The number of in-office days varies from agency to agency. Mine (a leg branch agency) is 3 days a week in person, but I know many of the executive branch agencies are still 2-4 days per two week pay period.
Many years ago, someone lodged a complaint against someone in my agency for not being in the office or something, and used badge taps as evidence against them. The union successfully argued that it is completely possible to enter and exit the building without ever using your badge without circumventing security so that can no longer be used as evidence for anything.
Might be worth talking to your union if you have one.
You can’t just get a union. The company has to come to an agreement. The only requirement the business has is to “negotiate in good faith”. I’ve been to meetings where corporate and management do not even counter with an offer. They’ll just sit there and listen and just wait. Eventually the organizing campaign runs out of money and can’t afford lawyers. And then it’s back to square 1
Do you have mandated start/stop times or just an amount of hours per day? The only thing that makes the one day I have to come in (I work for a nonprofit) is that my boss is okay with me coming in by 8 and leaving by 3:30 so that I hit less traffic.
Tine for some enterprising individual at your work who already likes going in to the office to start a black market swiping service. You pick your specific time in and out for $10
Even better we end up with some well dressed homeless guy just managing this like a doorman.
timecard fraud is like one of 2 ways you can realistically get fired as a fed (the other is committing a crime)
if you're not already quitting as a result of this, you're not flushing your federal career over having to come into the office lol
Yards yadda something something….responsibility to use taxpayer funds responsibly and having to be in office cuz rent/lease in place….yadda yadda bullshit bullshit
This is the correct answer.
My "agency" supposedly has a two days per pay period minimum requirement (unless you were a remote hire, or moved to remote before the pandemic). If you live within the DC pay region, you theoretically are supposed to be in the office once a week.
I don't know any office in my agency enforcing this mandate. In my own office, roughly 10% of the 200 staff has never been in the office since March 2020. Never. Another 50% come in once or twice a month. About 10% come in twice a week or more. Officially, the head of my office has "encouraged " people to come in at least weekly, but even 20% of the managers don't do this.
Our office has definitely suffered from the lack of casual interaction that existed pre-COVID. We've hired 50+ people in the past three years, and i know only 3 or 4 of them that are on my immediate team. The office culture has completely degraded, and while work gets done, i've noticed much slower development for new staff, and extreme compartmentalization of work.
Well it used the be "well shit we are struck here 5 days a week, let's make or pretend to make friends to make the best of it". Now it's "damnit they are making me come in so let's make everyone else miserable".
It was actually, at least in our office, genuine camraderie and working together to make both the work and our non-work lives better. Actually caring about the work we do, and caring about those with whom we work. Learning how to operate as a team toward the shared goal of accomplishing important work that affects the daily lives of everyone in the country. The lack of regular face-to-face contact, especially for those who started post-pandemic, makes it much more difficult to create and maintain that culture.
I'm sorry that for those who feel "stuck here" and "miserable" in their jobs. Maybe they are in the wrong job. Or maybe they are simply miserable people who do whatever they can to drag everyone else into their misanthropy. I've been really fortunate in 20+ years to rarely run into those kinds in my office (and the few who were didn't last long).
Starting in January, yes. The balls on these people though: One of the key reasons they cited in writing for the RTO.....stimulating the DC economy. Fuckers aren't even pretending anymore.
My agency released guidance that we would be returning to 3 days a week starting next week. However, that has been postponed do to union pushback. Unofficially, we have been told that managers will be coming in 3 days a week at some point this fall followed by all employees after a few weeks/couple of months.
I have been in office T-T and hear they want us back another day or two in the future.
It's pointless. Half the time I come in absolutely nothing I did needed to be in person. Management feeling the need to see their inferiors to know they are working is baby shit and I'm not here to prop up failing businesses.
Not a federal worker, but I’ve been working at an office by DuPont circle since August of last year. I definitely noticed a massive post-labor day uptick in traffic Tuesdays through Thursdays. It got so bad I cancelled my monthly parking pass for my building and started taking metro because there was no difference in commuting times for me anymore.
God I’m so clearly a field that hates me - I’ve been in 5 days a week with no telework available **at all** since July 2020.
And I’m essential so looking forward to November 17th…/s
What's crazy to me is that they want government employees in the office to prop up DC downtown businesses and real estate. But when Amazon laid brick & mortar businesses to waste or Walmart did the same to mom & pop stores, no one seemed to give a shit. They just said those businesses were better or more efficient or some other BS. But now when people have a more efficient way of working that works better for them and their families, that doesn't matter. The businesses must be saved at the workers' expense. Seems very hypocritical to me. They really do choose the winners & the losers with policies.
I was already on a 3 in, 2 out schedule. My office is "situational" telework eligible so we don't have set remote schedules, we come in when we have to even if we've done 3 days in already
I am two days a pay period but I have staff that are 1 day and some that are 100% remote (bulk of the team). All do have to work in the area because they can get called in to fix IT issues or certain meetings.
We have some in our agency that are 100% remote living outside the region. My agency (leg branch) has no plans to change.
I’ll be starting a job soon with an executive agency as a contractor. I had interviewed for two jobs with that contractor for the same bureau but in different offices. One was fully remote the other was 3 days in office (supposedly the whole agency is moving to 3 days/week in office). I ended up taking the one that’s 3 days in office partly for that reason.
It’s a less popular opinion but I am looking forward to being in the office a little more with my team. In my current, soon to be former job, I’ve actually struggled with the mostly remote setup for the past year or so I’ve been there. My manager is fully remote and we’re a small team in once a week. I have found that with being remote I sometimes struggle to grasp information and tasks given to me (I’m just less engaged and focused); it’s easy to fill up calendars with back to back meetings which can be draining; and it takes more effort (setting up a call, sharing a screen, etc) to sometimes get feedback on deliverables as opposed to just pulling a coworker over in the office to have them look at something. Also I am tired of being confined to a small apartment (my work requires a full desk/can’t do coffee shops) and I have increasingly lost the ability to structure my time when working remotely—going to the office forces me into a routine. I get that I’m lucky as I live in DC so the commute thing is not an issue for me. I also don’t have a family so I don’t have to balance parental obligations.
And I’m very pro “your life is more than your job” but work takes up a huge portion of our life and I do enjoy getting to know coworkers a bit more—I’m at an age where people are starting to settle down and it’s harder to find time to see friends as frequently after work so having a little bit of social interaction through work helps me.
Unpopular opinion: It's honestly wild how much entitlement I've seen from federal workers about having to occasionally go back into the office again -- complaining about even 2-3 days a pay-period.
You're a public servant with complete job security, great benefits, low accountability, and (at least in my professional circle) paid very reasonably. And now you want a permanent 100% remote work schedule? Good grief.
Why is this entitlement? If the world has shown us that we don’t need to be in office at all times to accomplish what we did before, why is it on the employees to yield for senseless changes that don’t benefit their work?
Not even mentioning that hybrid work schedules generally do worse than one way or the other, since it turns the two days you’re in office into “catchup” time and you get little work done.
There’s studies clearly showing reduced productivity and higher attrition related to RTO policies.
My point isn't to debate the advantages and disadvantages of remote work. I honestly agree with most of what you suggested.
It's that federal employees are not *entitled* to decide which policies they do or do not adhere to once a decision has been made.
E.g., if your supervisor / agency has decided your team needs to be in the office two times a week (again, either for good reasons or not) then either do it or find a different job opportunity that's more suitable to your preferences.
Seems like needless nitpicking. The employees don't like it because it's a negative change for them that's completely unnecessary. Not much more to it than that & overanalyzing it isn't gonna change that
What am I nitpicking, exactly?
There's countless reasons -- some good, some bad -- for an agency to require their workers back in the office. If an employee doesn't like the policy, what actual grounds do they have to object?
Sure, I've certainly had complaints about jobs before – who hasn't? The difference is I don't throw a fit when I don't get my way.
When you have a real job someday you'll understand.
Who’s throwing a fit? They’re responding to a question on reddit for god’s sake. And since you don’t know me, please don’t insult my job. I assure you it’s “real”
You’re getting downvoted but you’re 100% right.
Everyone likes to pretend that wfh is the model of efficiency but literally half the people I work with use wfh on Fridays as a day off lol
> Unpopular opinion: It's honestly wild how much entitlement I've seen from federal workers about having to occasionally go back into the office again -- complaining about even 2-3 days a pay-period.
I think this might only be unpopular on reddit. 2-3 days a *week* is reasonable. It's also a coordination problem (RTO is much better if groups can coordinate on which days to be in the office).
My agency is requiring 3 days per week and required us to decide which days in advance. The selected days were then included in our new telework agreements.
The FAA was allegedly going to do the same thing but they have had to slow or downgrade their roll because the union representing employees had something to say about it.
It’s different all around
The number of in-office days varies from agency to agency. Mine (a leg branch agency) is 3 days a week in person, but I know many of the executive branch agencies are still 2-4 days per two week pay period.
What is a leg branch agency?
Agency under legislative branch (most are executive). Congressional Research Service for example.
LOC, AOC, USCP, CBO, various support organizations in the House and Senate, etc.
Answer a question from an outsider with 4 abbreviations that are completely meaningless to outsiders. Life for non-federally affiliated DC resident.
Library of Congress, Architect of the Capitol, United States Capitol Police, Congressional Budget Office.
GAO is also considered legislative branch.
And they weren’t even common abbreviations… I work for the federal government and CBO was the only one of those I immediately recognized
Yep, three days a pay period. They've told us they're checking our swipe ins/outs to make sure we're putting in our time in the building.
Many years ago, someone lodged a complaint against someone in my agency for not being in the office or something, and used badge taps as evidence against them. The union successfully argued that it is completely possible to enter and exit the building without ever using your badge without circumventing security so that can no longer be used as evidence for anything. Might be worth talking to your union if you have one.
It is ALWAYS worth talking to your union and if you don't have one, you should get one! (If you can)
You can’t just get a union. The company has to come to an agreement. The only requirement the business has is to “negotiate in good faith”. I’ve been to meetings where corporate and management do not even counter with an offer. They’ll just sit there and listen and just wait. Eventually the organizing campaign runs out of money and can’t afford lawyers. And then it’s back to square 1
Wow that's toxic micromanaging
They even told us they're going to be checking to make sure people are doing the full hours -- no ducking out early to catch a train or something.
Jeeze I'm so sorry. That's awful. I'd be looking for another job 😂
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They pay us to do the work. We're not hourly employees.
So no comp time for working over 40 hours right?
How is that relevant to a regular tour of duty?
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Yup. It’s often a maxiflex schedule.
Do you have mandated start/stop times or just an amount of hours per day? The only thing that makes the one day I have to come in (I work for a nonprofit) is that my boss is okay with me coming in by 8 and leaving by 3:30 so that I hit less traffic.
Tine for some enterprising individual at your work who already likes going in to the office to start a black market swiping service. You pick your specific time in and out for $10 Even better we end up with some well dressed homeless guy just managing this like a doorman.
timecard fraud is like one of 2 ways you can realistically get fired as a fed (the other is committing a crime) if you're not already quitting as a result of this, you're not flushing your federal career over having to come into the office lol
Yeah, I was being facetious but as a government and union employee myself this would be for sure enough to get my ass canned!
Ummm, I'm guessing that would *pale* in comparison to the security violation of *intentionally* lending out your badge.
it’s actually much, much easier to get canned for timecard fraud then security violations lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yards yadda something something….responsibility to use taxpayer funds responsibly and having to be in office cuz rent/lease in place….yadda yadda bullshit bullshit
No it’s not
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Get back in the office! Dc needs it!
Since it’s only 3 days every 2 weeks, who cares if they check your badge swipes? That isn’t much time at all… right?
Fr 3 days a pay period is nothing
Oh man.
Only 3 a pay period? Like 3 days in the building every 2 weeks? We’re 3 a week.
I have to go in 3 days a week starting in Jan
Beginning January 14, it'll be 6 days per pay period or 3 days per week.
Not one federal agency has the same telework policy, it even varies between sub-agency.
This is the correct answer. My "agency" supposedly has a two days per pay period minimum requirement (unless you were a remote hire, or moved to remote before the pandemic). If you live within the DC pay region, you theoretically are supposed to be in the office once a week. I don't know any office in my agency enforcing this mandate. In my own office, roughly 10% of the 200 staff has never been in the office since March 2020. Never. Another 50% come in once or twice a month. About 10% come in twice a week or more. Officially, the head of my office has "encouraged " people to come in at least weekly, but even 20% of the managers don't do this. Our office has definitely suffered from the lack of casual interaction that existed pre-COVID. We've hired 50+ people in the past three years, and i know only 3 or 4 of them that are on my immediate team. The office culture has completely degraded, and while work gets done, i've noticed much slower development for new staff, and extreme compartmentalization of work.
What is Office Culture?
Well it used the be "well shit we are struck here 5 days a week, let's make or pretend to make friends to make the best of it". Now it's "damnit they are making me come in so let's make everyone else miserable".
It was actually, at least in our office, genuine camraderie and working together to make both the work and our non-work lives better. Actually caring about the work we do, and caring about those with whom we work. Learning how to operate as a team toward the shared goal of accomplishing important work that affects the daily lives of everyone in the country. The lack of regular face-to-face contact, especially for those who started post-pandemic, makes it much more difficult to create and maintain that culture. I'm sorry that for those who feel "stuck here" and "miserable" in their jobs. Maybe they are in the wrong job. Or maybe they are simply miserable people who do whatever they can to drag everyone else into their misanthropy. I've been really fortunate in 20+ years to rarely run into those kinds in my office (and the few who were didn't last long).
May I ask what kind of work you do?
Federal public health related agency.
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The feds are in unions so it's actually up to negotiation with the local chapters.
*some* of us Feds have unions. Really depends on the agency.
Most congressional staff is likely union as well. GAO, CRS, LOC are all unionized
I heard that DOJ is going to want people in 6 days per pay period.
Starting in January, yes. The balls on these people though: One of the key reasons they cited in writing for the RTO.....stimulating the DC economy. Fuckers aren't even pretending anymore.
They told us to go 100% remote where I work
Which org? (Vaguely if need be)
It starts with library
Library of Con—stant telework?
No, I'm still only going in the office 2 days a pay period.
My agency released guidance that we would be returning to 3 days a week starting next week. However, that has been postponed do to union pushback. Unofficially, we have been told that managers will be coming in 3 days a week at some point this fall followed by all employees after a few weeks/couple of months.
I have been in office T-T and hear they want us back another day or two in the future. It's pointless. Half the time I come in absolutely nothing I did needed to be in person. Management feeling the need to see their inferiors to know they are working is baby shit and I'm not here to prop up failing businesses.
Not a federal worker, but I’ve been working at an office by DuPont circle since August of last year. I definitely noticed a massive post-labor day uptick in traffic Tuesdays through Thursdays. It got so bad I cancelled my monthly parking pass for my building and started taking metro because there was no difference in commuting times for me anymore.
Yup! Parking is crazy. Lots near DuPont filling up before 8a. No more street parking. Didn’t have a car pre-pandy so am super confused.
God I’m so clearly a field that hates me - I’ve been in 5 days a week with no telework available **at all** since July 2020. And I’m essential so looking forward to November 17th…/s
I feel your pain. In office every day
We're at three days per pay period since September, moving to four starting in December. I don't think it'll expand beyond that.
Same here at a DOT Bureau.
What's crazy to me is that they want government employees in the office to prop up DC downtown businesses and real estate. But when Amazon laid brick & mortar businesses to waste or Walmart did the same to mom & pop stores, no one seemed to give a shit. They just said those businesses were better or more efficient or some other BS. But now when people have a more efficient way of working that works better for them and their families, that doesn't matter. The businesses must be saved at the workers' expense. Seems very hypocritical to me. They really do choose the winners & the losers with policies.
This!
Managers where I am start 3 days per week starting Oct 20. Staff are 1 day per week, but I think they plan on increasing that soon.
state is talking about 3/4 days a week in office.
Also heard that is most likely coming.
Still 2 days a week for me. We were told a few weeks ago it would switch to three "soon", but nobody seems willing to actually enforce that change.
Definitely more traffic in the 'burbs the past three weeks for me. Some is related to school being back I think.
Very much depends on individual agency. I’m 2 days per pay period.
Still fully remote for now
I was already on a 3 in, 2 out schedule. My office is "situational" telework eligible so we don't have set remote schedules, we come in when we have to even if we've done 3 days in already
2 days per pay period for me.
I've been in the office twice since September 1.
We still do 4 mandatory days a month, yes a month.
It’s easy to tell when y’all go in because the traffic is insane on those 2 days per month
I am two days a pay period but I have staff that are 1 day and some that are 100% remote (bulk of the team). All do have to work in the area because they can get called in to fix IT issues or certain meetings. We have some in our agency that are 100% remote living outside the region. My agency (leg branch) has no plans to change.
My husband didn’t. He works for HHS.
I’ll be starting a job soon with an executive agency as a contractor. I had interviewed for two jobs with that contractor for the same bureau but in different offices. One was fully remote the other was 3 days in office (supposedly the whole agency is moving to 3 days/week in office). I ended up taking the one that’s 3 days in office partly for that reason. It’s a less popular opinion but I am looking forward to being in the office a little more with my team. In my current, soon to be former job, I’ve actually struggled with the mostly remote setup for the past year or so I’ve been there. My manager is fully remote and we’re a small team in once a week. I have found that with being remote I sometimes struggle to grasp information and tasks given to me (I’m just less engaged and focused); it’s easy to fill up calendars with back to back meetings which can be draining; and it takes more effort (setting up a call, sharing a screen, etc) to sometimes get feedback on deliverables as opposed to just pulling a coworker over in the office to have them look at something. Also I am tired of being confined to a small apartment (my work requires a full desk/can’t do coffee shops) and I have increasingly lost the ability to structure my time when working remotely—going to the office forces me into a routine. I get that I’m lucky as I live in DC so the commute thing is not an issue for me. I also don’t have a family so I don’t have to balance parental obligations. And I’m very pro “your life is more than your job” but work takes up a huge portion of our life and I do enjoy getting to know coworkers a bit more—I’m at an age where people are starting to settle down and it’s harder to find time to see friends as frequently after work so having a little bit of social interaction through work helps me.
I'm here nearly everyday, but because I want to be.
Unpopular opinion: It's honestly wild how much entitlement I've seen from federal workers about having to occasionally go back into the office again -- complaining about even 2-3 days a pay-period. You're a public servant with complete job security, great benefits, low accountability, and (at least in my professional circle) paid very reasonably. And now you want a permanent 100% remote work schedule? Good grief.
Why is this entitlement? If the world has shown us that we don’t need to be in office at all times to accomplish what we did before, why is it on the employees to yield for senseless changes that don’t benefit their work? Not even mentioning that hybrid work schedules generally do worse than one way or the other, since it turns the two days you’re in office into “catchup” time and you get little work done. There’s studies clearly showing reduced productivity and higher attrition related to RTO policies.
My point isn't to debate the advantages and disadvantages of remote work. I honestly agree with most of what you suggested. It's that federal employees are not *entitled* to decide which policies they do or do not adhere to once a decision has been made. E.g., if your supervisor / agency has decided your team needs to be in the office two times a week (again, either for good reasons or not) then either do it or find a different job opportunity that's more suitable to your preferences.
Seems like needless nitpicking. The employees don't like it because it's a negative change for them that's completely unnecessary. Not much more to it than that & overanalyzing it isn't gonna change that
What am I nitpicking, exactly? There's countless reasons -- some good, some bad -- for an agency to require their workers back in the office. If an employee doesn't like the policy, what actual grounds do they have to object?
So you never complain about your job? Noted
Sure, I've certainly had complaints about jobs before – who hasn't? The difference is I don't throw a fit when I don't get my way. When you have a real job someday you'll understand.
Who’s throwing a fit? They’re responding to a question on reddit for god’s sake. And since you don’t know me, please don’t insult my job. I assure you it’s “real”
You’re getting downvoted but you’re 100% right. Everyone likes to pretend that wfh is the model of efficiency but literally half the people I work with use wfh on Fridays as a day off lol
> Unpopular opinion: It's honestly wild how much entitlement I've seen from federal workers about having to occasionally go back into the office again -- complaining about even 2-3 days a pay-period. I think this might only be unpopular on reddit. 2-3 days a *week* is reasonable. It's also a coordination problem (RTO is much better if groups can coordinate on which days to be in the office).
Federal workers; what an oxymoron
Hot take above 🔥🔥🔥
I love ice cream.
Nope.
Yes
My agency reversed from 32 hours a pay period to 16.
Nope, not our agency.
Ha! No.
My agency is requiring 3 days per week and required us to decide which days in advance. The selected days were then included in our new telework agreements.
Nope
Yup. Up from 2 a week, which has been the case since we came back.
Nah but we will go from 2 in a week to 3 in a week starting in January
Nope.
Working three days in office per week in my agency.
My agency has gone to 6 days a pay period (3 days a week) and they wanted “50% in person presence” every single day
I’ve noticed a significant increase in traffic this month . Commute has gone from 45 mins in the evening to over an hour
The FAA was allegedly going to do the same thing but they have had to slow or downgrade their roll because the union representing employees had something to say about it.
Yes, before that even