my job.

Through remote work over the last 5 years I've been promoted twice and make almost double what I did before. Flexible schedules made that possible.

could people please be accurate? this was NOT normal before 2020. telework has been BANNED.

prior to 2020 my office could work remotely every wednesday and you could duck out fewer than 8.5 hours after walking in and finish up at home. not like at 3pm, but 4:30 was fine, even if you showed up at 9. you could log on over the weekend and advance projects instead of coming into the office.

this will not be the situation now. we have zero telework. if i have a west coast filling i will be here till 9. if i have a monday deposition i will be in the office sunday to prepare. this isn’t an RTO it is a telework ban and we must characterize it as such.

Agree. I'm at PTO and our management has made clear we are not permitted to TW -excepted "situationally", which is viewed as rare- for any of a full bi-week. We have to be in the office. They are not permitting "hardship" exceptions. They're also negating much of the workplace flexibility we have had. AND they are TRACKING it now to make sure people are as miserable as possible.

PTO used to be a wonderful place to work and now it's a former shell of itself. People are pissed and miserable. And this is so even though our acting director used to be a staff attorney who had the benefit of these flexibilities when she was employed here. Now she's just another sycophant.

NP and do you have a ballpark percentage of people that are eligible to TW at PTO vs. not? Seems like the bargaining unit would constitute a large percentage of the agency but I have no data point for that view.

All CBAs are being honored for now and that's the majority of PTO. But all the support divisions and supervision over the CBA employees have to come back. They're being thrown under the bus. So we'll be back to sit at computers and have Teams meetings with the rest of our workforce, stakeholders, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of little kids with a 2 hour commute (I sought out a remote job because we live near my spouse's 5 day a week in person job), let me tell you how this is going to work.

I'm going to have to use a full day of leave for every appointment and every kid sick day, instead of a few hours split with my partner and/or making up work late. When I inevitably catch the flu or whatever after being home with sick kids, I'll be too low on leave to stay home longer, so I'll be bringing my illness on the train, metro, and into the office.

This is how it was with my oldest before I had a telework friendly job. I went in with pinkeye. I went in coughing and sneezing all day. I just didn't have the leave.

I have sympathy for you because this is new, but know that many of us have dealt with this all along and are proof that you’ll be okay.

+1 this was normal until 2020. But it also meant that women who are parents were less likely to advance in their roles. I had kids in daycare and remember breaking down in tears when I got a call to pick them up AGAIN because I thought I might lose my job.

Through remote work over the last 5 years I've been promoted twice and make almost double what I did before. Flexible schedules made that possible.

could people please be accurate? this was NOT normal before 2020. telework has been BANNED.

prior to 2020 my office could work remotely every wednesday and you could duck out fewer than 8.5 hours after walking in and finish up at home. not like at 3pm, but 4:30 was fine, even if you showed up at 9. you could log on over the weekend and advance projects instead of coming into the office.

this will not be the situation now. we have zero telework. if i have a west coast filling i will be here till 9. if i have a monday deposition i will be in the office sunday to prepare. this isn’t an RTO it is a telework ban and we must characterize it as such.

Agree. I'm at PTO and our management has made clear we are not permitted to TW -excepted "situationally", which is viewed as rare- for any of a full bi-week. We have to be in the office. They are not permitting "hardship" exceptions. They're also negating much of the workplace flexibility we have had. AND they are TRACKING it now to make sure people are as miserable as possible.

PTO used to be a wonderful place to work and now it's a former shell of itself. People are pissed and miserable. And this is so even though our acting director used to be a staff attorney who had the benefit of these flexibilities when she was employed here. Now she's just another sycophant.

What does 'tracking' entail? Making sure people are in the office? Putting monitoring software on computers for keystrokes? Looking for badge swipes?

Just wondering what to expect at a different agency.

Weekly reports to the front office. They can already track badge swipes, "presence indicator", call back times, and other ways to track where you are and productivity. They want to make sure employees are not using any flexibility whatsoever.

So sad. As someone said, it's not the RTO, it is the complete change in culture and allowed flexibility that is going to drive me out. The agency used to be the shining star of work life balance for the last 20+ years.