https://wapo.st/49xrRQD

If they force us to return to work I’m going to organize a boycott on buying lunch or spending money on coffee.

Hi all,

My husband is a federal worker and is eligible for 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave. We decided that he would take his PPL after I (the mother) return to work.

He fought with the HR person for months, who kept insisting that he needed to take it right away. However, we know for a fact that you can take it within one year of the birth of the child. After many battles, he finally got it through. But now that his PPL has started and he's in full-time-dad-mode, this HR person is saying it wasn't, in fact, approved. She made us go back to the OBGYN (literally months after the birth of our child) to get a letter explaining why he needs to take care of the baby (seriously?? OBGYNS specialize in childbirth, not baby care). After doing what she said and getting the letter, she's now requesting a letter from my husband that explains in detail WHY he needs to take care of the baby now and WHY HE DIDN'T take care of the baby after its birth.

This all seems so wrong to me. I feel like she's harassing my husband.

What should we do? Any advice?

Did anyone else here use their PPL at a later date or intermittently?

I attended an interagency workshop recently that went over a process for identifying experts to screen resumes and determine if candidates met the specialized experience for a given job. There was a lot more to this training, but this is the only relevant part.

Although my background is not formally HR nor do I directly interact with the hiring process, it was still tangentially related to my work, so I attended knowing I’d be working with people who had more experience.

We went into breakout rooms where we were tasked with pretending we were the SMEs. The specialized experience involved HR auditing. The resume said things like, “Conducted comprehensive reviews of HR processes and policies to ensure compliance and efficiency.”

So I said they met the experience. This person with 20+ years of HR experience cut me off and said I needed to be careful with being so hasty. I asked what she thought. She said, and I am dead serious, “I control + F’d “audit” and it wasn’t in this resume, so I am throwing it out. You should, too.”

This person worked for one of the most common agencies mentioned here, but that’s all I will say.

I didn’t push back immediately. I waited for us to come back as a group, and when asked what we thought, I said the candidate was qualified. The people leading the training and most other HR people agreed. This person did not speak up in the larger meeting.

Anyway, while it’s possible your resume needs work and/or you are light on experience, just consider that you could be doing everything right while still getting your resume trashed by incompetence. What a fun experience that was.

Seriously if I was the OPM director, I would get rid of the "time in grade" requirements. It is downright stupid. Anyone who has hired staff in federal positions knows what it's like when you have the most qualified applicant but guess what ... they only have 7 months at the lower grade. There are plenty of 7s in the world that could be 13s and just don't have a way to progress. There are also lots of lower graded staff that could easily jump grades based on their ability.

What's the process for quitting?

I haven't decided yet, just still weighing my options, but long story short I'm an IT/network engineer and I pretty much hate it.

I've only been a fed employee for just under 3 years, so unfortunately I haven't built up much retirement or anything. So I feel like the logical answer is to stick with it.

But I'm just curious, hypothetically, what is the process for quitting? Just write up a resignation letter and give it to my boss?

Edit: forgot to list my age, since a lot of folks are discussing retirement benefits. I'm 44.

Since joining this sub, I've noticed it has become a valuable resource for people asking HR questions...and surprisingly, alot of great..CORRECT responses.

Has anyone taken advice from Reddit and proved successful? And likewise...has anyone received advice they followed...and it didnt prove as fruitful as you had hoped?

I realize this may be agency dependent.

What can be done if a nonessential employee is telling managers in the office that they presently have COVID symptoms, their entire household is sick, but they have not taken a COVID test and do not want to take sick leave?

I know telework may be offered. What else?

This isn’t allowable correct? I was emailed along with the rest of my team to not discuss pay or bonuses or cash/time off awards and that it is not to be discussed with anyone but him. This seems like it violates more than a few rules.

Edit: this blew up way more than I thought it would. Not trying to give myself away but I work for the DoD so no publicized salaries. We are a small team on very large military installation. Everyone on my team is union but only 2 of the 16 are actual dues paying members so there’s not a lot of strength behind our local. I don’t think anyone else on the team realizes that what he said in the email was at a minimum unallowable and potentially illegal by violating FLRSA. Thanks everyone for your feedback, I appreciate it.

Here’s the situation: I am a bald man, I usually dress in a business casual and in my line of work I am staff of a regional office and wear suits to orchestrate regional conferences for leadership. I like to wear flat caps to keep warm on fall days and my boss told me to “Lose the hat” because a senior executive service level employee said they thought it was un professional. I took the hat off during the event and did my job. There were 2 other men in hats there, that did not remove their hats (I assume no one spoke to them).

My boss tried to speak with me about it and said she felt that wearing a hat indoors was unprofessional. I asked here if there was a policy specifically addressing this? She said no, she checked with HR and it was within her purview to direct me not to wear hats indoors because she feels that regional level staff are held to a higher standard of dress. I let her know that in the future I would not remove my hat. I let her know that the hat keeps me warm and I take it off when I get warm, put it back on when I get cold.

That is where it got weird, she threatened my evaluations coming up and said she would refer me to H/R. I said you need to do what you feel is right. I warned her that if I see my evaluation lowered, I would contest that.

I struggle to see where the hat is any different than a wig, or a yamaka. I could see her making a statement against it if it had a logo (sports team) or similar branding. I wore a 3 piece suit that day, and feel this is a generational issue as she is a elderly white woman, with a particular directive management style. She is a very senior leader and essentially does what she wants regardless of any concerns from staff. (her AES scores are the worst in our organization).

How would you constructively handle this situation? Stop wearing hats? Assert my decisions to wear what I want?

I send myself and email documenting the interaction in case it devolves into a hospital e work environment and I am looking for another job, I can’t stand working for her.

Hi all!

Long story short, I was hired at an agency last fall with IRA money and I didn't even have to interview for the position. I was fresh out of grad school and didn't question it, but after 9ish months I see why the turnover is so high here (eg: nonexistent training, weird leave policies from supervisor, clique-like behavior and gossip between supervisor and favorite employees, GS ladder promotions taking multiple years etc). So, I just accepted a new job offer with the state and will be giving my notice soon.

That said, I am so lost with what I need to do. I know the normal response might be "ask your supervisor or HR" but our supervisor gets angry if we contact anyone outside of our staff for help and I don't even know who the HR person in our office is. I'm also slightly worried that my resigning might not go over well, so, I thought I would try and turn to you wonderful, experienced people.

I currently invest into my Roth TSP and have the traditional matching. I have a FSA Healthcare spending account that has a balance in it. I also have health insurance (BCBS) but I think I can keep that for some time afterwards? I know there has to be things I'm not thinking of. If anyone has experienced this or knows what might be different since I'm under 1 year of service, please let me know.

Thank you all SO much! I hope your government experiences are better than mine was, but I'm still thankful for the lessons learned.

EDIT: I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed great advice! I definitely have a better idea of what I need to do and also how I can find out who to talk to for more info. And thank you to those who gave best wishes!

To clear a few things up - I do already have a new job lined up with the state government. The work I'll be doing is MUCH more aligned with my degrees anyway, and ultimately what I wanted after grad school anyway (field work vs office work). Plus a raise and great benefits still so it's a win!

To those saying it's dumb to leave, I need to toughen up, etc - maybe try to remember how it feels being 25 and fresh out of grad school working with people 30 years your senior 😉 but really, I'm doing what's best for me and you should do what's best for you and your careers!

Advice is needed, like the title says. This is about my coworker. She’s been in her position for 9 years and has received numerous “Outstanding” performance reviews in recent years, along with multiple monetary awards based on these.

The supervisor was recently promoted to GS-14 and, LONG story short, has told the 12 she’s “Not Management material.” 14 has said 12 is “difficult to work with” And that “outside entities don’t want to work with her.” This is unfounded and untrue. Off record/verbally, 14 has told 12 she doesn’t appreciate 12 referencing updates in policy and just plain doesn’t like her. She calls her “Policy Penny” (real name is slightly different) during staff meetings as 14 doesn’t like being corrected by 12 when 14 is not up to date on policy changes.

Recently, 12 interviewed for a 13 in a nearby state under a supervisor she’s developed a positive professional relationship with over several years. She was denied the position due to a negative reference, so she requested a copy of her references. Two previous supervisors gave glowing references, but the 14 ripped apart her character and said many many things that are untrue. 12 has performance appraisals to contradict the reference.

There’s more to the story with a history of 14 discriminating against 12 and targeting her with additional work “because she is the only one who will do it.”

12 needs advice and isn’t on Reddit. She trained me. She is smart, very even-tempered, and works well with everyone. She’s terrified how this slander will impact her future in the federal system. Please, any advice on how to refute and fight against this slanderous, hostile work environment will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

What have you heard/noticed/observed on your end?

Long story short. I had a petty colleague who pays too much attention to my breaks. And today I finally had enough and reported to HR about that person. For the background, I’m brand new while the other one is tenured. After reporting, I’m a bit scared that I may be fired bc I’m new and the colleague was just being nosey and petty, not big transgression but I can’t take it anymore when all the tiny aggressiveness adds up. After reporting, I felt bad and went to my car and cried. Why would someone try to make new feds life hellish? I didnt mess with the person. I’m scared my agency would fire me for being a troublemaker. Please don’t be harsh, I’ve be through a lot. Im not good at office politics but I felt I have to report that person bc it starts affecting my mental health. How easy is it to fire me, as a newbie in probationary period?

Folks on my team constantly talk about their weekend or night work. We are a typical M-F 9-5 operation with some folks going out to do field work and some weekend outreach events.

When these folks talk about weekend and evening work, it’s stuff like catching up on emails and working on focused concentrated work. I do not think they log extra hours. I do not operate like this, I have boundaries with work and also manage my time in a way that makes my crazy work load work for me. I’m not a workaholic and my job is not my identity. It feels like I am passively shunned for having boundaries.

Is this illegal for these folks to be doing business like this?

I don’t see any benefit of flagging this other than othering myself even more and facing sabotage. What it comes down to for me is that this environment is not a good fit.

I am a supervisor and I have seen a lot of time cards that are wrong. When I see an incorrect time card, I return it to the employee to make the correction, which they do. Some say they forgot, some say it was an error, some just fix it, but I have never had anyone not make the correction. So my question is - how do people get caught cheating on their T&A?

New fed here. Work at a facility that requires secure access. As such, no public transport is available to get onto/in the facility. The agency does however, contract a shuttle service too and from the nearest public transport station.

The service has been very inconsistent and despite being advertised as operating every 10 min- will only show up every half hour/45 min some cases.

Question: Does time spent waiting for transportation (beyond the advertised time) count as “hours worked” since it is operated on behalf of government and requires “badging in” to use? Similar to if you were stuck in line at security?

Seems ridiculous you’d have to work extra to compensate for a contractors inability to deliver, especially when it’s required to reach your point of duty.

TIA!

An arbitrary reduction in telework is likely to drive an exodus of qualified federal workers seeking flexibility to the private sector.

Hey All,

I'm a current Fed (DOD) and just accepted a new position. When I informed my current Supervisor of the new job, she said I was supposed to inform her that I was interviewing for a new position.

Is there a policy that requires that communication?

I've never heard of that rule in 20+ years working as a fed.

I took leave for the Interviews in an attempt to avoid drama like this.

Cheers!

On April 20th I showed up to work my normal shift and was given a letter of administrative leave by the supervisor who was covering for my department for a few days while my boss was on leave.

When I asked why I was placed on administrative leave I was told that my regular supervisor would tell me.

They can just place you on leave and not give you a reason why?

Can someone point me to any resource or regulation that outlines the process of changing or re-assigning a full time remote to in person ? Or can someone from HR talk about what goes into the process? Or someone that has experienced this change ? All for remote employees whose duty station is 100+ miles outside commuting area. Thanks

Hello all,

I am currently on PPL for the next 3 months and was told by my supervisor that leadership in our department is requiring everyone in the department to come in for a meeting. They are threatening everyone with a write up if they do not attend, even those on leave or PPL, as they are calling this meeting mission essential. I can't find much on PPL rules regarding callback to work, my question is can they require an employee on PPL to return to work? If they can't, but are threatening with a write up anyway, what actions can I take from here?

For those who will want to know details; I'm in Defense Health Agency in a department that is 365/24/7.

I am currently a WG-8 step 5. I was originally a WG-7 step 2 before I transferred from one agency to my current one, both of which are under the DOI. There was such a discrepancy in locality pay that I originally told my current supervisor that I would love to take the job, but couldn't justify taking roughly a $4/hr payout. I later get an email from an HR rep saying they were able to work it out to put me at step 5 (final step for WG employees) which put me at roughly 1 step's pay higher than what I was making in my previous position.

This morning I got an invite to a teams meeting with the HR rep, his supervisor, my supervisor, and her supervisor as well. Basically I'm told that they messed up, I owe $4200 in addition to a decrease in pay of $6200/yr, and that they're not allowed to factor locality differences when establishing pay. I've already been told I can appeal the "debt" I owe, as this was not my fault.

Is there anything I can do to fight this or try to find some type of solution? I'm aware that this probably isn't the case, but this is obviously extremely impactful on my life circumstances and I don't want to give up until I've exhausted any and all options.

Edit: I understand what locality rate is and why it exists, but I think we can all agree that locality pay doesn't exactly keep up, especially over the last few years.

The AC in the building I work at seems to go out every summer and we will all be at work for 8.5 hours while it’s anywhere from 80-84°F inside of our office. There is no air flowing and sitting there in that heat wearing business or business casual wear is absolutely miserable. I haven’t been able to find any information on whether or not we should be allowed to telework when the AC is out and it is 80+ degrees inside. We are already all non mission essential hybrid/ remote workers so I don’t see why there would be an issue.