Government employee thread! (Being a government employee is sweet) (1 Viewer)

[-OZ-]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

 

[Sleestak]

I hope this newly aware majority is also aware that to achieve the desired $2T in deficit reduction, they have two choices: Raise revenue or impoverish retirees.

Useful pie chart for an informed discussion. In that chart, "Health Insurance" means Medicare and Medicaid.

I think there is widespread understanding that the 2 trillion "stretch goal" is not likely to be achieved. I believe the DOGE leaders recently were placing odds on 500billion to 1 trillion on Twitter.

Yeah, for the heck of it I tried coming up with a list of cuts that would get significant savings, and there were some real doozies:

Cut the DOD by 1/3 immediately (recessionary) (300B)

Means test SS with eligibility only for those under 4x federal poverty level income AND under $1M net worth (yes, the Fed will need to know what you own) (300B)

Push all economic security programs to the States (Not a bad idea - end Federal welfare) (300B)

etc

I'll stop there because it is all speculative, is becoming too political, and really isn't germane to this thread.

 

[TripItUp]

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

So you are forecasting that DOGE will have little to no impact on govt jobs and spending?

I don't know the answer and don't pretend to know the complexities of how something like this would get done, which is why I keep saying it's "TBD". I do know that it appears like they are going to try to cut govt jobs and spending.

 

[Max Power]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

I'm hoping DOGE exposes some aspects of wasteful federal spending to the masses. Similar to Rand Paul's Festivus report a couple years back. The exposure can lead to the masses highlighting what they want congress to stop funding.

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

 

[Capella]

So you are forecasting that DOGE will have little to no impact on govt jobs and spending?

I’m sure they will publish something that exposes waste but as far as impactful actions, no, nothing is going to happen.

 

[thecatch]

We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

I haven’t handled a disciplinary case in a few years, but I advise plenty of supervisors. Almost every one of them are reluctant to discipline an employee for anything short of truly egregious stuff. I understand empathy but some of it is ridiculous.

Even if you get a motivated supervisor willing to deal with the burden of initiating the disciplinary process as a public service (because it's certainly easier to let it go), you also can get the next level of the management chain to nix it because they don't want to deal with it. It is a truly bonkers system.

 

[Sleestak]

January 9th

Yep. Off on the 9th per EO, out of respect for President Carter.

 

[-OZ-]

January 9th

Yep. Off on the 9th per EO, out of respect for President Carter.

Sweet. I’m already taking the 10th off. Then in conference the next week

 

[ChiefD]

studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

So.......how many?

 

[-OZ-]

studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

So.......how many?

I’ll go ask my friend

 

[Max Power]

studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

So.......how many?

I'll guess 14 non-lite beers.

I had to google it, but it was actually mice that we got drunk.

Even worse... We spent 118k of taxpayer money to study "whether the evil Thanos really could snap his fingers while wearing the Infinity Glove and make half of all life in the universe disappear."
The finding: snapping your fingers in a metal glove probably wouldn’t work.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

I'm hoping DOGE exposes some aspects of wasteful federal spending to the masses. Similar to Rand Paul's Festivus report a couple years back. The exposure can lead to the masses highlighting what they want congress to stop funding.

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

a thoughtful, rigorous look at government spending is long overdue - no doubt.

the biggest risk is these DOGE types just going for headlines and also undermining ...if not destroying entire departments that are critical. Hasn't been done before? Well we've never had this kind of people running the government before.

 

[Max Power]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

I'm hoping DOGE exposes some aspects of wasteful federal spending to the masses. Similar to Rand Paul's Festivus report a couple years back. The exposure can lead to the masses highlighting what they want congress to stop funding.

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

a thoughtful, rigorous look at government spending is long overdue - no doubt.

the biggest risk is these DOGE types just going for headlines and also undermining ...if not destroying entire departments that are critical. Hasn't been done before? Well we've never had this kind of people running the government before.

Maybe I missed it, but what proposals or recommendations has DOGE announced already?

If we're being fair about it, the kind of people we've had running the government historically are the ones who got us in this situation.

 

[Orange&Blue]

man, I more than hope that it works out well for all of you guys ...most of you made an informal agreement when you went to work for the gubmint ...paid less BUT more job security and retirement plan.

It was a trade off for me when I switched from a defense contractor to a Government Civilian. I took a big pay cut at the time, but I've also saved myself from two contract rebids that cut salaries both times. Long run I'm better off.

The job security thing swings both ways though. There are plenty of government employees abusing their job security. I've worked with a guy for 15 years now who has been by far our worst employee. The government sector has limited upward mobility at one point or another, so I've watched several of my co-workers cut their efforts to just above his level. We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

are they/you in GS?

we are in acqdemo and we've had better success in our organization in dealing with poor performers. it's not perfect, but certainly better.

 

[Max Power]

man, I more than hope that it works out well for all of you guys ...most of you made an informal agreement when you went to work for the gubmint ...paid less BUT more job security and retirement plan.

It was a trade off for me when I switched from a defense contractor to a Government Civilian. I took a big pay cut at the time, but I've also saved myself from two contract rebids that cut salaries both times. Long run I'm better off.

The job security thing swings both ways though. There are plenty of government employees abusing their job security. I've worked with a guy for 15 years now who has been by far our worst employee. The government sector has limited upward mobility at one point or another, so I've watched several of my co-workers cut their efforts to just above his level. We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

are they/you in GS?

we are in acqdemo and we've had better success in our organization in dealing with poor performers. it's not perfect, but certainly better.

Technically GG employees, but its the same process for GS.

A lot of our push back comes from legal. There are so many boxes to check during the removal process it becomes a year long ordeal.

The last guy who was fired for inappropriate conduct actually sued the government and won.

 

[belljr]

Not GS here

 

[-OZ-]

A lot of our push back comes from legal. There are so many boxes to check during the removal process it becomes a year long ordeal.

“Pushback from legal” usually means documentation and rationale weaknesses. Which is largely due to the MSPB being very employee friendly.
The servicing HR and attorneys should be offering training before these issues get out of hand.

 

[Max Power]

A lot of our push back comes from legal. There are so many boxes to check during the removal process it becomes a year long ordeal.

“Pushback from legal” usually means documentation and rationale weaknesses. Which is largely due to the MSPB being very employee friendly.
The servicing HR and attorneys should be offering training before these issues get out of hand.

From my experience, (and I don't know how unique our command is) the issue can be boiled down to the fact that we change first line supervisors every 2-3 years. We have a brigade of civilians working different jobs under the same PD in a 24/7 environment. Who a civilian reports to and their rating chain changes all the time.

The documentation becomes a problem because it has to start with a first line supervisor. Verbal, written, and then a 6 month PIP, which easily becomes a year long PIP is any improvement was shown.

First line supervisors aren't given access to an employee's file unless they go seeking it, which most supervisors don't do unless they have a reason to. This makes existing issues seem "new" to a new supervisor unless they were aware of the behavior before.

We've also had an issue with employees complaining to legal when one supervisor will write them up for something a previous supervisor didn't. This gets thrown into middle management's face about consistency and often derails the whole process.

 

[-OZ-]

A lot of our push back comes from legal. There are so many boxes to check during the removal process it becomes a year long ordeal.

“Pushback from legal” usually means documentation and rationale weaknesses. Which is largely due to the MSPB being very employee friendly.
The servicing HR and attorneys should be offering training before these issues get out of hand.

From my experience, (and I don't know how unique our command is) the issue can be boiled down to the fact that we change first line supervisors every 2-3 years. We have a brigade of civilians working different jobs under the same PD in a 24/7 environment. Who a civilian reports to and their rating chain changes all the time.

The documentation becomes a problem because it has to start with a first line supervisor. Verbal, written, and then a 6 month PIP, which easily becomes a year long PIP is any improvement was shown.

First line supervisors aren't given access to an employee's file unless they go seeking it, which most supervisors don't do unless they have a reason to. This makes existing issues seem "new" to a new supervisor unless they were aware of the behavior before.

We've also had an issue with employees complaining to legal when one supervisor will write them up for something a previous supervisor didn't. This gets thrown into middle management's face about consistency and often derails the whole process.

Those are all legit issues. There are methods, like Last Chance agreements and ensuring every supervisor does their job which will help. But yeah, I hear you loud and clear.

 

[Orange&Blue]

I hope this newly aware majority is also aware that to achieve the desired $2T in deficit reduction, they have two choices: Raise revenue or impoverish retirees.

Useful pie chart for an informed discussion. In that chart, "Health Insurance" means Medicare and Medicaid.

I think there is widespread understanding that the 2 trillion "stretch goal" is not likely to be achieved. I believe the DOGE leaders recently were placing odds on 500billion to 1 trillion on Twitter.

Yeah, for the heck of it I tried coming up with a list of cuts that would get significant savings, and there were some real doozies:

Cut the DOD by 1/3 immediately (recessionary) (300B)

Means test SS with eligibility only for those under 4x federal poverty level income AND under $1M net worth (yes, the Fed will need to know what you own) (300B)

Push all economic security programs to the States (Not a bad idea - end Federal welfare) (300B)

etc

I'll stop there because it is all speculative, is becoming too political, and really isn't germane to this thread.

you do that you should go ahead and tell china to invade Taiwan.

 

[dgreen]

I'm hearing all managers in my agency will soon be required to report to the office full time. Some rumors are even saying it is effective as early as Monday, but that's so unbelievable that I, well, don't believe it.

 

[belljr]

Thank God I'm not a manager

 

[dgreen]

My guess is this is about managers because general workforce are unionized. So, I really look forward to being in the office every day while I have virtual meetings with my staff who are all at home most days. That makes sense.

 

[-OZ-]

My guess is this is about managers because general workforce are unionized. So, I really look forward to being in the office every day while I have virtual meetings with my staff who are all at home most days. That makes sense.

Unfortunately, my team isn’t part of the union as we’re not eligible due to our advising and representing the government. We haven’t heard anything about going back to the office full time but we expect it’s coming.

 

[Capella]

Going to be a long week ahead I imagine.

 

[-OZ-]

Going to be a long week ahead I imagine.

 

[tommyGunZ]

We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

I haven’t handled a disciplinary case in a few years, but I advise plenty of supervisors. Almost every one of them are reluctant to discipline an employee for anything short of truly egregious stuff. I understand empathy but some of it is ridiculous.

Even if you get a motivated supervisor willing to deal with the burden of initiating the disciplinary process as a public service (because it's certainly easier to let it go), you also can get the next level of the management chain to nix it because they don't want to deal with it. It is a truly bonkers system.

This happens in the private sector as well. Has nothing to do with government.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

I'm hoping DOGE exposes some aspects of wasteful federal spending to the masses. Similar to Rand Paul's Festivus report a couple years back. The exposure can lead to the masses highlighting what they want congress to stop funding.

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

 

[tommyGunZ]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

I'd be all in supporting a governmental commission to review waste and find savings and efficiencies if I felt it was in good faith and merit based in a legitimate effort to reduce the deficit. The fact that this effort is being done by a committee of celebrities with no teeth, while the same folks are promising a massive deficit adding tax cut, tells me this is nothing more than nonsense for the masses who don't pay attention and who believe in Skittle eating unicorns. There is nothing more silly and child like than the idea that we can solve our debt issues by cutting taxes and laying off OTHER PEOPLE.

 

[dgreen]

My guess is this is about managers because general workforce are unionized. So, I really look forward to being in the office every day while I have virtual meetings with my staff who are all at home most days. That makes sense.

Unfortunately, my team isn’t part of the union as we’re not eligible due to our advising and representing the government. We haven’t heard anything about going back to the office full time but we expect it’s coming.

Not surprisingly the early news/rumors were blown a little out of proportion. While the word may eventually come that we have to be in the office every day, right now we are just be encouraged to come in more than required to help with office utilization rates. The reality is that our building can't hold all of us. We need to show we are using our building and that will hopefully keep the eyes off our agency for a while. So, I'm going to bump my time in office up.

 

[tommyGunZ]

My guess is this is about managers because general workforce are unionized. So, I really look forward to being in the office every day while I have virtual meetings with my staff who are all at home most days. That makes sense.

Unfortunately, my team isn’t part of the union as we’re not eligible due to our advising and representing the government. We haven’t heard anything about going back to the office full time but we expect it’s coming.

Not surprisingly the early news/rumors were blown a little out of proportion. While the word may eventually come that we have to be in the office every day, right now we are just be encouraged to come in more than required to help with office utilization rates. The reality is that our building can't hold all of us. We need to show we are using our building and that will hopefully keep the eyes off our agency for a while. So, I'm going to bump my time in office up.

"Ghost badging" is real.

 

[Max Power]

Govt cuts will be the hot topic for the next several months. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How many jobs can DOGE remove with and without congressional support, not to mention the support of the majority of American people who are becoming increasingly aware of the debt crisis.

The POTUS will undoubtedly try to use his executive powers and the SCOTUS is likely to back him based on recent rulings IMHO. Will that and a narrow congressional majority be enough is TBD.

He wants to raise the debt ceiling lol. He doesn’t care at all about lowering that. I can’t believe even his most fervent supporters believe that.

Doge isn’t even a government agency. They cannot and will not be able to eliminate agencies. This is just fanfic for people who are terminally online.

Right. It’s sort of a study group. The government has had those before, with insignificant impact.

I'm hoping DOGE exposes some aspects of wasteful federal spending to the masses. Similar to Rand Paul's Festivus report a couple years back. The exposure can lead to the masses highlighting what they want congress to stop funding.

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

 

[tommyGunZ]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

 

[-OZ-]

Good luck to all the FBG Govt employees who took less upside for stability career wise long ago. I hope you're able to hold on for a couple of years until hopefully we return to normalcy.

Many of us were here 2017-2021. We made it then, we’ll be fine again.

 

[Ilov80s]

We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

I haven’t handled a disciplinary case in a few years, but I advise plenty of supervisors. Almost every one of them are reluctant to discipline an employee for anything short of truly egregious stuff. I understand empathy but some of it is ridiculous.

Even if you get a motivated supervisor willing to deal with the burden of initiating the disciplinary process as a public service (because it's certainly easier to let it go), you also can get the next level of the management chain to nix it because they don't want to deal with it. It is a truly bonkers system.

This happens in the private sector as well. Has nothing to do with government.

Yep, my wife works in private sector HR and they have all the same issues I see in the public sector. The idea that privte companies are so efficient is silly. I don't know why anyone would think that given their own personal experiences working, shopping, accessing insurance, etc.

 

[TripItUp]

Yep, my wife works in private sector HR and they have all the same issues I see in the public sector. The idea that privte companies are so efficient is silly. I don't know why anyone would think that given their own personal experiences working, shopping, accessing insurance, etc.

I have worked with hundreds of govt entities and non-govt companies.

Govt entities are generally more inefficient. I think any experienced business person would agree.

The fear of losing one's job because of things like profitability magically makes individuals more productive and ultimately their company more efficient.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Yep, my wife works in private sector HR and they have all the same issues I see in the public sector. The idea that privte companies are so efficient is silly. I don't know why anyone would think that given their own personal experiences working, shopping, accessing insurance, etc.

I have worked with hundreds of govt entities and non-govt companies.

Govt companies are generally inefficient. I think any experienced business person would agree.

The fear of losing one's job because of things like profitability magically makes individuals more productive and ultimately their company more efficient.

I've worked in both. They are large inefficiencies in both.

 

[Max Power]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

 

[tommyGunZ]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

Happy to discuss that one after you detail why you oppose the alcohol and mice study.

 

[Max Power]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

Happy to discuss that one after you detail why you oppose the alcohol and mice study.

I don't really care to. Government spending is out of control and needs to be reeled in. If you think studying drunk mice is a necessity, I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[tommyGunZ]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

Happy to discuss that one after you detail why you oppose the alcohol and mice study.

I don't really care to. Government spending is out of control and needs to be reeled in. If you think studying drunk mice is a necessity, I don't know what else to tell you.

I would encourage you to google “why do scientists study mice” and learn more about why researchers study mice. It has literally saved 100s of millions of lives.

 

[Max Power]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

Happy to discuss that one after you detail why you oppose the alcohol and mice study.

I don't really care to. Government spending is out of control and needs to be reeled in. If you think studying drunk mice is a necessity, I don't know what else to tell you.

I would encourage you to google “why do scientists study mice” and learn more about why researchers study mice. It has literally saved 100s of millions of lives.

How does getting them drunk save lives? Are they going to figure out alcohol is unhealthy?

 

[WVU Alum]

We really don't need to be spending millions of dollars injecting steroids into hamsters and studying how many beers it takes to get a pig drunk.

Do you know why researchers have conducted multiple studies on how alcohol affects mice?

Why?

I'm asking you. You criticized the study as wasteful. I assume you researched the premise and reasoning behind the study.

You didn't want to tackle the Thanos glove?

Happy to discuss that one after you detail why you oppose the alcohol and mice study.

I don't really care to. Government spending is out of control and needs to be reeled in. If you think studying drunk mice is a necessity, I don't know what else to tell you.

I would encourage you to google “why do scientists study mice” and learn more about why researchers study mice. It has literally saved 100s of millions of lives.

How does getting them drunk save lives? Are they going to figure out alcohol is unhealthy?

Um, yes. The interest is usually why and how

 

[thecatch]

We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

I haven’t handled a disciplinary case in a few years, but I advise plenty of supervisors. Almost every one of them are reluctant to discipline an employee for anything short of truly egregious stuff. I understand empathy but some of it is ridiculous.

Even if you get a motivated supervisor willing to deal with the burden of initiating the disciplinary process as a public service (because it's certainly easier to let it go), you also can get the next level of the management chain to nix it because they don't want to deal with it. It is a truly bonkers system.

This happens in the private sector as well. Has nothing to do with government.

Tell me you don't have any government management experience without telling me you don't have any government management experience.

 

[thecatch]

We can't fix the "government problem" if we continue to set the bar at timecard fraud or sexual harassment as the only acceptable reasons to let someone go.

I haven’t handled a disciplinary case in a few years, but I advise plenty of supervisors. Almost every one of them are reluctant to discipline an employee for anything short of truly egregious stuff. I understand empathy but some of it is ridiculous.

Even if you get a motivated supervisor willing to deal with the burden of initiating the disciplinary process as a public service (because it's certainly easier to let it go), you also can get the next level of the management chain to nix it because they don't want to deal with it. It is a truly bonkers system.

This happens in the private sector as well. Has nothing to do with government.

Yep, my wife works in private sector HR and they have all the same issues I see in the public sector. The idea that privte companies are so efficient is silly. I don't know why anyone would think that given their own personal experiences working, shopping, accessing insurance, etc.

the "same issues"? Nonsense unless maybe you are talking about a heavily unionized private company and even then it's generally not the same in terms of discharging bad employees.

 

[FBG Moderator]

It may not be possible for people, but keep politics out of this.

 

[dgreen]

EO signed directing to end “remote work” as soon as practicable. Nothing about telework, which is different from remote.

x.com

x.com

If their issue is with remote work, as opposed to telework, and if it’s about being practicable, I don’t think I have much to worry about. Of course, whenever we get a new director, things could change.

The way it reads is contradictory, but it does state that it is a return to in-office full time.

@Don Quixote Are you hearing that this is definitely targeted at “remote workers” as opposed to “teleworkers“? Is that the typical legal interpretation?

Since necessary exemptions are allowed, my agency doesn’t have space for everyone so I’m fairly confident right now I won’t be 100% in office.

 

[Don Quixote]

EO signed directing to end “remote work” as soon as practicable. Nothing about telework, which is different from remote.

x.com

x.com

If their issue is with remote work, as opposed to telework, and if it’s about being practicable, I don’t think I have much to worry about. Of course, whenever we get a new director, things could change.

The way it reads is contradictory, but it does state that it is a return to in-office full time.

@Don Quixote Are you hearing that this is definitely targeted at “remote workers” as opposed to “teleworkers“? Is that the typical legal interpretation?

Since necessary exemptions are allowed, my agency doesn’t have space for everyone so I’m fairly confident right now I won’t be 100% in office.

I was just reading plain text of it, and not hearing anything. If I had to wager a guess, it was probably intended to cover both remote and telework, but just poorly drafted.

It looks like my earlier post with the link to the executive order was deleted. I’m not sure why though. I was just linking to the EO and did not say anything political about it.

 

[-OZ-]

EO signed directing to end “remote work” as soon as practicable. Nothing about telework, which is different from remote.

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If their issue is with remote work, as opposed to telework, and if it’s about being practicable, I don’t think I have much to worry about. Of course, whenever we get a new director, things could change.

The way it reads is contradictory, but it does state that it is a return to in-office full time.

@Don Quixote Are you hearing that this is definitely targeted at “remote workers” as opposed to “teleworkers“? Is that the typical legal interpretation?

Since necessary exemptions are allowed, my agency doesn’t have space for everyone so I’m fairly confident right now I won’t be 100% in office.

The “and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis…,” part is the real issue imo.

Also imo, actual orders should be not political. Only the impact to federal workers is relevant. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/return-to-in-person-work/

 

[belljr]

We been 3 days a week since everyone came back. No telework prior to COVID. If we have to go back so be it. But 2 days a week is reasonable for normal people imo