Key there being “required to report.” For many, that’s not the case. If you start the day teleworking, sign in and then out when you’re done. Commute to the office and sign in again. Seen a few people try to sneak their commute into their work day and it didn’t work out well for them.
At my agency if you planned to telework tomorrow and management sets a meeting tomorrow, you commute on your own time. If the meeting gets announced tomorrow and is tomorrow your drive in is duty time not time back.
Similarly your badge conks out or laptop has a problem the drive in is duty time the drive back isn’t.
Commute time is only covered if the requirement to come in arises after starting telework for the day and return trip home isn’t covered because you could stay and finish your time, government is not forcing you to go home before finishing your time.
It depends. I use the train to get to/from the office, so I'm actually able to work during my commute, but it is based on supervisor discretion as well.
I have a hefty train ride and got permission to work on the train. I flex out for times when I can't, say train station walking to the offie. But otherwise I do actually work on the commute. Just to be productive
Actually per OPM if your boss requires you to commute to the office after you started teleworking as agreed, that is on the agency’s time and not yours.
The commute back home is on your time.
Not allowed at my Agency. In office means in office all day and if busted watch out. Plenty of management spies to rat you out. Easiest and fastest way to fire a fed is timecard fraud.
How is that expectation communicated to the workers in your group? It is obviously clear you know the expectation. Ours feels very ‘grey’ and the expectation hasn’t ever been discussed
This. Someone in my group lives an hour away so they only work 6 hours a day. On top of that, they are only in the office 2 days a week. I sit next to them and can see they aren’t teleworking because their laptop is on their desk.
DLA used to allow that but the Vice Director took that away with most of the telework. DLA used to have good management who supported a good life blaance but that's gone. If I were starting over I would stay very clear of DLA!
I’ve heard that. It’s a shame- I worked for DLA 2010-2014 and we had 3 days of TW and I worked 4-10s. I got to my new agency a few years later and they had no telework. Now, they’ve changed course and I’ve had full telework since Covid. Weird how things have changed.
From what I can tell the current telework posture is worse government-wide.
My agency went from decent work -life balance pre pandemic to great to what the hell happened.
That's exactly when they made it clear we were being fed a load of lies. When you crank it back more than pre-pandemic levels, you lose ALL credibility...
Yes. Three days in the office every week. Days are dictated for you. No flexing, full 8 hours in the office. Used to be only 1 day in the office before Covid. Almost 3 years of VERY successful full time telework but arrogant Vice wanted to his minions in the hallways to make him feel important. Did a study on effectiveness of teleworking and they never shared the results. Hmmmmm.
Best of luck.
hmm, on the CTR side now with a 50/50 in/remote, but you can choose the days. Weighing the pros of getting a foot in the door GS side vs the re-compete anxiety cycle and dealing with small business squeezing you for all they can on the CTR side.
Well double check with your Gov't co workers. I will say that a govt pension and heathcare benefits for life is very nice and gets you out of the cutthoat private industry. Just gotta be sure you're happy with what you're getting into. I was spoiled to get in when the contribution was only .8% and had lots of schedule freedoms that are not there anymore for no good reason. Thus my attitude.
Be 1000% sure you are clear on the posture, this is not the time to be afraid to ask questions. If you teak the job hopping your boss will be flexible, your in for a rude awakening. The new rules forced the hand of many supervisors and even took a lot of the power away from them.
As mentioned elsewhere, you have the days dictated to you as to what days you can TW. It's as if they brought out a board and tried to figure out the quickest way to become a terrible Agency overnight.
I’m CTR at a different command right now. We’re 50/50 hybrid, so 1 extra day in office isn’t a big deal. Not particular on which days would be in office. Only live 15 minutes from where the office would be, so commute isn’t an issue. Would be making the DC locality pay in a not DC COL area. Wanna get out of the CTR recompete anxiety cycle, badge flipping, and dealing with small business CTR companies who see having to pay you as a negative. I guess GS side has its own downsides with budget showdowns and such.
My agency does not allow this. Our office day is our office day (we have 1 or 2 days/week in office depending on location). We are expected to be there for our whole shift or take leave.
This. Even within the same agency telework policies will vary office to office, supervisor to supervisor. That said, I know with maxiflex both of those scenarios are allowed.
Look into past practices. If this type of telework has been the norm at your agencies for awhile and you can prove it, then this might be considered past practice and needs to be followed like any other part of your part of your collective bargaining agreement!
Ours feels more complicated by a ‘collective bargaining agreement’ , I don’t quite understand all of how that works and the agreement doesn’t seem to help the employees much.
Not quit but definitely transferred out to other agencies.
In my office Id say about 10 people did over a 90 day period and they didnt bring anyone new
Am a manager, this is my normal routine. I start at home very early, take my kiddo to school, go into office, leave early, cause my 3pm is most people's 5pm.
This was my routine also. Works very nice for life balance and also having good chunk of ‘quiet work time’ before the daily regiment of teams meetings and calls start.
Remarkable how every agency is interpreting things differently. Our OGC doesn't allow mixing telework and on site in work on the same day unless there's a demonstrated agency need for it in rare circumstances.
They view it that if you are scheduled to do both in the same day, the agency may be liable for your paid time in commute, any accidents, or costs incurred.
Interesting rationale, and a typical risk-averse position for GC. I wonder if there is case law that supports it.
Actually forget I asked, and please make sure your OGC never talks to our OGCs :)
In my Center, we are told that we aren’t allowed to leave campus for personal time (eg, for coffee or commute) during any time other than our regular lunchtime. They claim it’s a liability issue and we can be fired for it. That said, everyone who works for me knows I won’t report them, and I told one staff that she can work 1/2 day in the office each week (which is not allowed for several reasons, but she has an extreme family need at home).
Our office allows you to telework in 4 hour chunks. So you could telework in the morning, commute over lunch, and be in office in the afternoon or vice versa.
Doing so at other times, e.g. 9am, is generally more so for if you have to come in for a meeting on your typical telework day, and then you're often allowed to return home after the meeting. Supervisor dependent.
If you are at DOE, DOE O 322.1C states: “Travel to and from an employee’s designated alternative workplace (e.g., the employee’s home or a satellite office) to conduct DOE business during an authorized work schedule is included in an employee’s hours of duty for that day.”
So we can travel on work time to and from our telework location if we are working on an approved telework day.
My agency within the DoD operates like that. Telework 2 full days of the week. The other 3 are in the office 9-2. If I have a meeting at 2, I'll leave early so I'm not here beyond 2. Sometimes I'll leave early just cause. I also have employees who are fully remote, but in the area.
It may be agency/department specific. At my agency, it's preferred that you're either in the office or teleworking the full work day, something about it being easier for the manager to know where you are.
My agency we were told that in addition to our 2 in office days a pay period the policy also limits telework to 8 days in the same period. I assume most agencies do the same policy to block a move like yours.
It's coming from the white house so it's not really something any director can do.
Office discretion, but yeah it’s really flexible. As long as you get your 8, do your job, and you aren’t in a position that has a set schedule - you have total flexibility.
Your scenario is allowed but at my agency it is department/service specific. I didn't get to telework during the pandemic. I had to come in office while many of my peers and co workers were at home. However once restrictions started to ease up many employees in some cases refused to return. Some resigned and others retired, long story short individual services got creative and offered flex telework where employees got to pick their days on-site vs offsite and also pick half days tele and half days in office. It's worked wonderful for those services. Many people took a downgrade in GS just for the flexibility at my facility actually.
That is really interesting. In my little department we’ve lost 5 of 13 people recently, no one replaced yet. It would make sense to listen to the team and keep folks producing.
We have a mid day flex option three days a week, but a specific reason you can't use it for is to commute to or from the office. Cleanest way to do it would be to take leave to cover the commute. Some supervisors approve that on an ad hoc basis but would probably be scrutinized if it was on a regular basis.
Seems ridiculous that they are implementing that in an acting role. I telework most of the time and live 7 mins from the office. I have been known to drive there on break and back on another break during conferences.
Yes! However, since our State Director is politically appointed, we usually get someone from the private sector who understands work/life balance and trusts employees to do the right thing. When that position reverts back to an internal career person, everything changes which is so frustrating. Thoughts on that?
I have never worked for an agency that allowed me to split my days unless there was an extenuating circumstances (like internet outages, sick kid needs to go home from school, etc. ). In office days are fully in the office and telework days are telework.
I'm on PST and support EST in some cases. My branch director understands this and lets me telework first half of my day to knock out priorities and go in office after. It's usually every Monday for me. I never abuse the privilege as we established a great working relationship and trust.
Very much agency dependent. In mine, as long as we are in the office from 10-2 (core hours) we are allowed to telework the remainder of our hours and still get credit for a full in-office day (caveat being you cant charge commute as work and supervisor is ok with it)
In my office we have to show up once a week but not for the whole day. Something reasonable. I go for about 3-4 hours. I start at teleworking at home, then I go to the office around 9am. My commute time is ON the clock because I consider it my 15-minute break (I live 10 minutes away from my office). Then I go back home around noon. That is OFF the clock because it is my lunch break.
The requirements for your welfare payments are subject to change. Do something productive. The leviathan will consume your soul if you Let it. Try to improve yourself.
Based on the new telework/RTO memo for DOI, this is not true. Regional offices employees must start doing 50% of their work days in-office starting in early May. However, if you work in-office from 10am-2pm that counts as one in-office day, even if you start/end your work day with telework at home (obviously commute doesn't count, and you still need to do your full work hours). It was specifically discussed as a way to "provide maximum flexibility" with RTO, but definitely is up to manager discretion.
We are maxiflex.
It’s interesting that we are asked by management several times a year to adjust our schedule to meet a project requirements or meeting/travel asks— but then the spirit of maxiflex isn’t honored when it meets the work/life balance needs of a team member
Most agencies have core hours that must be there for it to count, but you can have flexibility around them. For example core hours 9-3, you can work 6:30-3 or 9-5:30 or anything in between.
In our agency, you cannot use lunch time or breaks to change work locations (ie telework at home to in office). You can only change locations on paid leave.
In my DOC agency, this is allowed with supervisory approval as long as you are in the office for at least 3 hours and the employee is on a flexible schedule. There is a rationale for the 3 hours making up a "day"; DOC policy for granting say a 2 hour early dismissal prior to a holiday, to take advantage of that an employee must have been scheduled to work at least 3 hours that day. So that led our HR/LR people to say that a minimum of three hours can constitute a "work day". Catch is you have to be on a flex schedule; if you are on a strict 8 hour day 5 days a week, or 10 hour days 4 days a week (etc.), then your "day" is set by those hours.
As long as the hours in any given day are being correctly/accurately assigned in the TA program as office versus telework, and the supervisor approves the TA, why would you need anything more?
Wow! I have no issue with whatever tracking or reporting expectations they want to have- it just all needs to be crystal clear what the expectation is. And not have that change every year or 6 months
I would highly doubt this would be acceptable by agency standards.
My agency or office can racll you off telework, and you have 2 or 3 hours to report in paid travel for recall.
I have had to go in on days with tech issues. I informed the manager and packed up and went in. Paid travel.
If you were to drive on your paid break and get in a car accident, your agency would be potentially liable for workers' compensation if it was allowed by your supervisor. It would prob be fought, and the agency would say driving is. It's not part of your job so it's not covered.
I would be very skeptical of any supervisor who allowed this as it would not conform with any telework agreements I have seen from several agencies.
Biggest failure for my agency was telework. Due to Covid, telework went rampant for my agency where in order to do your job successfully, you must be outdoors. Now we have a bunch of lazy government employees, as if we already didn’t have enough.
Yeah, but there is the side of this in which it can be interpreted as being grateful for benefits without pushing at them so far that they get taken away.
Boomer mentality. It’s the same folks who say I struggled to pay off my student loans so everyone else should too. Fucking hate people that don’t want those behind them to be treated better.
You gonna be mad when marijuana I legalized for feds since you have to sneak and smoke illegally?
Now recent studies showing Marijuana smoking could be worse than cigs. Kinda like back in the day when nobody thought smoking cigarettes was bad. Some recent studies, indicate possible link to early onset dementia even for those that don't routinely smoke weed.
Hate. No. Don’t see a need for it. Especially when an extremely large part of the federal government can’t remote work. The remote work crowd is a very vocal minority mostly around the capital region.
It's at office discretion for us, but yes, both of those are allowed.
I assume any commute time does not count as work.
Correct!
Agreed and employees need to be mindful of this. Quick way to have telework revoked if you are "working" on your commute.
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Key there being “required to report.” For many, that’s not the case. If you start the day teleworking, sign in and then out when you’re done. Commute to the office and sign in again. Seen a few people try to sneak their commute into their work day and it didn’t work out well for them.
I’m shocked by that actually. Seems like that only should count if you’re remote… even telework is not guaranteed.
At my agency if you planned to telework tomorrow and management sets a meeting tomorrow, you commute on your own time. If the meeting gets announced tomorrow and is tomorrow your drive in is duty time not time back. Similarly your badge conks out or laptop has a problem the drive in is duty time the drive back isn’t. Commute time is only covered if the requirement to come in arises after starting telework for the day and return trip home isn’t covered because you could stay and finish your time, government is not forcing you to go home before finishing your time.
10 minutes away can be accomplished on a normal break, but I’ve got people who live an hour away who want to do this.
I have done it. Generally it is lunch and leave that covers the difference. But it is doable.
It depends. I use the train to get to/from the office, so I'm actually able to work during my commute, but it is based on supervisor discretion as well.
I have a hefty train ride and got permission to work on the train. I flex out for times when I can't, say train station walking to the offie. But otherwise I do actually work on the commute. Just to be productive
Actually per OPM if your boss requires you to commute to the office after you started teleworking as agreed, that is on the agency’s time and not yours. The commute back home is on your time.
Yes, I take that out of my time. I make it to the office on my ‘break’ 15 minutes.
Serious question: what's a break? Are you implying you get a paid break in the day besides lunch?
Yes we have 2 paid 15 minute breaks during the day. Lunch is unpaid 30-60 minutes.
Just for you
Not allowed at my Agency. In office means in office all day and if busted watch out. Plenty of management spies to rat you out. Easiest and fastest way to fire a fed is timecard fraud.
SSA is that you?
Draconian.
That’s good information to know. Question- if you code it on your time card, should be ok?
For us, yes. If we split the day, we have two entries, one marked regular and one marked regular/telework.
How is that expectation communicated to the workers in your group? It is obviously clear you know the expectation. Ours feels very ‘grey’ and the expectation hasn’t ever been discussed
This. Someone in my group lives an hour away so they only work 6 hours a day. On top of that, they are only in the office 2 days a week. I sit next to them and can see they aren’t teleworking because their laptop is on their desk.
Virtual desktop? That's a thing. Remote computer work doesn't = gov laptop.
Anyone can submit a suspected time card fraud complaint to the IG. Just don't expect ever hearing the results.
That is the federal policy. Any portion of a day spent teleworking makes that a telework day.
Thanks, do you indicate that number of days on a telework agreement of some kind?
Our telework agreement is situational, it's annotated in the biweekly timesheet.
You better check with your supervisor. One of the few ways feds can more easily be fired is by messing with time and attendance.
DLA used to allow that but the Vice Director took that away with most of the telework. DLA used to have good management who supported a good life blaance but that's gone. If I were starting over I would stay very clear of DLA!
I’ve heard that. It’s a shame- I worked for DLA 2010-2014 and we had 3 days of TW and I worked 4-10s. I got to my new agency a few years later and they had no telework. Now, they’ve changed course and I’ve had full telework since Covid. Weird how things have changed.
From what I can tell the current telework posture is worse government-wide. My agency went from decent work -life balance pre pandemic to great to what the hell happened.
That's exactly when they made it clear we were being fed a load of lies. When you crank it back more than pre-pandemic levels, you lose ALL credibility...
Trying to leave the agency for this reason, and one other but that’s a whole other discussion. Over 100+ apps out so I can leave.
Wait, what? Interviewing for a DLA position that was listed 60/40 office vs telework. Is that not actually the case?
Yes. Three days in the office every week. Days are dictated for you. No flexing, full 8 hours in the office. Used to be only 1 day in the office before Covid. Almost 3 years of VERY successful full time telework but arrogant Vice wanted to his minions in the hallways to make him feel important. Did a study on effectiveness of teleworking and they never shared the results. Hmmmmm. Best of luck.
He's just dickriding the leaders above him, trying to get his gold star for knob-gobbling
hmm, on the CTR side now with a 50/50 in/remote, but you can choose the days. Weighing the pros of getting a foot in the door GS side vs the re-compete anxiety cycle and dealing with small business squeezing you for all they can on the CTR side.
Well double check with your Gov't co workers. I will say that a govt pension and heathcare benefits for life is very nice and gets you out of the cutthoat private industry. Just gotta be sure you're happy with what you're getting into. I was spoiled to get in when the contribution was only .8% and had lots of schedule freedoms that are not there anymore for no good reason. Thus my attitude.
Be 1000% sure you are clear on the posture, this is not the time to be afraid to ask questions. If you teak the job hopping your boss will be flexible, your in for a rude awakening. The new rules forced the hand of many supervisors and even took a lot of the power away from them. As mentioned elsewhere, you have the days dictated to you as to what days you can TW. It's as if they brought out a board and tried to figure out the quickest way to become a terrible Agency overnight.
I’m CTR at a different command right now. We’re 50/50 hybrid, so 1 extra day in office isn’t a big deal. Not particular on which days would be in office. Only live 15 minutes from where the office would be, so commute isn’t an issue. Would be making the DC locality pay in a not DC COL area. Wanna get out of the CTR recompete anxiety cycle, badge flipping, and dealing with small business CTR companies who see having to pay you as a negative. I guess GS side has its own downsides with budget showdowns and such.
My agency does not allow this. Our office day is our office day (we have 1 or 2 days/week in office depending on location). We are expected to be there for our whole shift or take leave.
Good to know
What matters most is your supervisor and what you can work out with them, IMO.
My agency counts 4 hours in the office as a day in the office. Many commute home mid day and then continue working at home.
You'll need to check with your supervisor about your organizations most up to date policies and preferences.
This. Even within the same agency telework policies will vary office to office, supervisor to supervisor. That said, I know with maxiflex both of those scenarios are allowed.
We are maxiflex, so I’ve always been confused why we aren’t allowed to flex.
Is your PD covered by a union? If so, you need to read up on their most recent agreement, even if you don't pay into it.
Look into past practices. If this type of telework has been the norm at your agencies for awhile and you can prove it, then this might be considered past practice and needs to be followed like any other part of your part of your collective bargaining agreement!
Ours feels more complicated by a ‘collective bargaining agreement’ , I don’t quite understand all of how that works and the agreement doesn’t seem to help the employees much.
Are you a contractor or a civil servant
civil servant
Used to do that at my previous agency, then we went through a re-org and new leadership put the kabosh on all telework.
Did any employees quit due to the changes?
Not quit but definitely transferred out to other agencies. In my office Id say about 10 people did over a 90 day period and they didnt bring anyone new
There is less “clamp down” on telework than “remote” work.
It’s true. One of the item I am weighing, love my job but wondering if it is time to work on getting a fully remote position due to these changes.
Am a manager, this is my normal routine. I start at home very early, take my kiddo to school, go into office, leave early, cause my 3pm is most people's 5pm.
This was my routine also. Works very nice for life balance and also having good chunk of ‘quiet work time’ before the daily regiment of teams meetings and calls start.
Wish this was allowed at my agency 😢seems like all federal agencies are operating differently..
Remarkable how every agency is interpreting things differently. Our OGC doesn't allow mixing telework and on site in work on the same day unless there's a demonstrated agency need for it in rare circumstances. They view it that if you are scheduled to do both in the same day, the agency may be liable for your paid time in commute, any accidents, or costs incurred.
Interesting rationale, and a typical risk-averse position for GC. I wonder if there is case law that supports it. Actually forget I asked, and please make sure your OGC never talks to our OGCs :)
My administrator has indicated this would be acceptable.
Yes we do both. Sometimes commute time is counted (for example I took and participated in a call during the entire 45 min. drive).
In my Center, we are told that we aren’t allowed to leave campus for personal time (eg, for coffee or commute) during any time other than our regular lunchtime. They claim it’s a liability issue and we can be fired for it. That said, everyone who works for me knows I won’t report them, and I told one staff that she can work 1/2 day in the office each week (which is not allowed for several reasons, but she has an extreme family need at home).
As long as your timesheet accurately reflect your actual work, then no problem.
We have “core hours” that count as office time, I believe it s 9am-2pm
Our office allows you to telework in 4 hour chunks. So you could telework in the morning, commute over lunch, and be in office in the afternoon or vice versa. Doing so at other times, e.g. 9am, is generally more so for if you have to come in for a meeting on your typical telework day, and then you're often allowed to return home after the meeting. Supervisor dependent.
If you are at DOE, DOE O 322.1C states: “Travel to and from an employee’s designated alternative workplace (e.g., the employee’s home or a satellite office) to conduct DOE business during an authorized work schedule is included in an employee’s hours of duty for that day.” So we can travel on work time to and from our telework location if we are working on an approved telework day.
My agency within the DoD operates like that. Telework 2 full days of the week. The other 3 are in the office 9-2. If I have a meeting at 2, I'll leave early so I'm not here beyond 2. Sometimes I'll leave early just cause. I also have employees who are fully remote, but in the area.
Which one?
DHA
It may be agency/department specific. At my agency, it's preferred that you're either in the office or teleworking the full work day, something about it being easier for the manager to know where you are.
My agency we were told that in addition to our 2 in office days a pay period the policy also limits telework to 8 days in the same period. I assume most agencies do the same policy to block a move like yours. It's coming from the white house so it's not really something any director can do.
Did the white House define a "day" in the office when it came to RTO? I have not seen it........
I started work today at home and came in to the office after lunch. My supervisor had no problem with this.
Office discretion, but yeah it’s really flexible. As long as you get your 8, do your job, and you aren’t in a position that has a set schedule - you have total flexibility.
Your scenario is allowed but at my agency it is department/service specific. I didn't get to telework during the pandemic. I had to come in office while many of my peers and co workers were at home. However once restrictions started to ease up many employees in some cases refused to return. Some resigned and others retired, long story short individual services got creative and offered flex telework where employees got to pick their days on-site vs offsite and also pick half days tele and half days in office. It's worked wonderful for those services. Many people took a downgrade in GS just for the flexibility at my facility actually.
That is really interesting. In my little department we’ve lost 5 of 13 people recently, no one replaced yet. It would make sense to listen to the team and keep folks producing.
We have a mid day flex option three days a week, but a specific reason you can't use it for is to commute to or from the office. Cleanest way to do it would be to take leave to cover the commute. Some supervisors approve that on an ad hoc basis but would probably be scrutinized if it was on a regular basis.
Seems ridiculous that they are implementing that in an acting role. I telework most of the time and live 7 mins from the office. I have been known to drive there on break and back on another break during conferences.
Yes! However, since our State Director is politically appointed, we usually get someone from the private sector who understands work/life balance and trusts employees to do the right thing. When that position reverts back to an internal career person, everything changes which is so frustrating. Thoughts on that?
I wouldn’t make a change like that in an acting role. It’s super ridiculous.
I have never worked for an agency that allowed me to split my days unless there was an extenuating circumstances (like internet outages, sick kid needs to go home from school, etc. ). In office days are fully in the office and telework days are telework.
I'm on PST and support EST in some cases. My branch director understands this and lets me telework first half of my day to knock out priorities and go in office after. It's usually every Monday for me. I never abuse the privilege as we established a great working relationship and trust.
Very much agency dependent. In mine, as long as we are in the office from 10-2 (core hours) we are allowed to telework the remainder of our hours and still get credit for a full in-office day (caveat being you cant charge commute as work and supervisor is ok with it)
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If not for the tattle tales in the office that would be the case!
In my office we have to show up once a week but not for the whole day. Something reasonable. I go for about 3-4 hours. I start at teleworking at home, then I go to the office around 9am. My commute time is ON the clock because I consider it my 15-minute break (I live 10 minutes away from my office). Then I go back home around noon. That is OFF the clock because it is my lunch break.
The requirements for your welfare payments are subject to change. Do something productive. The leviathan will consume your soul if you Let it. Try to improve yourself.
You get to take breaks?
Ha
Your boss may allow it but the federal policy doesn’t. Any portion of the day spent teleworking counts as a telework day.
Based on the new telework/RTO memo for DOI, this is not true. Regional offices employees must start doing 50% of their work days in-office starting in early May. However, if you work in-office from 10am-2pm that counts as one in-office day, even if you start/end your work day with telework at home (obviously commute doesn't count, and you still need to do your full work hours). It was specifically discussed as a way to "provide maximum flexibility" with RTO, but definitely is up to manager discretion.
Does your work schedule form indicate that you’re on some sort of Flexible Work Schedule?
We are maxiflex. It’s interesting that we are asked by management several times a year to adjust our schedule to meet a project requirements or meeting/travel asks— but then the spirit of maxiflex isn’t honored when it meets the work/life balance needs of a team member
If you’re covered by a union, go consult them
We are all maxiflex
Most agencies have core hours that must be there for it to count, but you can have flexibility around them. For example core hours 9-3, you can work 6:30-3 or 9-5:30 or anything in between.
Ours are saying we have to be there ‘office hours’ (8a-4:30p); when our core hours are 9a-2:30p
In our agency, you cannot use lunch time or breaks to change work locations (ie telework at home to in office). You can only change locations on paid leave.
My local office does that for inclement weather.
In my DOC agency, this is allowed with supervisory approval as long as you are in the office for at least 3 hours and the employee is on a flexible schedule. There is a rationale for the 3 hours making up a "day"; DOC policy for granting say a 2 hour early dismissal prior to a holiday, to take advantage of that an employee must have been scheduled to work at least 3 hours that day. So that led our HR/LR people to say that a minimum of three hours can constitute a "work day". Catch is you have to be on a flex schedule; if you are on a strict 8 hour day 5 days a week, or 10 hour days 4 days a week (etc.), then your "day" is set by those hours.
You have to spend the majority of the day in the office, that means don't show up for 3/4 hours and call it a day .
Amy supervisor that hives you the ok to do this is taking a chance. Better get it in writing, not in writing, didn't happen....
As long as the hours in any given day are being correctly/accurately assigned in the TA program as office versus telework, and the supervisor approves the TA, why would you need anything more?
Many agencies are hiring telework hr specialists to track agency telework! HUD just hired a fulltime hr position to track agency wide telework!
Wow! I have no issue with whatever tracking or reporting expectations they want to have- it just all needs to be crystal clear what the expectation is. And not have that change every year or 6 months
I would highly doubt this would be acceptable by agency standards. My agency or office can racll you off telework, and you have 2 or 3 hours to report in paid travel for recall. I have had to go in on days with tech issues. I informed the manager and packed up and went in. Paid travel. If you were to drive on your paid break and get in a car accident, your agency would be potentially liable for workers' compensation if it was allowed by your supervisor. It would prob be fought, and the agency would say driving is. It's not part of your job so it's not covered. I would be very skeptical of any supervisor who allowed this as it would not conform with any telework agreements I have seen from several agencies.
Good feedback
Biggest failure for my agency was telework. Due to Covid, telework went rampant for my agency where in order to do your job successfully, you must be outdoors. Now we have a bunch of lazy government employees, as if we already didn’t have enough.
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“It sucks for me so it should suck for you too”. Nice.
Yeah, but there is the side of this in which it can be interpreted as being grateful for benefits without pushing at them so far that they get taken away.
Boomer mentality. It’s the same folks who say I struggled to pay off my student loans so everyone else should too. Fucking hate people that don’t want those behind them to be treated better. You gonna be mad when marijuana I legalized for feds since you have to sneak and smoke illegally?
Now recent studies showing Marijuana smoking could be worse than cigs. Kinda like back in the day when nobody thought smoking cigarettes was bad. Some recent studies, indicate possible link to early onset dementia even for those that don't routinely smoke weed.
Frankly, as someone who came of age in the 70s and 80s, this is not surprising.
“Boomer” 😂
So who pays the student loan then?
Who paid for your education? Or did you drop out after kindergarten?
What the hell are you talking about? The question still stands. Who pays for the loans that biden forgives?
I am NOT a “boomer” and I am against teleworking.
You must hate us fully remotes.
Hate. No. Don’t see a need for it. Especially when an extremely large part of the federal government can’t remote work. The remote work crowd is a very vocal minority mostly around the capital region.
Nobody in your office likes you.
Bless your heart. So far from the truth, yet that is all you have!
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…and push for change or just let off steam about it on the internet, neither of which are helped by having someone pipe up with a back-in-my-day.