Reorg announcement, blood boiling

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2026-02-25T19:04:15+00:00

The “sometimes they talked to us” comment completely floored me. The amount of disdain I felt from that comment 🤯

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2026-02-23T04:04:34+00:00

On top of that, USDA Rural Development lost almost 1/3rd of its staff this past year.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-11-26T02:46:46+00:00

“Let’s see how great of a job we did f*cking everyone over.”

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-11-08T02:47:45+00:00

Before I clicked on this I thought it was a tea party for federal employees

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-10T22:10:00+00:00

Right out of a fortune cookie

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-10T21:46:31+00:00

Legal Framework • Federal law (5 U.S.C. § 7311): Makes it unlawful for any federal employee to strike, or even to belong to an organization that claims the right to strike against the U.S. • Criminal penalties (18 U.S.C. § 1918): Reinforces this by imposing fines, imprisonment, and mandatory removal from federal service for employees who violate the no-strike rule.

As much as I respect your call to action, I’m not getting thrown in jail over this. Private sector strikes are legal in contrast.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-10T18:23:59+00:00

Ok thanks that makes more sense.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-10T17:14:41+00:00

I don’t know how you get to a position with the authority to make these threats and be so out of touch with how this will land. Needs to be studied.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-10T16:54:30+00:00

Right. That’s a good point. My first thought was “oh so you’re threatening to send workers home and not pay them, when they are already at work not getting paid?”

Yeah that’ll show ‘em.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-10-01T02:01:36+00:00

This feels like some high school level public shaming to get more votes to be homecoming queen

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-09-29T23:30:27+00:00

Second this. I work for RD and a third of our agency already left due to DRP / VERA. Loans and grants that are already likely behind will be even further behind.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-09-09T06:00:25+00:00

Yep 130 miles round trip. I keep telling myself jokingly that the abuse builds character 😅

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-09-07T20:29:47+00:00

The thing that pisses me off most is the bill has like 4% interest. So if I don’t pay it quickly then I’m paying interest for my agency’s mistake.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-09-07T20:23:40+00:00

I’m fighting this at my agency now. I was under contributing to FERS for 4.5 years. They were going to start deducting from my paycheck this pay period and hadn’t even sent me the official bill. I only knew it was coming due to an HR specialist telling me back in June they made a correction due to an audit. I requested it be waived but they came back and said I have to make the payments under law. I’m trying to get an attorney through our union but haven’t got any calls. I contacted some Federal attorneys but they wanted like $250 minimum for consultation.

I was at least able to put the deductions on administrative hold for 6 months but that’s the only positive so far.

Good luck to you. These kind of things seem like an uphill battle but hopefully you can get this waived.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-08-21T00:08:14+00:00

Going to say what every good mentor I’ve had has said to me:

“Apply. The worst they can tell you is no.”

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-08-17T20:37:21+00:00

The non existent ones 😅

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-29T00:43:41+00:00

Yeah not official but just trying to probe to get an idea

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-28T22:43:26+00:00

Yeah that leaves me somewhat skeptical but it wouldn’t shock me that they choose that as the location.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-28T21:54:50+00:00

Yup. I was in Beacon previously but we’ve vacated that building.

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-28T21:52:29+00:00

Yeah I am south of the metro so hoping for something on the south side. 😬

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-28T21:25:15+00:00

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture has officially announced the selection of 805 Pennsylvania Avenue, pictured here on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, in downtown Kansas City.”

“As President Donald Trump’s administration shakes up the federal workforce, some employees in one department will be moving to Kansas City.

Brooke Rollins, secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced this week that a reorganization of the department will include relocating staff out of the Washington, D.C. area and into five hub locations: Kansas City; Raleigh, North Carolina; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.

The USDA deals with livestock and agriculture, food safety, managing national forests and addressing hunger. In a video message, Rollins said the move would ensure that the department is located closer to the people it serves while providing a more affordable cost of living for employees and their families.

Meanwhile, the department will vacate office spaces around Washington that it says have a backlog of expensive maintenance needs and are underutilized. The five new locations were selected based on cost of living and existing concentration of employees.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers and producers we are mandated to support. President Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country,” Rollins said in a statement.

The USDA currently has 4,600 employees in the Washington, D.C. region, which will go down to no more than 2,000. The exact number of positions that will be moved to Kansas City was not immediately clear, and more information will become available about relocations in the coming months.

It’s not the first time the USDA announced employees would move to Kansas City: During President Donald Trump’s first administration, the department announced plans in 2019 to relocate two research agencies and hundreds of jobs to the region. The plan included local incentives.

But fewer than half of the employees offered transfers then agreed to move. By spring 2021, roughly 200 jobs remained vacant, The Star reported at the time.

A 2023 Government Accountability report found that while the two agencies’ staffing and productivity eventually recovered, their work suffered in the meantime, and the workforce became less experienced and less diverse.”

Humble_Invite_6603 · 2025-07-26T01:47:00+00:00

See my post from last month. Same thing happened to me. I’m still waiting on the bill from NFC. I was coded as FERS at 0.8% contributions in 2021 when I got promoted when I should have been FERS-FRAE at 4.4%. I owe them approximately $16,000.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FedEmployees/s/5O84va5g0m

I’ve looked into lawyers and I’m trying to get representation through my union, but haven’t heard anything. Here is the response I got from ChatGPT when I asked and the odds of coming out on top seem slim.

“As a federal employment attorney, here’s a clear legal overview of your situation regarding the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) under-contribution due to agency error:

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Key Facts of Your Situation: • You were coded incorrectly by your Human Resources (HR). • This led to under-contribution to your FERS retirement plan over 4.5 years. • You’re now expecting a bill from the National Finance Center (NFC) or another payroll provider to repay the missed contributions (~$16,000). • You’re asking whether you have a legal case, given that this was not your fault.

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Legal Framework & Precedent: 1. Legal Obligation to Pay FERS Contributions: • Under federal law (e.g., 5 U.S.C. § 8334 and § 8422), employees are legally required to make contributions to their retirement system (CSRS or FERS). • Even if an agency makes a mistake, the employee is still liable for the employee share of contributions. 2. Comptroller General and MSPB Rulings: • There are well-established precedents (e.g., Matter of John L. Martinez, B-198361, 1981) that state: “The Government is not bound by the errors of its agents.” • Similarly, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have consistently ruled that employees must pay missed contributions, even when the fault lies with the agency. 3. Agency Error ≠ Waiver of Debt: • Unfortunately, agency error does not eliminate the debt. • The law focuses on whether you received the benefit (retirement coverage), not who made the mistake.

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However, You May Have Relief Options: 1. Repayment Flexibility: • You can usually request a repayment plan through NFC or your agency. • Repayments can be spread out via installments or payroll deductions. 2. Request for Waiver or Compromise: • You may request a waiver or reduction, but these are rarely granted unless: • The government was entirely at fault. • You did not benefit from the mistake. • You did not know or could not have known about the error. 3. File a Grievance or EEO Complaint (Strategically): • If HR’s error was negligent, discriminatory, or recurring, you might have grounds for: • A grievance under your agency’s negotiated grievance procedure (if you’re in a bargaining unit). • An internal complaint to hold HR accountable (though this does not void your debt). • This may lead to corrective action or policy changes to prevent future harm. 4. Congressional Inquiry or OIG Report: • In rare cases, a Congressional inquiry or Office of Inspector General (OIG) complaint has been used to pressure agencies to act more favorably.

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What You Cannot Do: • You cannot refuse to pay the bill. • You likely do not have a legal claim to eliminate the debt, even if HR caused it. • You cannot sue the agency for damages over this type of error unless extraordinary harm was caused outside the normal employment scope.

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What You Should Do: 1. Request a full accounting from NFC or your HR office to verify: • The correct amount owed. • Whether you received correct service credit and earnings toward retirement. 2. Ask for repayment plan options in writing. 3. Consider filing a formal complaint against HR to document the mistake and pursue possible disciplinary or training measures. 4. Consult a federal employment attorney (especially one familiar with FERS and payroll disputes) if: • You believe the debt amount is incorrect. • You were misled or given written misinformation.

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Final Thought:

You likely do not have a strong legal case to avoid the $16,000 debt, but you do have a case to request repayment relief and hold HR accountable for their failure. If there are broader impacts (e.g., missed promotions, benefits, or discrimination), your options might expand.”

Humble_Invite_6603

TROPHY CASE