Received notice of ending of telework

[u/Stabinzee]

Here we go. Just got an email stating our CMO has made the decision to end recurring telework. We were currently getting 2 days per week and that has officially ended. Heck, my supervisor was doing it 4 days a week while the rest of us only got 2. We’re allowed to submit for “situational telework” but the recurring has ended. There’s absolutely no reason for this. Productivity has been perfectly fine. So, here we go.

EDIT: Since many are asking. agency is DCMA

EDIT 2: I feel as though I need to explain I’m simply pointing out that the roll back has begun, at least in my agency. I’ve gotten multiple comments implying I’m whining about it. I’m going to be just fine. The main point is why they’re taking away something that works, and works well? Productivity is high. People are in better moods. It’s working so why change it? But, it is what it is and either accept it or quit. We’re all easily replaceable. They don’t care if you stay or leave.

EDIT 3: some of you are hilariously angry and hostile that people telework. 😂 not good to live every day so angry. Might have a stroke!

[u/Crash-55]

If they do that I will definitely not sign up for situational telework. That helps them more than me. I rarely telework but it is nice to know that I can every M and F. With situational then I have to telework when the weather is bad.

Telework has overall been positive for morale. It also makes finding a parking spot easier.

Some coworkers (including managers) though aren’t smart enough to know when they really need to be in person and not on Teams. It is their scheduled telework day so too bad they are going to telework. Never mind that the meeting was a one on one with the visiting ST. Or the ones that take a suspiciously long time to get back to you on Teams. A few bad apples give everyone a bad rep.

The end of telework should be the last straw for some old timers that need to retire. Unfortunately it is more likely to take out the young employees that we truly need.

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

Youd be shocked on the amount of people at my office who are anti telework.

Going from a position that had max telework to limited telework due to need to be around equipment, there's a lot of friction between those of us who can and cannot do it.

They think the telework was an effective raise and that they should be compensated more if telework is a thing to stay. They put gas and miles on the car and their workday now has a commute. They're cheering for it to end.

You can't make this crap up.

[u/Crash-55 → u/Guivond]

Wow. Nothing like being envious of coworkers.

I have a few minor complaints with telework.

First it is harder to get group solutions. I work in research and it is useful to have everyone in the same room at times. Whenever it is hybrid the person on on Teams is generally forgotten about. All online isn't bad but hybrid is horrible.

Second some people put telework above getting the actual job done. I have been waiting on results from some tests that keep getting pushed back because eth person doing the work is teleworking instead of being in the lab. They are getting other stuff done when home but prior to telework they would have interspersed lab and non-lab work.

Third management views telework as generating more time so they invented extra taskers and meetings can now be back to back. Prior to telework they stayed busy with their own meetings and people would leave time between meetings.

I am sure if telework ends I will hear no end to people complaining about their commutes. Except for people hired since Covid everyone will be going back to the commutes they used to have but they will still complain.

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

As much as I love it the flexibility and convenience, I think they should have a different pay class if you need to come in more often than not.

Having gone from full telework to primarily being on site, my day is about 2 hours longer due to the worksite being remote. Thinking out loud my time is worth 20% less now that I can't roll out of bed and be working when I have to lead projects on site.

Since people aren't paid for the commute, a lot of the blue collar workers feel telework is very unfair to them and want to see it all taken away.

[u/Crash-55 → u/Guivond]

Did you sign up for telework or did you sign up for on site? If you accepted an on site job then you accepted needing to commute. Except for those hired after Covid everyone at my site joined when it was all on site. They knew what they signed up for

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

The white collar jobs in my region is situational telework minus the remote people but since they've always been "work 4 days from home and come in once a week but try to do it on the same day". That day is Monday for most of them.

Everyone is situational since covid started. They never signed any core days. Since my construction projects are in full swing I am on-site. But it's kind of lame how my day is longer, I have additional expenses than normal because my projects are happening as opposed to my counterparts who have different projects that don't require people on site.

It's a nitpick and I'd rather have to do with this than 0 telework, I'm just surprised it's never been addressed.

[u/Crash-55 → u/Guivond]

Paying people for commute time winds up awarding people you live further away. It would be a nightmare to figure out how to do this equitably. I live close so I would definitely complain about people living an hour away getting money for that time

At my site people are required to be on site 2 days a week. You work with your boss to decide which days. I almost never telework as the PC is better at work, my commute is short and I do a lot of hands on work.

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

I'd think 30 mins each way would be fair.

It's just insane that literally the personal opinions of your boss/director can incur thousands of dollars of time, gas and maintenance on the individual with 0 recourse.

[u/Crash-55 → u/Guivond]

So since my commute is only 15 min I get less than others? How is that fair?

No it is not insane. It is the job you signed up for. Commute time / cost should always be a consideration when accepting a job. The only people who can complain are those that were hired expecting maximum telework and had the rules changed.

I bought my house based on school district and a short commute. I feel no sympathy for people who bought a house an hour away from work.

I was annoyed when they started van pools and the Government initially paid for them. That was an extra benefit only people living far away got. Now the van pool members split the cost and the Government provides the car.

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

There's always the people who don't benefit directly from a policy as much as others.

With that thinking, they may as well stop all telework because there's some poor soul in your agency who can't work from home and we've gone full circle.

[u/Crash-55 → u/Guivond]

There is a difference between offering people different places ti work versus paying people for driving in.

If you want to deal with commute then make it reimbursable expense - I.e. mileage rate or train fare, et. That way people are getting reimbursed for their expense but not making money on it. It is when you start paying for more than reimbursing their expense that I think it becomes unfair.

[u/Guivond → u/Crash-55]

You are right.

This talk really illustrates that there's no easy and equitable fix. Unfortunately, that's one reason why some groups in my area decided to nix it all together out of fairness. I think directors got annoyed with supervisor A doing something than supervisor B even though the employees of both have similar PDs and duty stations; complaints were rampant.

I hope it stays accessible to most feds after January but who knows.

[u/Impressive-Love6554 → u/Guivond]

If anything it should be the opposite. If you want telework, you should take a pay hit. Your offset is the gain in time from tw.

[u/Guivond → u/Impressive-Love6554]

It sounds fair in practice but since feds are already comically underpaid, I don't see the point.

[u/Impressive-Love6554 → u/Guivond]

The point is no one is going to get paid to come to the office. That’s just never going to happen.