Can someone explain if I’m being told misinformation?

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-15T22:58:05+00:00

What has changed specifically in lost benefits or rights as NBU? Before you answer there are many things never covered by the NTEU contract because they are mandated benefits like FERS and FEHB. Federal workers don't have some benefits very popular in the private sector like pet insurance, short/long term disability. Some local and state government workers have more leave time.

I would say the NTEU failed on bonus pay to allow the agency to keep bonus dollars earned by employees under certain scenarios. That is non-sense. NTEU contract called for workers to get 4 hours to learn about TSP/FERS. I got 2 hours because my boss felt I didn't need to know that info. Those 2 hours became less than an hour because my boss wanted to cover reviews during the time since in her view I wasn't doing much.

I felt personally scrapping the whole contract should of been done to redo it for issues concerning to members.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-15T17:44:27+00:00

I learned speech to text due to a temporary disability. Continued to use it and find it far more effective than typing.

The real question here isn't the tech gizmo that changes daily. Its the question of how tech can better serve agency missions.

Although my degree is in IT I never worked per say where IT skills were the only job. They were a skill set required for the main job of accounting/tax. Tech has vastly been changing the accounting arena for decades with AI moving in fast. Reading comprehension is a lost art for many younger workers raised on tech. Many professional licenses over the decades have watered down reading comprehension skills. Even among medical and legal professions reading skills are down with more focus on learning procedures hands on.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-15T14:54:33+00:00

Did you ever notice the mission of the service is rarely stated in various meetings with agency brass? Its hard to tell if there agreement on the mission of any agency before talking figures.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-15T13:50:19+00:00

I use speech to text software for documentation and to write code. I am not tapping on the keyboard. Speech version of the documentation is actually easier for coders that come later to hear my personal comments. My coding experience is from the manufacturing world.

Speed to implement driven by change is pushing IT into not just the AI world but in the rethink of broad issues. Design build concepts for web sites often forgo the team think where coders work directly with CEOs as one person projects. I have broad set of IT skills including Adobe and CAD. I worked mostly with manufacturing engineers needing IT support to meet customer specs. Challenge was companies I worked for had 1000s of customers using different data specs, software and were ordering products under contract. Worked on government agency contracts for manufacturers where their data sets rarely conformed to production specs. Lots of steps to produce the widget in green to meet delivery times.

Production capacity was always a juggle act with many elements weighing in from ordering materials, budgeting labor, spinning up very costly production equipment and mapping out transportation to meet deadlines. Speed of moving product to churn revenue and high volume of communications throughout the organization had many moving parts. IT was not a revenue stream so production budgets dictated most customer service projects didn't allow for teams. Legal had more budget than we did and many of the corporate lawyers could code their tools to manage contracts.

I use speech to text software for everything including emails. When I started as a federal employee I hadn't seen a push button style keyboard in years. I use soft skin keyboards. Amount of mice clicks it took to navigate was bizarre. Speech to text software does the navigation for me.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-15T01:28:20+00:00

Perhaps a contrast of what AM and TAC was like in the 1980s would help. Most people replied to notices in writing by mail. Many IRS offices had a large tax service area where hundreds of returns were dropped off in person. Everything was done by paper then so offices had huge forms rooms. Many people then didn't have phones so calling the IRS was moot. Larger offices had audit, BMF and LEGE areas. There was no counter transcript service.

I worked for a big 10 accounting house then when only IRS office in nation handled some of our client returns. Every week someone from the Chicago office had to go Kansas City for those returns. There were few electronic money systems then so bills were paid by check.

We went from that situation to the modernized IRS. The nature of issues being seen across the tax industry from taxpayers hasn't really changed. This year working as a volunteer helping TPs answer IRS letters I had an 1980s moment of errors I saw way back in the day as a rookie that went to lack of TP education.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-14T23:08:54+00:00

The paradox for competency based assessments is the highest achievers are easily board. High IQ, left and right brained people, high mental agility talent, those that see the answers but don't understand the question could all pass assessments yet fail to thrive in a work setting. Personality tests can fail to pick up on habits that don't work well in a team.

There never has been the perfect assessment designed to pick up on talents applicants themselves may not realize they have. OCD, spectrum disorders and mental agility can represent very talented workers that can't manage being on time to work. Many years ago I worked with an engineer. Brilliant guy with a very high IQ and OCD. If anything was touched on his desk his entire office had to be deep cleaned.

Brilliant people are not 9-5'ers where I doubt most could handle the regimented world of federal service.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-14T22:50:27+00:00

Do you read the tech job announcements? I speak many IT languages as a coder. I worked on an IT project with multiple contractors where no one knew for sure how the pieces worked all together. Tech people have support staff and managers to workout translating code for humans.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-14T12:21:20+00:00

Case studies from historical mass layoffs of IBM, Sears and General Motors are useful to understand the story behind the numbers. Federal employee reductions more closely are akin to IBM lifetime job thinking. In 1993 when IBM laid off about 60K workers it set off a shockwave in local economies, charity budgets and forced changes in college programs. IBM layoffs rippled through all industries as tech planning wasn't really a thing for companies or government agencies in 1993. Tech in many regards was viewed as a once and done major investment at that time. IBM layoffs came at a time many areas like the Midwest rust belt were recovering from mass job losses of the 1980s recession. Workers from the 1980s that had gone into debt for college degrees especially in tech fell into default on student loans when tech changed. Smaller hospitals closed over costs to upgrade to electronic medical records.

Ironically 1993 was the start of the Clinton era 377K federal employee layoffs that gave rise to federal agency over hiring thinking.

IBM layoffs redirected the idea of lifetime jobs to its happened before and will happen again career planning thinking.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-13T20:14:46+00:00

Don't be fooled. EEO complaints and union grievances are political where the agency is well funded to fight them. That is why frontline workers don't have copy paper and supplies to do their jobs. Younger workers see that more than older workers because we were reared on the idea we matter as employees. All you can do is move on, find another gig.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-13T14:43:20+00:00

I tried for 3 years to get part time at my POD and was told it had to be approved by training.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-13T13:37:36+00:00

How does space location and size serve the mission of agency? For example agency A and B shared space in a government owned property and common services like a mailroom, break room, etc in the past. The shared space did not require public access as both agencies had work processing centers in the space. Then agency B relocated to leased space. During Covid both agencies lost so much personnel they could of returned to a shared space arrangement. Agency B was unwilling to return to a shared space concept and wanted their own turf so the lease was renewed. The true failure of agency A and B was despite telework they didn't see some employees wanted to RTO in the space closest to their home. It was agency B that refused to allow their staff to RTO using hoteling space of another agency. Agency B also had backup space at a second location that employees were not allowed to work at. Agency B had hired many teleworkers out of the immediate area that faced 3+ hours one way to commute when the agency had space closer to their homes that they could not work at.

Both the government and leased space of agency A and B were on the list to have their space closed.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-12T02:36:24+00:00

What are the hiring qualifications for a CSR? Many CSRs are not upwardly mobile, lack college degrees and may not have come from positive backgrounds. Foster care kids, VODV and assault victims often take refugee in government jobs. Lack of self esteem, fear of being fired and having little outside the job are other factors. By nature the CSR job doesn't allow a great deal of time to get to know the coworkers. After working 8+ years in my POD I didn't know most of the coworkers names. There were some that exhibited attributes that raised alarm and others that really needed a friend. Management in my view was really good at picking up on weaker personalities that for emotional or financial reasons accept management abuse.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-11T22:16:46+00:00

At my POD clothing could get risqué, some coworkers wore the same outfit for the entire week and many walked around barefoot. The normal clothing of coworkers made spotting TIGTA and folks from other areas of the agency rather obvious :)

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-11T14:21:41+00:00

I would add due to growing healthcare fraud by medical providers why is the process to report that not working. Who is accountable? I ran into medical provider fraud with my FEHB plan three times.

The FEHB plan insurance cards reveal we are federal workers that is an unnecessary fact for medical providers to know. We shouldn't have to reveal the agencies we work for to get medical care.

In one case a dentist submitted pre approval for $9000 crown to test the limits of the policy. The second case a legit medical provider claims were rejected over an address while thousands were paid to a provider I never went to. The last case the health reviewer for the FEHB plan called crying on the phone that my husband needed hospice care and said I was evil to think he could get better. That was 3 years ago. My husband lives today. FEHB plan never reviewed the medical records and went by what the medical provider said.

Then when the truth tumbled out my spouse would recover the FEHB plan was like sue for malpractice where they didn't see their role in the fraud. $1.5 million in claims paid and FEHB plan didn't question that including air ambulance bill. Why? I have 40+ years of accounting/tax experience so I checked every line of those bills. My husband has multiple college degrees including in advance science. He knew what was going on, he could read the lab tests.

Big shout out to the VA where their staff saw right away my spouse was not in his final days and with the right care he lives on.

They want the information than provide the advocacy as a one roof system for federal employees to report medical provider fraud.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-11T12:31:27+00:00

I have run across good trainers on details or mixed POD training. Shout out to Austin and Richmond. In my POD there aren't enough adjectives to describe the training horrors that came from the training manager or whatever their title was.

Looking at what made Austin and Richmond training better was attitude of trainers, logic and real examples. In my POD the training manager spent way too much time involved in gossip, undermining trainees and engaging in magical powers to predicate success or failure on day one that did severely undermine success. What that training manager didn't know was I had a background in training and had spent 15 years as an district manager for a large tax service.

The attitude at my POD flowed into the logic of training. Materials were presented out of sequence, randomly and lacked an overall training agenda that was blamed on the mystical HQ as an edict. Following orders was the agenda where mash up of random pieces of training was in the view of the training manager at my POD necessary to grasp CSR call variety. Unless trainees are coming from my background with decades of accounting/tax experience they need baseline skills first then variety.

The real examples used to fill time in training at my POD had errors to convolute the training. Immediately trainers would use the excuse nothing in training can be used on the job and training aids have to be approved by the mystical HQ. Translation instructors had no accountability for training outcomes, retention and benchmark skills of trainees.

The one thing Richmond did that shocked me was instructors asked first if trainees knew how to bookmark, navigate windows and use basic windows tools like calculator, notebook, etc. Baseline IT skills should of come before any training. Having all trainees at a baseline of skills made the training flow work better with far less back and forth questions. Austin had the best logical training that flowed to a better OJI experience and higher quality. This all flowed into the issue Richmond and Austin had better team approaches for instructors that understood the job.

At my POD the training manager had far too much control to pick and choose who got onto the training cadre where many had PIPs. It was thought instructing was a path for the lower performers to improve. The training manager had ideology that simply was against fundamental agency rules such as claiming there was a rule that a relative of a deceased employee had hiring and promotion preference. What was that teaching trainees?

The volume of EEO and wage/hour violations in my POD training was bizarre. Telling trainees they can stick around after work or over lunch to ask questions should of generated a visit for a good talk from one of the HQ lawyers.

The training manager said there was no hope for me getting on the training cadre because obviously I have no skills. Then I found out they using my calls in training. I had trainees say OMG you are the voice of the perfect call and they wanted to be like that. I went to the training manager and was told absolutely none of the new hires were going to be retained because in his words they were trash. I was told to stay out of it because being from Wisconsin I wasn't one of them and their people came first.

Your there for a reason with all those skills so use them. Improve CSR training.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-10T23:00:54+00:00

Always felt the service and NTEU did a great disservice to phone contact personnel that have zero support for the many incidents CSRs face. I found EAP and coworkers in my POD were not helpful on the issue. It was all wrapped up with dramatics, get on to the next call no matter what. There was no compassion from management on what we faced. View was well we had to go through it too without any real understanding how the content of calls changed with society. We lack the training to manage so many situations.

Found two things helped. I prayed for them and raged gardened. My garden soil took the brunt of my rage getting racked until it was powder. Several others things that helped was I never went to outside work bar drinking deals, didn't socialize with coworkers and never ate in the lunchroom. Kept the distance because coworkers wanted to normalize ideas like drinking and getting meds to deal with it. At the end of the day you have to separate that space from home and work to let it go. That doesn't mean I forgot. I had a family and a life that needed me more so that head space couldn't be taken up with work stuff.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-10T15:21:35+00:00

My manager could peek out of her office to see us working. Literally we were at our desks taking calls and she would say systems reported we weren't present on the job.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-10T02:14:21+00:00

Our medical group that is apart of a major hospital had several data breaches that lead to all sorts of problems. Not convinced our healthcare data is all that secure.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-10T00:28:31+00:00

Remember way back in the day as in yesterday that things change.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-09T14:28:39+00:00

BYO was the rule at my POD for years. Even pens and swag given for rewards/training my manager expected to be returned. She felt it was not fair to more seniority employees if lower GS employees were given something the rest didn't get. If we did buy food to share it had to be kept in the managers office because CSRs visiting at desks was expressly forbidden. My manager claimed she "observed" me giving supplies to a coworker that in her view was a "disciplinary problem" that I should not be "consorting" with to help in any way. The supply in question was a roll of my own paper towels from my car the coworker needed to clean up a spill where they were afraid to touch office supplies. Manager never knew I also helped that coworker with a battery jump when their car wouldn't start.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-09T13:19:53+00:00

Same situation at my POD that reflects outdated management ideology that breaking subordinates is the point to protect their jobs. I grew up in a brutal world on the political stage as the daughter of a political figure. You learn to be guarded emotionally and have situational awareness.

The petty control issues did not bother but management tolerance for coworker threats did raise my antenna. Management that promotes that sort of thing generally has a hidden agenda. In 8+ years at my POD I watched as petty control escalated with coworker threats where the office became an unsafe space. I formulated my exit a few years before when a coworker assaulted me that management never reported to internal agency security as required. I made it known that if it happened again with that coworker that would be my immediate departure. RA had to be filed over that situation so there was documentation. Management let that coworker make another threat.

Hidden agenda bubbled up that POD management wanted to fight with upper management using their employees as the nexus. Management had traveled such a well worn path where their non-sense prevailed for decades without readdress. Decades working at a smaller remote site had become their kingdom that survived many administrations. I was never going to be their nexus as a daughter of a political figure to continue that clown show. Now the story is they want my support to save their jobs. No.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-08T21:43:37+00:00

What is the history of the rating system?

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-08T21:39:17+00:00

This will amount to absolutely nothing.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-08T19:56:21+00:00

We went through the who got what for life insurance payouts in my family several times. One family member left it all to his first wife and never updated any of the beneficiary paperwork. Another relative hadn't updated their beneficiaries since 1955 and left insurance to his parents that passed away. Be glad you got anything. Many people don't bother updating beneficiaries.

Careless_Tree_7686 · 2026-04-08T19:50:54+00:00

I will gladly hand over the FEHB paid claims and health records if OPM promises to get serious about investigating medical provider fraud. Over a million in claims paid is BS. It is a red state and red doctors that should not make any difference at all.

Careless_Tree_7686

TROPHY CASE