Mike Causey

From Here to Maternity: Feds at Hard Labor

Has the age of smart phones, e-mails and texting made it impossible for some federal workers to have time outs? Would you believe the boss who called a subordin...

Federal News Network Staff

April 26, 2011 4:00 am

6 min read

When you’re doing hard labor (as in having a baby,) your job should be the last thing on your mind, right? You want your doctor, maybe your spouse there, but not the boss, correct?

Apparently not – depending on your job, your boss and your agency mission.

For a growing number of feds, time-outs just don’t happen in the age of e-mails, texting, Twitter and smart phones. For many, it appears, escape or even a brief respite from work is no longer an option even during childbirth.

Yesterday’s column was about the burnout rate in federal offices. We asked for examples and got a bunch. Here are some of them. Do they sound familiar?

“A ‘new kid’ woman was hired as a secretary and made her way to Budget Analyst (training). She got pregnant and when in labor to give birth her branch chief and team leader were emailing her and she was responding during labor. She was to be off 3 months but her team leader kept asking her to come in ‘to help out’ and again, she did. When (her team leader was asked) why he was asking her to come in while on maternity leave he said she had work to do. So much for family friendly work place…” Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(This may be another reason men don’t bear children. MC)
“I work for 3 to 6 fed attorneys at any one time, most of whom have had to take on more work of late. Because of egos and, maybe, workloads, etc, I find myself having to beg one of them to do another one’s work. I’ve worked for a number of attorneys over the last 23 years, and I’ve never been put in this situation. And, I’ve been told, be happy I have a job. I hope I can make it the last three years, so I can take some kind of early retirement. It’s pretty frustrating. Thanks for listening.” Anon
“Mental burnout is just as rough as physical burnout. I’ve seen more old timer feds basically fly the coop (or should I say poop?) in an afternoon without the retirement party or so called ‘party accolades’ that was common a very LONG TIME AGO!!!!!! We’re no longer leaving a service but a dungeon.” LTFW (Long Time Federal Worker)
“I read your story about the govt burnout with interest. Here at our GSA office, we have one of the highest turnovers in the organization, so much so that our management doesn’t bother any more to bring new people around for introductions. Myself and a couple of others who have been in this office for a long time have no idea any longer of who works for whom or what they do. We can pretty much guarantee that we’ll see new faces again in about two to three weeks. The older generation (myself included…) are doing our jobs and waiting for our individual retirements. We’ve become very disappointed by our management here who hand out assignments and then disappear never to be seen again until quitting time.” Crystal City, Arlington
“Let’s see …… work ’til you drop, freeze your pay, automatic discharge if you don’t file your return on time (unless you are the Secretary of the Treasury!), drop a component of your contracted-for retirement, raise your medical insurance costs with higher co-pays and deductibles, and the President wants to hire the brightest and the best? My colleagues and I don’t golf on weekends, we don’t jet to Hawaii, Martha’s Vineyard or Marbella for vacations, and we do not have time to take our children and grandchildren to the Easter egg roll that the President is throwing at the White House! Learn how to share the pain Mr. President!” Confidential at IRS
“I don’t know how many family vacations have been spoiled by e-mails, and now texts, from the boss to my government spouse. I take the kids somewhere ‘quiet’ so they can discuss work even as we are on vacation. Oh, and I am not the complaining wife. I’m the husband of a federal government worker who is ‘indispensable.’ I think it is indefensible.” Quiet Man.

Finally, the other side:

“My story is the opposite of ‘burnout.’ When I was hired by the IRS as a Revenue Agent more than 20 years ago we were told that there was a 5 year burnout rate. Of course by that time, especially if you’re older, the pension, benefits, ability to work at home far exceeds any ‘burnout’ that you may be feeling.
“Fast forward to the new hires – the best and the brightest (as opposed to the old and the stupidest that are already working there.) In my office some of the new hires have so little inventory they have time to spend an hour talking to each other about their personal lives when they first come into the office, they come in late, they take two hour lunches, they’re allowed to work flexiplace (at home) even though they don’t meet the requirements yet, it takes forever for them to close a case, and even though I don’t know what their cases and audits look like I can guess by things that are said at the group meeting. They’re out of their probation period and they went to the same school as the boss so he basically lets them do what they want.

“So instead of burnout these new hires have it made. There are also 3 agents in our office (which is a small office), including me, that have less than 2 years to go to retirement and we’re all workers. I would like to see how things shake out when we leave. Of course by that time I’ll be gone and won’t even care.

“I’d like to remain anonymous because my office and state are so small everyone would know it’s me! ” LOL!

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

MSNBC reports the co-founder of Earth Day, Ira Einhorn, is serving a life sentence for killing his girlfriend and composting her body.

MORE FROM FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Time off due to royal wedding for some feds
Other headlines in this morning’s Federal Newscast: Agencies to unsubscribe from the Federal Register, Naps under consideration for Air Traffic Controllers, Missile part falls off Navy jet, hits truck.

FAQ on new Roth TSP option
A new Roth Thrift Savings Plan option will be available possibly as soon as early next year. How does the Roth TSP differ from the traditional TSP? And is the Roth option right for you? The TSP Board’s Greg Long answers your frequently asked questions.

Bill would extend federal new hire probation
A bill would change the probation period from one year to two years. Rep. Dennis Ross shares why he sponsored the bill.

GAO upholds one of four protests under E-Travel RFP
The General Services Administration has lost a protest to CarsonWagonlit Sato Travel on the follow-on contract for agencies up upgrade their governmentwide E-Travel systems.

Panel urges leadership on DoD service contracts
A Defense Science Board panel found DoD’s procedures and its senior leaders don’t give service contracts the attention they deserve. Service contracts make up more than 50 percent of the Defense Department’s acquisition budget.

IN CASE YOU WERE AWAY …
Stories you may have missed:

Air Force to survey buyout interest
Federal civilian employees at the Air Force Materiel Command could be getting buyout and early retirement offers of up to $25,000.

Long term care for you and your tax forms
It’s the end of tax season, the middle of Long Term Care Open Season, and the height of spring cleaning season. Get tips from certified financial planner Arthur Stein.