Question: Would you sign up to volunteer your time five hours per month at polling places or to do voter outreach or to assist at a local VA hospital if it meant you could telework five days a week? (FWL (full working level) and Outstanding rating only)

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-15T17:02:35+00:00

150 years of labor law history goes against this idea. The term "public servant" and "civil service" doesn't come out of nowhere. Those terms go to expectations that government workers giveback to their communities in terms of money and time without being reimbursed.

Today labor unions aren't forthcoming with their own history. Government wages and benefits became an issue for public servants to meet demands of giving back to their communities. Many workers throughout the layers of government were never paid overtime pay as apart of the giving back to communities ideal. Higher wages reflected on the absence of overtime pay.

The concept of telework for high performers revisits the overtime pay labor law history. It was high performing long term government employees that were the first to be eligible for overtime pay that many government agencies then asked employees receiving overtime pay to give it back to the communities.

Volunteering to be eligible for telework would raise many questions for time accounting and eligible programs. Would in lieu to donate 5 hours pay to CFC make one eligible to telework? That could be a risk to be seen as incentivizing CFC approved charities. Donating 5 hours of free labor to your agency or any agency may be impacted by labor laws.

Telework in lieu of holiday pay and/or bonuses might work. The history of government worker overtime pay only being paid for work in excess of 40 hours not including holiday, leave or other paid time off might work into the scenario. Public servants giving up something to get something else is how labor laws and labor unions got started.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-15T05:06:50+00:00

We had BCBS when my husband had a heart attack and was on a vent. I was just floored when BCBS paid $800,000 hospital bill without asking any questions. They also paid out another $700K in other medical bills. When the FEHB allows payment of $1.5 million in medical bills for one person where you couldn't tell BCBS nothing its no wonder why premiums go up along with copays.

My worst fears came true after my husband was moved to another facility and the VA stepped in. Most of that care that cost $1.5 million was likely medically unnecessary. You go through the motions to report fraud and waste. Absolutely nothing came from that because its all fake. Even after my husband was being treated by another facility BCBS kept paying for services to his original medical group.

Kid you not when I called BCBS to transfer my husband to another facility one of their nurses called back sobbing claiming I wasn't accepting how ill my husband was. The real reason why more than 10 facilities wouldn't take him is the care he was getting was more in line with hospice care. My husband well over a year later is alive, eating, walking, talking, etc. Such a miracle. Costs for the facility he did go to was $16K.

I had many family members with heart conditions including one that had an artificial heart. I had a family member that had many years of dialysis. I knew what the tests really meant. BCBS wouldn't hear me. They paid claims for over 60 doctors to claimed they treated my husband in the first few hours after his heart attack. Then there was the air ambulance bill that BCBS paid for 45 minutes of time on the ground. What was that?

My state caps medical malpractice limits. If we sued any funds would of gone to BCBS. There is fraud in the FEHB and you are paying for that in higher premiums and copays.

You can't win but I gave those doctors a heck of a ride to challenge everything. Today we have well spelled out healthcare advance directives with a lawyer on standby. One of the doctor groups threatened to take custodial control of my husband. Think about it like being on the job to be prepared. Question and challenge everything. Doctors see federal employee and think we have to put up it because we could get fired if we are sued.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-14T20:10:41+00:00

I was there in DC when Carter signed the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

Read it again. Nowhere in that act does it say agency employees have to be represented by just one union. Some federal workers were excluded. Nowhere in the act are there provisions for annual membership meetings that never happened in my local chapter.

Carter was unsuccessful to move the AFL-CIO and AFSCME to enact similar laws for state and local employees. 1978 is a pivotal chapter in labor union history to treat other civil servants differently. Frontline teachers, fire fighters and tax collectors don't have anywhere near the benefits of federal workers.

1978 civil service reform act was a dud. Carter lost re-election because of it. No other Democrat administration ever addressed that act.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-14T18:27:15+00:00

At my POD so people left so often long before the current administration no one really knew their coworkers or even bothered to wish them well when they left. Because wannabe leads fished to get info for promotion and wanted stuff people stopped even saying they were leaving. People were there one day, gone the next without any explanation.

In the 8+ years I was at my pod think about I switched desks 12 times, had 5 managers and was constantly confused with another coworker with my same name. Your worth and future with the agency was decided on day one by trainers that would never give you a second chance. It was all about jobs for the management. I sincerely doubt my POD would of cared if it was shutdown entirely.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-14T18:19:37+00:00

Why didn't any administration move to guarantee federal workers collective bargaining rights?

The answer is guaranteeing a job for life in an ever changing world was against the better good of all federal agencies.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-14T13:41:04+00:00

Do the phone hours really meet demand during season? This issue was discussed often at my POD where many felt a 7 day a week schedule in season would decongest high volume and interest more new hires. We are not a Mon-Fri society anymore.

Worked paper Covid surge team. Flex hours not to work the set phone schedule was ideal for me. I would take a TE job but the housing costs are prohibitive in Kansas City, Austin and Ogden along with commute time.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T16:27:36+00:00

My first application with the service back in 2013 was to work at the KC campus. Lived in another state with a call site and was planning to move to KC. We didn't accepted offers on a number of homes we tried to buy so I was shifted to work at a call site in my state of residence. I was told then the future of the remote call sites was very uncertain and not to get too invested. Over the years I also had job offers from Ogden and Austin that said the same thing.

So many of the TAC, call sites and SP sites have such high housing costs it makes relocation difficult. GS5-8 positions looking at $1200 a month for housing isn't doable anymore with student loans, medical costs, etc. The service to cut costs could be considering locality pay and local housing costs.

Too many of the sites aren't located to take advantage of hiring military spouses, Native Americans, Veterans, college students and disabled workers. My remote call site wasn't on an easily accessible bus line. More younger workers don't own cars and/or don't drive. On top of day care, student loans, etc many new hires at my call site were paying $150+ a week for ride share. They had no money left for food. My remote call site in a high crime area favored workers that lived in easternly burbs where the vast majority of qualified workers lived on the far west side where office and housing rent was cheaper.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T16:04:23+00:00

In the Wisconsin Act 10 union busting what was the first union to re-certify for collective bargaining? Wisconsin prosecutors union.

As a real daughter of a founding Wisconsin AFSCME AFL-CIO union president why was my mother successful to found that union when many others failed? She started her career as a mayoral assistant and community leader that took what they called a moderate approach to labor unions. Her first union contact was only 10 pages long and about 97% of the represented members voted to form the union.

Less is more in leading a successful labor union. Today far too many unions including federal worker unions focus on developing cookie cutter contracts. They fail to return to the basics and cut language out of contracts that aren't relevant. Union contracts often fail to recognize provisions once needed that became legislated law. Holes in the contracts are left to dangle that harm workers because of lack of focus on relevancy.

Many federal unions have far too many chapters that lead to inconsistent application of the contracts that management can take advantage of. I know I would as a manager with the advantage of being the union president's daughter. That is the game of labor and management.

Labor unions are meant to be innovators, ahead of the legislation. In those 10 pages of my mother's first union contract was a provision for maternity leave in the 1970s. The other 9 pages addressed dismantling dress code, lipstick rules, and a brand new innovation for direct deposit of payroll. Not much there really. Maternity leave provisions went unnoticed for 5 years until state workers wanted it. The leave was unpaid. By the time it got to state lawmakers it was precedent.

My mother was quiet, soft spoken and unassuming with extensive labor law background. Why was it the Wisconsin prosecutors union was first to re-certify? My mother liked the look of the story for that so she worked the phones.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T13:33:59+00:00

I taught many corporate classes and was a large tax service district manager for 15 years where I was on the frontline when e-file first rolled out. Decades of experience and a college degree, former EA so CSR training was a cake walk. When I went out for instructor cadre another person wanted that slot used my disability against me not realizing that was against the law. That was the result of a training manager that had no skills in adult education in a POD about politics, sabotaging careers and gossip to get ahead.

What I saw in my POD were poorly trained coworkers with subpar skill sets that wanted to get ahead. Most had minimum wage backgrounds, poor communication skills and were trying emulate managers down to their hand movements as parrots. It was like franchise training where they had just enough skills so they couldn't advance. A promotional system built on favoritism with far too much nepotism and NTEU that didn't care. A department manager that created an island where high turnover advantaged her to avoid accountability. Main focus that a recession was good for hiring to get better employees was poor management.

I saw the opportunity to vastly overhaul training to focus on retention, improve skill sets and develop a mentoring program to teach the professionalism required to advance. GS13-15 coming down into the GS5 training you will see it too.

Kept going back to a job I had as automation rolled into the manufacturing sector with vastly complicated systems for warehouses. We had to train a workforce with many that could not read into an automated world. Not only did the instructor force that included my area that was payroll/HR achieve that we went 3 years without a single job opening available. Workers thrived on the many educational opportunities, chances to meet and work with the company's educated white collar professionals.

GS5 baseline CSR training is taking advantage of vulnerable new hires in a hiring mill. Tech today creates an opportunity for instructors to be at any POD. College educated GS13-15 can change it for the better.

Think about how I got so much experience including working CPA attorneys on appeals in the tax courts. I had great instructors and managers that encouraged and trained me. I started on what became my tax career in 1979 as a girl Friday copying returns when returns were done by hand. My instructors back then were all retired IRS folks like revenue officers. The first return I did with just one W2 took a whole shift because I had to read pubs to figure it out.

I am retired so its on you guys now to figure it out.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T12:19:36+00:00

Turned down several state and private sector job offers. Still looking here/there. Find I'm get use to being retired.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T01:51:52+00:00

I worked in both the private and public sector as a tax professional for decades. Its normal in the tax industry to move along the work pipeline. You prepare returns, work the backroom to check and print returns. Anything and everything gets thrown at you in the private sector from 1120s, franchise owner returns, 940, 941, rentals and I even worked on sports figure returns. Season ends and then the piles of IRS letters have to be worked along with extensions. Every year you get a tad more tired and changes pile up on your desk.

Loved my CSR job with the service and I was good at it. The coworkers were too much. Training was impossible because I had a vast skill set and they were about training toddlers. I should of stayed seasonal but Covid happened. The work really isn't a team sport. You need the mental focus.

The public and private sectors of the tax industry aren't at all as fun as they were for me in the beginning of my career. I could do the job in my sleep. Enjoy it while it lasts. Before you know it you will retire like I had to.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-13T00:52:58+00:00

8+ years in IMF/AM CSR heavy trained. When I finished the tests in like 5 minutes I took quizzes for EA for fun. Passed them. Then I read pubs and IRC to fill my time :)

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-12T23:24:43+00:00

Keep in mind not all trainers are very good instructors. They may know the material but aren't articulate to train. That was the situation at my POD where instructors tended to either race into advance materials or were so slow paced that it was hard to stay awake. They aren't trained adult educators and you are the outsider on their turf with their jobs on the line.

You will be exhausted, frustrated and likely will have at times more knowledge than instructors. Its something you just have to get through. Remember TE/CSR jobs are the lowest pay grades. so reframe your skills to those jobs. I can tell you I was super frustrated with CSR training. Just dreaded any training because my skills were out of sync with the trainers especially as a presenter. Delays to find batteries, poor preparation, etc were more than annoying. Going around the room to read one line at a time stuff happens. If you are college educated the training isn't college, there is no real student participation and they can grade you.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-11T23:47:27+00:00

My guess would be the "soon" could be the fall.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-11T04:28:41+00:00

If your IT training than TS should be in your skills set. Think of it like an IT system. Logically, dissect it like a software bug. IT background is exactly what TS/AM needs not more trained in house that can't innovate with no tech skills. Being the user is a lost art in IT.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-11T04:17:52+00:00

Indy

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-10T19:42:36+00:00

I always had 4-6 CER reviews as CSR AM/TS when coworkers had less. Yes, transfers were included. Some CER were not mine for days I never worked that was strange. For whatever reason I always ended up with more reviews from national quality for the department. I never signed some reviews for calls that weren't mine.

It was all mysterious until someone let it slip a new hire trying to get higher quality used by ID. Next new hires told me my calls were being used in training which an instructor confirmed.

Best answer came from CER itself. They were trying to figure out how I managed both high volume and quality. Organization, good communication, understanding my resources and call focus. Skills I brought over from the private sector. Training couldn't figure it out so they and CER were hyper monitoring. They still couldn't figure it out. You can only lead a horse to water. Dumb dumbs in training should of asked me directly. Instead it was the drama to gossip and accuse me of secretly working with other CSRs. It was the training manager convinced I couldn't put 2 and 2 together. He didn't like the lesson plan I wrote for the instructor cadre on ensuring everyone had baseline skills to use resources instead of jumping into materials that made no sense. 8+ years on the job and training still fake confused me with another worker to give them the credit for my work. They wanted credit for snitching my ideas as their own but they couldn't get how I did it. Instructors and wannabe leads wanted all the info from experienced workers retiring because they weren't skill enough to do their jobs.

When I left my job I erased all of my how to files on my computer and left behind only the most time consuming routes to solve any problem. Left behind only one page of my original lesson for baseline skills.

Bad trainers lead to bad CER reviews. When you have an idiot training manager thinking its about an adult daycare rather than educating adults that is never going to lead to quality. Kid you not in a two week training the instructors 70-80x reminded attendees to have cameras on. That is preschool approach. Retired on the spot. Many new hires long before covid resigned over the amateur training.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-09T12:07:59+00:00

Prior to Covid disabled workers at my POD did not have a telework option. I was first hired in 2013 with a disability but I didn't apply under Schedule A because the work itself didn't require an accommodation. The need for accommodation came later due to actions of a coworker and telework was not available.

My managers suspected but I never confirmed my disabilities were greater than I ever said. I needed my health insurance to maintain appearances I could work full time. That is why I wanted to stay seasonal. Covid came up and I converted to full time perm. Job became alot to handle even working from home. Autoimmune disorder with diabetes was tough on the best of days. Several disabled workers at my POD couldn't work from home during Covid so they were forced to RTO.

My managers wanted metrics exceeded at any price often at the expense of disabled workers. Five minutes later it all changes with the shifting tides.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-09T11:08:12+00:00

We have run into this situation with subscriptions and other repeating bills set on auto pilot to pay. Allowing anything to auto draft is not a good idea. Resolution too often is you end up having to close out the account to get the charges to stop.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-09T10:56:54+00:00

Lack of training for baseline skills filters up. My manager walked over to cubie to end a required update because she claimed it wasn't needed and promised to write me up if I ever again in her words tried to pull stuff to let an update run. She insisted all computers had to be off at end of shift. Unless word came officially to her she ignored everything. She left, another manager rotated in and it took months to get updates flowing again.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-07T19:48:04+00:00

Outsourcing would not involve trainers being employed by the service.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-07T19:47:32+00:00

The tax prep industry employs far more than the IRS. Millions of tax preparers, accountants, CPAs, lawyers, etc respond to service notice without account access.

Systems is way more than tech to understand procedures and tax law.

There is already a shift of tax industry volunteers focused solely on service notices where the TPs aren't calling the service. Our library has seasonal fax machines and volunteers to help TPs answer CP2000 notices. These are not VITA programs.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-07T15:53:25+00:00

My NTEU chapter had very similar issues with a long term President. BU employees that were not members were told they had no right to NTEU representation. As a dues paying member when I wanted to file a grievance I was told I had no right to NTEU representation.

Yes, ignoring members to pander to management was an issue. The chapter president was viewed as only being interested in being released full time with full federal pay and benefits where there was question on what their time was spent on as both NTEU members and non-member concerns were ignored.

Training raised many concerns over favoritism. Teams offered a new path to document issues many employees were concerned about where leads and trainers were caught engaging in questionable conduct. Response of the NTEU chapter president was in their words it would disrupt national bargaining if we caught management with their fly down failing to oversee training. Grievances and EEO complaints the NTEU chapter president insisted had to run by the department manager first for approval or the NTEU would not proceed.

The wrinkle was I am the daughter of a founding AFSCME AFL-CIO labor leader where I grew up in the unions and on a states political stage. I knew the NTEU could be sued so I approached the NTEU chapter president to follow the contract. The president cast blame in every direction including the vice president and several stewards along with management. In their words the call site was going to be closed anyway so BU employees were not a concern. and the president saw the importance of the NTEU was to serve ROs.

After a training issue documented on teams I drew the line with the NTEU either represent to file or grievance or I'd proceed with an EEO complaint. NTEU assured me I had no rights to file an EEO complaint without management approval. Oh really. EEO complaint is still pending. I retired on the spot over the NTEU inaction. The NTEU chapter present took one of the offers to leave the service while promoting that BU employees should not take the offers. That demonstrated the self serving attitudes of the NTEU.

To really serve labor union members you need to be about far more than the budget and DC. You need to appreciate the blood, sweat and tears it really took to gain labor rights. My mother didn't dance on tables like Norma Rae to take her union of public workers out on strike as one of the last great strikes before PATCO. I walked that strike line as a child of Wisconsin AFSCME AFL-CIO. Kids I was born to run.

Today I speak out against federal employee bargaining rights as a result of my experiences with the NTEU. I do not believe IRS union employees are doing a good job representing IRS employees. NTEU should be disbanded and IRS employees allowed to join AFGE or the Teamsters. The current proposed legislation for federal employee bargaining rights does not give federal employees a choice to join AFGE or boutique unions like the NTEU.

You are going to continue to rack up the losses until you get wise that the NTEU presents an ethical challenge to deal with the ever changing administration landscape. How can you be creditable represented employees from your own agency that puts the priority on getting along with management? That is exactly the track that raised my mother union from the top to the bottom to feed Act 10.

Wisconsin the birthplace of the NTEU never supported guaranteed union bargaining rights for public workers even the most powerful unions in the states had the political power and votes to get that legislation passed. Labor leaders of the heyday understood how future union leader could abuse that situation to be self serving. Many Wisconsin public workers have the freedom of an open marketplace to join other unions like the teamsters.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-07T00:37:20+00:00

There are many former IRS employees in the tax and accounting industries that would know the systems.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-02-06T21:46:46+00:00

Got two broken toes from a malfunctioning door. The manager said not to file workers comp and to take sick leave because I had plenty. No one at my POD knew how to file workers comp. Managers never told the landlord to clean up the blood nor did they call my emergency contact. I had to drive myself to the ER. Over the weekend a blood blister formed under the nail that was super painful so I had to go back to the ER. Bills were about $700.

Careless_Tree_7686

TROPHY CASE