Posted on 05/30/2022 8:59:32 PM PDT by ducttape45
Good evening fellow Freepers. I wanted to find out if I could get your help with something.
As some of you know, I work at a military installation in the central US. I am a government civilian employee, though not a high paid one.
During the past couple of years many of us, especially DOD civilians, were allowed to telework from home. I did so as well, though the ability to do so was recently striped away, and hence this posting. I wanted to find out if anyone knows if there are federal regulations/directives that govern teleworking for the government employee. I work at an Air Force base, so anything dealing with Air Force DOD employees would be helpful.
I am preparing a formal request to be able to continue teleworking but I wanted to do my homework first and find out exactly what is permissible. The senior leadership at the base I work at is very heavy handed and is not allowing front line supervisors to determine who can and cannot telework, as was part of the original guidance. They want to get into the weeds and, many of us feel, dictate policy they have no business getting involved in.
There's more backstory, and I will share as much as I can if need be, but for now, I am needing help with my research into this area. I have contacted Liberty and Counsel and First Liberty to see if they can give me guidance as well.
Thank you all for your assistance, and please, be kind. This is a sincere request.
I figure people should do what their boss instructs them to do.
You asked for advice...
If your boss says “come to work”, then, you should come to work.
Or quit.
That is all.
Every agency has its own rules. Unless you were hired as a remote employee, your place of duty is in the office.
This I think is going to be the clearest advice. You are not owed or entitled toteleworking, and teleworking is seen by a lot of managers as a way of not working for the company because you aren't actually in an office, dressed like a worker, and under visual observation of a manager (and to be honest, with a lot of govvie civilians, they are right). It's stupid, but if you want the paycheck, you do it.
If you want to work remote, find a billet that allows or specifies teleworking. I am sure those spots are hotly contested, so it may be a multiple year matter of finding a way to get cozy with the management of an office that has telework spots, getting some specific training, or doing a tit-for-tat assignment with a telework job following.
Very thoughtful advice.
I know from my own experience that I worked harder as a teleworker than I ever did in the office - that was just in the nature of being at home and having to do much more by computer and ‘phone. And many of us took it even more seriously and conscientiously, because we knew we were being entrusted with that independence and wanted to prove ourselves and live up to that trust.
But I would never say that for many positions it was anywhere near as efficient as working in the office. That just wasn’t true. Nothing takes the place of face-to-face interaction and the immediacy of that.
I’ve seen some people who got used to it wanting to continue it - some haven’t been able to sustain working in the office again. But lots of others were anxious to get back INTO the office.
I'm 18 months into a big re-engineering task. We structured the work to allow most to be done outside of the classified "cloud". The system gets build/tested using unclassified data. When configured behind the spin-dial door, it runs with the real stuff.
I'm constantly watching for the next teleworking engagement. Next in queue is an AI/ML engagement to integrate 1200 databases. Keep tracking for new openings.
My experience is that ANYTHING the FedGov sets up for remote access is infernally slow and will have you screaming obscenities.
The NMCI VPN (Navy/Marine Corps) was a fine example of that about 10 years ago. During normal business hours, it sometimes approached the speed of a 56K dialup modem.
No idea what it’s like now, probably still blows chunks at top dollar.
OPM has been encouraging/promoting telework for years. I’m thinking it was at least 10 years ago when all (at least Navy) positions had to be reviewed and a determination made as to whether the position was telework eligible or not.
As you know, the chain of command in the services can be quite long and at times a bit convoluted (again at least for the Navy). Starts with the President (OPM) and almost ends at he the System Command level, almost because there are different echelon levels that follow with some involving unions and some not.
My experience is with an organization with a union. In this case most policies (involving working conditions) that flow down end up in negotiations for Impact and Implementation (I&I).
If your organization’s telework policy is negotiated then any changes need to be negotiated or an unfair labor practice results.
As you know, I retired earlier in the year. I worked from home 100% of the time for 2 years. My work could be measured and metrics were maintained. My output increased over 50% while working from home. IMO the 2 biggest factors were zero distractions and vastly improved internet connections.
I do not how the USAF establishes and implements policy. What I do know is that across DoD (civilian side) you can find 100%, even pre-COVID, telework to 0% telework.
My old organization is in the process of renegotiating their telework policy. I think the result is headed towards 2 days a week in the office. This doesn’t make logical sense to me but I really don’t care anymore. My position is and always has been, either the work can get done from anywhere or it can’t and that should be what matters.
My advice is to start with the policy that controls your organization. They (management) must follow the policy, if they are not you go the grievance route (either a union sponsored grievance or an administrative grievance (non-union).
Aside, my wife is still employed as a civilian at a Navy command. Since April, she is in the office 2 days a week. About 2 weeks she was in a meeting with about 10 others and one of the participants came down with COVID a day or two later. Everyone else was notified and instructed to work from home for the next 5 days.
Good luck and get the hell out as soon as you can.
Many DoD agencies are strongly supporting telework, even classified tele-work capability is steadily increasing. I would strongly look at USAJOBS to find a similar position in an agency that advocates telework. Assuming you are a focused and productive telework employee and can articulate why, it should be pretty easy to find.
What is the reason that you don’t want to go back into the office?
I am sure there is a telework policy for your USAF location but it is likely defined by your MAJCOM. So, I would need to know your base and MAJCOM to find you the right set of rules or AFIs. Send me a direct message. Thanks.
I recently retired from a non-DoD agency. I was full time teleworking during COVID. Where I worked, employees that where teleworking during Covid are back in the office from 1 to 3 days a week. Becoming remote or full time telework is difficult. Execs do not want managers making those decisions now. You may be able to switch to remote once work life settles down.
Bingo, exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
1. Yes, "And many of us took it even more seriously and conscientiously, because we knew we were being entrusted with that independence and wanted to prove ourselves and live up to that trust." I am of the same mind, and my immediate supervisors know I won't jilt them. I put in an honest days work, whether here at home or in the office.
Yet, 2. "But I would never say that for many positions it was anywhere near as efficient as working in the office. That just wasn’t true. Nothing takes the place of face-to-face interaction and the immediacy of that." There are some things that absolutely need to take place in the office, face-to-face. I am competent enough to know when that needs to take place, and my immediate supervisor realizes that. It's the bozos above him that nixed my teleworking because they aren't in direct control and don't trust that I make those kinds of determinations, and that's the part that infuriates me, it's them not trusting folks under them to do their jobs to "their liking."
As someone forced to work in-office every day for for the entire covid “pandemic”, while my same position co-workers were allowed to telework every day for 2 years while I did 2X the work in the office to cover for them while they sat at home and did nothing, I would recommend that you at least say “thank you” to the people covering for you in the office while you telework because, if they’re anything like me and how i feel toward my teleworking coworkers, they probably hate your guts.
Teleworking has shown to be less productive and result in less work getting done.
I assume you are probably in an administrative or IT position. It is best to follow orders and directions.
My wife was allowed to telework with Covid... while her bosses and co-workers were “teleworking” several times a week for years.
There is no fairness in the world or America.
I teleworked for a year over 15 years ago when my institution began implementing it. Everything was by computer - all communications, all documents to be processed. Nobody had a problem with it.
Then a new boss came in who just didn’t like it. Bosses are different.
He was kind of a strange guy who alienated everyone and didn’t last long; but I had moved on.
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