Anonymous
Post 02/26/2025 13:58     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
So they order folks to 425 I St. That's more than 50 miles from most BVA attorneys and VLJs, so the government has to pay to relocate them. Does BVA have the money for those relocations, let alone the money to update and re-outfit 425? There's a lot more to be worked out here. In short, no one knows exactly what the (seemingly increasingly distant) future holds. BVA is in a unique position due to its both its distributed nature and the sheer number of folks who perform services directly related to statutory duties.

BVA is mostly attorneys and judges, and folks that support attorneys and judges. It's not doing things like establishing random policies and interpreting environmental laws in an ever broadening manner. In short, there's not a ton of fat to trim or non-essential personnel.

We can't control what happens. No sense in worrying about it.

Anonymous
Post 02/26/2025 12:34     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:“No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.”

Anyone gotten any guidance on the implications of this? Will they find us a local space or is it back to DC or fired?


There's no space to find. I wouldn't worry about it. They'll likely make exceptions for BVA. Congress is already leaning on the secretary to do so.


Unless you have more information than what I've found out there, i think that what you said is, unfortunately, probably just wishful thinking. The letter from congress to collins was signed only by the ranking Democrat members of the House and Senate committees. There's no indication in the letter of support from the Republican majority. Pressure from Democrats and the union is not going to sway anything. Collins seemed to agree wholeheartedly when Blackburn echoed Musk during confirmation proceedings, saying that telework is unethical, teleworkers don't actually work, and telework policies favor federal employees at the expense of the public (and veterans specifically, in our case). The union, VLJs, and SSCs keep saying that the Board is in a better position than most when it comes to telework. That may be true, but in the end it doesn't seem like it will mean much.


I agree. I would not be surprised if they try to recoup some of the space at 425 I Street. There is at least one empty floor in the building.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2025 12:23     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:“No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.”

Anyone gotten any guidance on the implications of this? Will they find us a local space or is it back to DC or fired?


There's no space to find. I wouldn't worry about it. They'll likely make exceptions for BVA. Congress is already leaning on the secretary to do so.


Unless you have more information than what I've found out there, i think that what you said is, unfortunately, probably just wishful thinking. The letter from congress to collins was signed only by the ranking Democrat members of the House and Senate committees. There's no indication in the letter of support from the Republican majority. Pressure from Democrats and the union is not going to sway anything. Collins seemed to agree wholeheartedly when Blackburn echoed Musk during confirmation proceedings, saying that telework is unethical, teleworkers don't actually work, and telework policies favor federal employees at the expense of the public (and veterans specifically, in our case). The union, VLJs, and SSCs keep saying that the Board is in a better position than most when it comes to telework. That may be true, but in the end it doesn't seem like it will mean much.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2025 11:23     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:“No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.”

Anyone gotten any guidance on the implications of this? Will they find us a local space or is it back to DC or fired?


There's no space to find. I wouldn't worry about it. They'll likely make exceptions for BVA. Congress is already leaning on the secretary to do so.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2025 10:40     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
“No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.”

Anyone gotten any guidance on the implications of this? Will they find us a local space or is it back to DC or fired?
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 12:20     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can I just get fired already so I can file for UE and go fishing?


You should have taken the fork.


Board attorneys were not permitted to take the fork offer.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 12:10     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:Not at the board, but just saw reports of mass layoffs. Is the BVA affected?


Not to my knowledge. They went after BUE probies within the VA but I think it was limited to support staff. As far as I know, they didn't hit mission critical roles such as healthcare providers, judges or decision drafting attorneys.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 11:59     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can I just get fired already so I can file for UE and go fishing?


You should have taken the fork.


People who took the fork offer were forked over in other places. They were fired.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 11:57     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:Can I just get fired already so I can file for UE and go fishing?


You should have taken the fork.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 11:47     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Not at the board, but just saw reports of mass layoffs. Is the BVA affected?
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 11:30     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Can I just get fired already so I can file for UE and go fishing?
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2025 06:06     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
:?: summarily fired? Guessing that a big portion of the Board will be then because the guidance was to respond.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Apparently the underlying purpose of the 5 bullet points bs is to feed it to AI to figure out who is mission critical: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/federal-workers-agencies-push-back-elon-musks-email-ultimatum-rcna193439

I guess if you haven’t done yours yet, emphasize how important our work is for the mission? This is so stupid.


I seriously doubt the AI will find any of the responses mission critical. Hope those of you who responded are dues paying BUE or have a complaint ready to send to OSC cause you're getting summarily fired.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2025 20:47     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
The other big question is whether they'll find space for the non-DC area people in their localities or if they'll try to recall everyone to DC...
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2025 20:03     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:Anyone hearing anything at all regarding Board RTO? The email guidance last week seemed pretty stern that no exemptions would be given. I'm just wondering how they could be planning to navigate this since the Board literally has employees coast to coast.


To my knowledge, the VA memo which went out last week indicated that our remote work agreements cannot be terminated until we have a workspace assigned to us in writing. That puts much of the BVA in limbo right now due to the 425 I Street constraints.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2025 19:49     Subject: Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyone hearing anything at all regarding Board RTO? The email guidance last week seemed pretty stern that no exemptions would be given. I'm just wondering how they could be planning to navigate this since the Board literally has employees coast to coast.


I think any RTO guidance has to hold until after this week since Leon posted that any remote worker not returning to an office this week will be placed on admin leave.


VLJ RTO is paused until they hear different