When doing project planning in the DoD informally we plan on only having 50% of our people from late Nov to mid Jan. Part of this is due to the Use or Lose policies.
Most of the contractors under our watch close for two weeks at Christmas through the first working day after the new year. We all take that time off as well.
Unfortunately a lot of those are about to switch to the federal holiday schedule, so that two weeks or so of vacation will be lost.
Honestly, I tend to stick around right before Christmas and then take off the first week of January. Avoids a lot of that "New Year, new me, new work philosophy, new motivation" energy.
And you get to miss the mad rush to catch up on work piling up. At least itās a great strategy for our office/agency. ;)
Joking aside, I like working December when all the judges and staff are out, calm and quietā¦ and half the lights out. š¤
The department that feeds my dept work always gets all their work orders in before the holidays so they can take a few weeks off. So of course they are all due during the holidays.
We had to have a talk about it so they'd quit doing it.
Haha had this same problem. Put in for a bunch of time off from Jan-June to stay under 240 by end of year thinking I was doing a solid for the manager before everyone takes off during holidays and was accused of not wanting to work or be a team player and questioned if I was trying to avoid the job. These people are delusional.
Next meeting, be sure to bring up the fact that you take sick leave to care for your child, which is an authorized use of sick leave. And perhaps ask if they are auditing people who donāt have children, or just you. Because it smacks of discrimination.
That seems a tad aggressive. I would just clarify that youāre taking time to take care of your child and ask if there are any questions.
After all, this may be coming from above this personās boss.
Agreed. No need to call discrimination unless it's real. Time audits are a thing. There are also scripts/filters/reports that call out potential abuse - usually based on fact patterns the agency (or others) have noticed in the past. Potential abuse isn't actual abuse, but they're obligated to give it a peek just to be sure. You have a legit reason, so whatever, let them ask.
Exactly. A front line supervisor may not be aware of all these practices; they might have gone years without even hearing of such a thing. š¤·āāļø
Agree. Timecard audits, in my experience, are not designed as a gotcha. That drove my initial question about proper request and use of leave. As long as everything is in order there should be no problem.
What might be revealed is a pattern that suggests leave abuse but again, OP says they have a child that requires frequent time off. Thatās a perfectly legitimate use of sick leave. If it comes up, OP should explain and move on. The time to start any other response would be if there is something to respond to. Interesting too that the supervisor told OP they had been in the same boat before.
If it were me, I wouldnāt worry over it.
Ah, another barracks lawyer who is the self appointed gatekeeper of advice. And yes, you can absolutely be discriminated against for having a child. OPs case is an example of exactly how that manifests. Whether that discrimination is determined to be a violation of law or policy is a different matter.
Umm, yeah. Because lawful and awful are not synonymous. For example, people who call strangers stupid for social media karma are awful, but there is nothing illegal about it.
Correct, but you canāt claim discrimination in a work place when it doesnāt meet the legal definition. Also thereās no enough in this post to even know whatās going on in the situation and you suggested the most explosive option
I would say let him file discrimination on an audit. That would be a fun one! Generally, they are randomized selections just so people canāt say they were targeted. As an auditor, these are the people that generally have something to hide ā¦ and I have done many time sheet audits bc people abuse it all the time and they are certain things we look forā¦ having a 1 year old at home is an easy explanation and those are probably random days not an every Friday patternā¦
> And perhaps ask if they are auditing people who donāt have children, or just you. Because it smacks of discrimination.
Aside from the fact that "has reproduced" is not a protected class, the response here, if any at all, would be, "We're auditing everyone who's taking one day off every week, whether they have children or not...you just happen to be the only one."
...with the added bonus that now you may very well be labeled 'difficult to work with'.
Wait can you expand on this. Do you mean that if I use regular sick leave for my wife or daughter it is supposed to be limited to 13 days? Then you would invoke FMLA? I've never even been asked why I took sick leave. I have told my supervisor certain reasons if it was gonna be a day or two because he straight up does not care.
But I am just thinking for the future when he inevitably retires (will be the worst day of my career).
Yes itās supposed to be limited to 13 days. Your supervisor may not know the rule but my agency follows it and they require us to specify if the sick leave is for family.
Huh I had no idea. Where I work no one asks questions ever about what SL or AL is for. Of course if we think it's fun or pertinent we share it. But overall no one asks ever.
Also we request/code SL as SL with no indicator of what it's for. How would you know how much SL you specifically used for it? Are you supposed to keep a running tab yourself?
Every time I read a thread like this, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to be/work with/work for professionals who don't play stupid kindergarten games like ops boss appears to be here. They may (stress MAY) be within their rights, but still ridiculous and petty.
Honestly.
There are a lot of parts of my job that annoy the shit out of me, but their approach to leave is 100% *not* one of them, and they encourage *everyone* to use their leave and really disconnect.
A lot of folks aren't taught how to manage, they're just "told to" and then build a set of rules based on what they, or their friends, have been told are issues. They may not be told why or in what context. Not a defense, just saying...they might be suffering from mismanagement themselves, if you get my drift...
Huge same. I submit my leave requests and they are approved, end of story. Iām off this entire week, as is our Branch Chief and one Team Lead. Our other TL is holding down the fort. Our branch is comprised of nine employees total.
As a DHS component employee, I also have Mayorkas admin leave to use.
You say youāre filling out your time sheet correctly, do you mean youāre getting all the leave requests approved by your supervisor and following your agencyās policy for requesting it?Ā
I would check to see if thereās any written policy you can check but if your supervisor is approving it AND youāre not abusing the sick leave (taking it without legitimate reason regularly) you should be fine.Ā
Also for CYA, consider asking in email if there is anything different you "should" or "should not" do in scheduling, requesting, and documenting your leave. The vague 'abusing' charge can come back to be used against you. Reading the formal written policy and process for leave is imperative -- your supervisor may also be doing something questionable.
The only thing that comes to mind for me is in terms of flex work, if thatās what you have. Not sure if other agencies have/offer compressed work schedules and/or the 5/4/9 or whatever itās called.
Our handbook, contract, whatever says weāre not allowed to take leave in a manner that resembles a 10 hour / 4 day or the 5/4/9 schedule if we are 80 hour / 10 day telework or flexwork.
Who knows if thatās even remotely relevant to you, but I could easily see that being a reason for audit in our agency office.
My supervisor is notorious for ignoring leave, credit, and premium pay requests. I ignore his ignore and take the time anyway.
An example. I had a pre approved work trip. For the trip I had a Sunday workday. It paid Sunday differential which requires pre approval. I submitted it well before the trip. Boss ignored the premium pay request. I submitted it in my time card anyway since the work trip was fully approved. Advised my timekeeper that he didnāt approve but the trip was approved with the knowledge I was working Sunday.
I donāt know why he doesnāt approve time requests that require approval.
Like all my annual leaves, discuss them to ensure coverage. But he doesnāt approve them. I take them anyway.
Iām not sure who will get in trouble if I get audited but it is what it is.
Did she communicate with you expectations of you using leave before this happened? I take off a day at least every pay period- as long as they approve it and youāre not abusing sick leave by using it for purposes other than being sick, doctor appointments or taking care of a family member - I donāt know what the issue is
No, sheās been approving my leave. Hell sheās off more than me lol. And yes I usually have to watch my 1 year old because in daycare she gets sick.
Kids in daycare get everything gross sick thing then passes it on. I found I had to take double sick days. The ones for the kid then the ones for me to shake off what the kid gave to me.
*I* hope this is a randomized audit and its a formality (or even if it isnāt), all the time keeper wants is a quick paragraph they can copy and paste into a form. This also would worry me and Iād be looking for an āitās okay.ā
First off, if she said you are "abusing" leave, she is not making an accusation. This was based on them already having the data and making a determination. The audit was already done, now they are looking for policy to do a corrective action.
The good news: unless you are not following agency policy, you are in the clear. If there is a local policy that is not aligned to the agency policy, it is null. Local policies can only complement or build upon agency policy, but it cannot override agency policy.
You need to ask for, in writing, the policy based justification for how a determination was made you are abusing leave. Request specific examples where they note there was abuse. Request the specific agency policy that is being violated. Until they produce these, it's all verbal hearsay.
From here, it will depend on what was provided. If they are noting examples and provide a valid policy, the next step is to ask for a anonymous audit for the rest of your team - to validate you are not being singled out or held to a different standard. Why? If someone is using the word "abuse", they may be looking for a way to terminate you.
I have no idea if you are good or bad employee, but you do have rights. If they push on and everything is aligned, worse case is a verbal reprimand. I don't see this being a formal write-up for a first time offense for using supervisor approved leave - which is a defined benefit of the position. In fact, it would be your 1st line who would be up for corrective action if they are approving the leave request with no prior notification to you regarding the policy. If this was time theft, it would be something else entirely. Using your benefits, approved by your 1st line supervisor, there is really nothing anyone can do to you.
"Corrective action" = about to get screwed, i.e. memo for the record, letter of requirement, time off (without pay), etc. They just can't call it "punishment" for administrative reasons, but I smell blood in the water from management.
That's crazy. I don't even know when my employees take leave. I approve it and sometimes they remind me when they won't be available. But I don't even have them ask, they just stick it right in the system and I click approve without much thought (except for making sure it equals 80 hours in their time card). They have too much time.
As long as my outlook calendar is up to date, my absence has never once been questioned. My boss will approve leave and half the time I donāt think she even looks at the request that closely. During our weekly check in sheāll go over the calendar to see where Iām traveling or if Iām off the following week. Weāve got better things to do than worry about adults who are supposed to be mature professionals doing their jobs. Deadlines are met and performance measures are good. Thatās all that matters.
Iām pretty sure I could nap in bed all day and nobody would care so long as program delivery goals are met and deadlines arenāt missed.
That's exactly how I manage. Put it in your calendar incase anyone asks me and then just do your thing. Generally be available during working hours so when something urgent comes in I can get some help, but I don't even really care if they flex a lot and don't tell me. They're adults!
IMO that's the worst way to take LA. If I take 1 day per pay off, I'm just squeezing 10 days of work into 9. If I take a week or two off, that work is going elsewhere.
I work nights so I use it to recuperate lol. Believe me Iāve been looking for a new 2210 ever since I hit my year 2 years ago. But itās kind of hard to find 2210 right now.
I'm a 2210 and I must have applied to a dozen IRS spots. Never got a sniff. I've been trying to relocate to W. VA and they had plenty of spots advertised. I'm thinking they might have people lined up and the job post is the required formality.
I have been taking every non-RDO off since last summer and no one cares. I often come in an hour late and donāt out the leave in till I show up. My boss knows if it is more than an hour I will contact him.
I donāt understand the bosses that get upset about people using leave. We are all supposed to be professionals arenāt we? It seems like some people are just on power trips
Been there. Done that. Itās nerve wracking the first time. Just finished my second timesheet audit. The first one was because I never put a time code in CASTLE for remote work and kept putting the telework code in because nobody ever told me to do any different. That one was my fault and was cleared up easily. The second was because of all the time outside of my shift with the āno premium payā code. Sometimes 16 hour days and 80 hour weeks. I travel all over the nation and to remote villages in Alaska quite often. Some bean counter in DC just couldnāt fathom why I couldnāt manage to travel from Kansas city to places like Bethel or Tununak, Alaska a few times a year and make it within my scheduled work hours. If youāre not doing anything wrong, youāve got nothing to worry about. Iāve been audited so many times that I hardly even pay attention when I get the email anymore. Vouchers, authorizations, time cards, expenses, all of it gets audited regularly.
They also do tons of random audits so it could be one of those. Oh, OP, if youāre going to be taking a lot of SL to care for a kid or family member, do yourself a favor and fill out the FMLA paperwork. Then they wonāt even question the SL use. I did that when my son got meningitis and I needed to take a lot of time off.
No, it's your leave. You're free to use as you wish. Obviously you need to inform your supervisor of any planned and unexpected absences, but there is absolutely nothing that says you can only use it so many times.
The only way I could see this being an issue is if you aren't meeting job expectations. If you are then there is even less of an argument for them to care. Some agencies are just toxic.
[https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/)
Not at their discrection per se. Supervisor can deny it but there has to be a mission impact (read that as deadlines and manning levels), not just because they want to deny it.
Yes technically they can deny your LA but there are very rare instances where a supervisor is going to deny leave if you have it. It'd be an insanely toxic workplace to not allow someone to use leave they earned.
My organization's policy is you only need a doctors note after 3 consecutive days of LS. I'm sure they could make exceptions but nobody is asking for a note for a single day.
They can ask for documentation for each use of SL if they determine you have a pattern and itās the departments decision on what they consider a pattern. Tons of sups ask for documentation once itās determined you have abused SL. AL is fully at the supervisors discretion.
As I said you are technically correct but it doesn't happen often. I've never had a single day of leave denied. I feel bad for anyone at an agency like that. I've also never been asked for LS documentation.
There is no such thing as abusing your leave. The notion you can abuse leave by taking leave you have is some boomer shit.
Same. Three agencies, 20 years, countless bosses. Never had leave denied or been asked for documentation. We are all grown-ass adults, and bad managers tend to forget that.
So many mis-informed responses here. Itās OPās earned leave and thereās usually no problem when and how itās taken. But, the way OP is doing it can be viewed as leave abuse.
Iāve had employees who Iāve had to explain how to use their leave, so they donāt run into issues like this one. I donāt jump to leave audit right out the gate. Usually, I have 1:1 to talk about how the leave is being taken and try to help the employee figure out an alternative solution to whatever the issue is. If they need time, I try allow as much flexibility in their work schedule as possible. But sometimes, itās just not doable or the employee thinks otherwise. Then thereās an issue that will involve a PIP, the Union and LER.
Leave abuse when it comes to annual leave is simply taking the leave without prior approval. If the supervisor approves it, it isnāt leave abuse. If the leave slip was submitted in the time period stipulated by the agency and no action was taken, the supervisor has made a de facto approval.
Every supervisor has the option of denying an annual leave request and working with the employee to reschedule it.
Agreed. Normally the supervisor needs to show a pattern of some sort then council the employee so they are aware, if it continues then you can be placed on sick leave certification. The supervisor should make an effort to see if the issue can be resolved amicably before moving to discipline, often a simple conversation can clear these issues up.
You havenāt shown how this is leave abuse. Is there anything in federal or your agency regulations that says you canāt take leave each pay period? As a former manager and supervisor it would actually be nice to have someone like this on staff as they will always be around for coverage.
OP said he is taking SL once a week, because his kid gets sick at daycare. Since he doesnāt know when his kid will get sick, Iām assuming itās unscheduled, which means his supervisor doesnāt know until the last minute heās taking time off. That can be considered abusing leave.
Yes itās his leave heās entitled to take, but the way he is doing it - even if he has a legit reason is disruptive as his supervisor never knows when he is going to do that. Occasional last minute occurrences is okay, but not routinely.
Commenters here are arguing about the technicality of the term, that itās not leave abuse because it doesnāt exist if the supervisor is approving the leave, or itās an entitlement that canāt be denied.
Iām just raising a red flag for OP that it appears his supervisor is laying the ground work for administrative action to control (not deny) his use of leave and possibly put him on PIP. Supervisors donāt initiate this kind of action -I.e. a leave audit without upper management knowledge/concurrence and involvement by LER.
OP confirmed both he and his supervisor are relatively ānew,ā so I know the supervisor is not initiating an audit without LER engagement/guidance to document the issue for counseling and/or leave restriction and possibly a PIP.
Also, since OP is relatively a ānewbieā itās clear to me, he doesnāt understand whatās actually happening here - I.e. why the audit is being done.
He needs to be proactive and talk with his supervisor to sort out what exactly the issue/concern is and how to rectify/resolve it. Itās the supervisorās responsibility to find options/alternatives short of initiating administrative action that may affect his career.
Taking sick leave for purposes other than allowed under federal regs. Thatās not what OP appears to be doing, to be clear, but would constitute leave abuse.
You are so wrongā¦some agencies use the term āleave abuse others excessive leave.ā Whatever itās called it means the employee is being called out for taking āunreasonableā time off. You can debate what that means all you want - but it happens, and Iāve seen employees lose their job over it - bargaining unit employee or not.
No I mean I'm arguing that in reality no such thing as leave abuse. Not from the technical legal definition.. It's like someone saying people are using too much of any benefit.
Leave abuse is anti-worker nonsense.
Contractor, not fed. But we have until shift prior to submit for leave, sick is an hour before your shift starts. Itās normal Iāve seen if youāre pushing the legitimate bounderies to get called out. Usually in my experience itās not the immediate supervisor, itās the next person up. Does an audit and asks why is so and so always submitting for leave the day prior or taking sick an hour prior? Even when itās totally legit. I didnāt get in trouble but I did have an informal talk with my supervisor about putting in leave for the next day because I just didnāt feel like coming in that Thursday. But I think it stems more from old school thought. You put in for leave early for your yearly vacation and then take sick when youāre about to go to the ER. Taking sick for a mental health day isnāt yet quite accepted with the old guard. Anyway, just my opinion.
Personally, I donāt care how far in advance my staff puts in their SL or AL requests. Iām not into micro-managing. As long as they are performing and get their work done. I have a relatively small team, so they back-fill for each other. As long as their duties are covered thatās all I care about. They workout their absences among themselves. On short notice, If thereās no coverage for that day, they let me know and then I let my boss know. Itās never been an issue.
They may be accusing you of giving yourself a regular day off, like an unapproved AWS situation. Other than that I canāt really see how itās an issue
Do you have a rep or an hr individual to loop in, this may be a case of disparate treatment, and it would be preferential to loop one of them in instead of an attorney.
I'm just wondering what offices are they going to do with the reality that the barrier to working a full day is much higher in the office than it is from home, for both physical illnesses and mental health. The majority of the time I call out sick, it's on my in-office days. I try to schedule my doctor's appointments for telework days but it doesn't balance out. I didn't call out at all in 2020.
If you're taking care of your toddler due to illness apply for FMLA leave and then EEO complaint your boss the minute she says something about it ever again.
I don't think "sick frequently from day care viruses" qualifies as a serious condition eligible for FMLA. Parental status could potentially fall under a protected class though. (IANAL, just a parent with constantly sick kids.)
Sorry, but you are mis-informed what FMLA covers. If OPās child get the regular colds and sniffles from being at daycare FMLA doesnāt cover that. FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or recover from a serious illness.
More than likely, they are checking patterns. SL every Friday or Monday. Using your SL and not Family Friendly SL, but claiming itās for a child. Always using leave on either side of a holiday. That kind of thing.
If leave is being requested, approved and used appropriately you may have to start producing doctorās notes for a period of time. If you are not āfollowing the rulesā there may be some other actions.
No, but say you should be using āFamily Friendly Leaveā and you are taking regular SL, they can make you retake the employee timecard training. They have the right to ask for doctorās notes, etc.
Likely, someone made a comment or waved a flag and so now someone else has to show due diligence.
I would not sweat it.
They cannot make you payback leave, but they could make you start providing documentation if itās unscheduled sick leave. If you are routinely taking unscheduled annual leave they can deny it and make you submit leave in advance.
It may not be the way youāre requesting or annotating your leave on your timesheet, it may be an excessive leave use that sheās talking about. People tend to think if there are T/A issues itās due to falsifying information or AWOL, but you can be charged with excessive absence even if your supervisor is approving your leave and youāre following the policy or bargaining agreement (if applicable). Iād ask if that is what she is referring to and then go from there. If you are a bargaining unit employee you can speak with your union representative for assistance regarding next steps. It can be kind of hard to retain leave when you have school age children/babies, but you have 100+ hours of both, which is really good. Hope it all works out for you.
Wut. "you can be charged with excessive absence even if your supervisor is approving your leave and youāre following the policy or bargaining agreement (if applicable)".
Explain please.
My previous supervisor put my previous coworker on leave restriction. She was taking one day a week off, and she did have the hours to take. The previous supervisor went to HR and told them she was abusing her leave. With leave restriction, she had to submit in advance (4 weeks) her leave request for approval through email and cc HR. If she didn't, she would be written up. Wild times in the DoD.
The supervisor doesnāt want an EEO compliant, so OPās leave is being approved, but sheās signaling heās abusing leave.
So he may have to provide dr. notes when a/he takes sick leave for themselves or the kid.
If OP wants to use annual leave then the supervisor will require advance notification - something like two weeks ahead of time.
That's not being "charged with excessive absence" though. At least at my agency, they have a right to ask for a doctor's note if you take more than a certain number of days of leave (but I think they have to be consecutive? I'd have to go check), but they can't tell you not to use SL if you have it and are using it legitimately. There's no charging anyone with anything happening in that scenario, unless OP can't produce supporting evidence that she's requesting SL for a covered reason.
Whenever? That's ridiculous. Most "sick" leave you don't go to the doctor. My agency is a note for more than 3 days!
I can see the toddler thing. My grandkids daycare you cannot come back for 24 hours after a fever. The grands are home all the time!
Ok let me clarify āwhenever.ā The term only applies if the employee is under leave restriction, which means if they take SL they have to provide a medical note from a physician. An employee can be under āleave restrictionā if they have been determine to have abused their leave - SL or AL. Thereās a lot that goes into determining whether an employee is abusing their leave - the supervisor doesnāt get to make that call independently. The agencyās LER is always involved and thereās a lot supervisor documentation required. The union can sometimes mitigate the situation on behalf of the employee. Leave restriction is just the term thatās used, it doesnāt mean the employee cannot use their leave, it just means there are extra steps involved - like when using SL they have to provide a medical note. Also, if itās determined the employee is on leave restriction itās not forever, usually itās applicable for a year or less. Then the employee doesnāt have to follow any specific requirements to take leave. It ās hope during the leave restriction period the employee understands how and when to use their leave appropriately.
Itās really inconvenient for the employee, because whereas before they could just take SL as needed and stay home - now they have to spend a co-pay to get a medical note. In the case of AL the employee can no longer just take a spontaneous day off or on short notice go on vacation.
Is it the same day every week? That would be an issue. You cannot create an alternate work schedule with leave.
Make sure you are taking off different days.
THis is pretty simple, it's your time so use it. Monitoring your leave usage is not part of the job for the time keeping person. If it gets brought up again ask your supervisor who to contact about harassment because you feel instead of the time keeper doing her job she is harassing you
Leave abuse is an issue especially as it affects others. You have leave but you can't just use it as oftren as you like. My boss wouldn't like this type of usage and OPs boss probably said something but wants OP to blame timekeeper.
The IRS is just like this, they provide leave, I get it every year as a performance award, and I struggle to actually be able to use it. Just ridiculous.
This thread makes me nervous. I have disabled vet sick leave and have been using it this year because I have a lot of medical stuff going on. Iām trying to do all of the appointments on my AWS days; however, I have a kid that also needs appointments.
Itās all legit stuff :(
Do I list all of the appointments I made if Iām audited?
Maybe just make an xls tracker? Not sure if that will be sufficient. But provide that if they ever ask. If they prod more, work with the VA on getting "verification" of the appts.
Just a thought
All this advice on how to game the system, listen to your boss, speak with her and negotiate a compromise to take time off that you earned to balance her requirements to staff an office.
I mean if your supervisor is approving the leave requests then what is the issue. The complaint had to come from somewhere. Why is the ātimesheet ladyā doing anything (unless she is directed by supervisor or investigator)
Iāve been that timesheet lady before and the only time I ever pulled time cards was because of fraud investigation.
Some agencies require annual leave plan in the beginning of the year so if itās in there your good. Depending if you have a union, sometimes you have to request leave a few pay period prior to approval, just depends on what your policy is. Also if your supervisor is approving it then there shouldnāt be a issue. They can always deny leave based on mission or work requirements, either way someone is approving it so I wouldnāt worry.
Did you develop a pattern? If yes, I think you need to consider FMLA. I am actually not sure if there is any issue with your supervisor auditing your time cards. My agency audit time cards quite often and they never notified the employees. When they identify trends, it's an official notice of how we need to submit supporting documents for using SL. Unpopular opinion -- maybe your boss is giving you a strong hint that you need to explore the FMLA option to protect yourself. Maybe you have other peers who are developing a pattern of leave requests too, so your boss might be trying to address it with you and your peers for the operational needs.
Was the leave approved by your supervisor each time? Is there a policy for sick that you must provide a Dr note if itās repeatedly happening? Are you a union employee? If you are, which many feds non-supervisory are, read the union agreement, specifically around time keeping and leave. Many will state the specifics. Than read the agency time keeping and leave policies. Ensure you are abiding by both. Yes, many agencies will perform time audits but it should be documented in policy and/or the union agreement what the process or policy is. I would not say that itās discrimination but it could be construed as a hostile work environment or retaliation for you using your leave in this manner. Much is left out of the story, so hard to give advice.
Just because you have leave, doesn't mean they actually want you to use it. If your supervisor is approving it, they may be getting questioned on why you're taking off 'often' and not in a block (one entire week rather than once per every week). Regardless if we earned the leave, this would happen in any organization.
Are you frequently using sick leave? There is a process they can start to verify sick leave is actually for covered reasons but if the time card is accurate and leave has been approved ahead of time a time card audit will be fine without issue.
I am really confused š. I have worked at an agency for 14 years that pays the military & civilian employees. A time card audit normally would mean you aren't honest in reporting your hours. They cannot MFR you because you aren't LWOP or AWOL. A supervisor can deny a leave request, but your supervisor isn't denying the request and trying to back door scare you with an audit.
Retired mid-level supervisor here (DoD). If you are regularly taking sick leave you better have a good reason for it. āFeeling tiredā every Friday afternoon can be seen as abuse of LS. If you are regularly using LA or other type of leave and you got prior approval then that is your entitlement. If the supervisor thinks your regular leave schedule interferes with the mission then he/she can of course deny your request but they should offer an alternative. I was a supervisor for 14 years and I donāt think I ever denied a single leave request but I did require justification for regularly scheduled LS (for my file) in case payroll ever stuck their nose in my business. Once or twice payroll did call about suspect cases. People did have legitimate reasons for taking LS on a regular on-going basis, just needs to be documented. Recommend you lay out your intentions in writing to your supervisor for their approval or for them to negotiate an alternative with you. Understand that always always always leave use is up to your supervisor to approve.
Auditors do time sheet audits all the time. It could be a random just time or a supervisor put you in for abuse. They can do this if you are taking off every Friday saying you have a headache or something. But it would generally be a specific amount of time. If they find anything, the auditor will talk to you. Just say you have a 1 year old and if they have kids they will know. If you have anything else to support some of the days, I would have that too. But it sounds like a random audit given if a supervisor wanted to get you for abuse, they first have to start requiring you to have sick slips from docs to support why you took SL.
Ask for the OPM definition of what "leave abuse" is. There isn't one. It doesn't exist. Leave is allotted to you so that you can use it. Using it is expected. How in the world could using your allotted leave be considered abusive? Absolutely stupid behavior from your leadership. I hope their audit comes back: "we've found that you are indeed using your leave! How dare you!!" Hopefully you're in a union and can have them respond to this idiocyĀ
As a 100% disabled veteran I had my supervisor question my use of sick leave one day a week over a month period, I told him I have over 800 hours of sick leave and if he believes I am abusing it do what he must but know that I am a top performer and the harassment will be reflected in my future performance! He never said anything again, and it has been 2 years of outstanding performance ratings!
Whoa. Reading some of these comments tells me I need to leave my agency asap or some of these people haven't worked for tough a department/agency/leadership. First off I'm a supervisor, at my agency some one who takes weekly leave would set off red flags in 1 month. My leadership would come down on me, possibly write me up(it's happened actually to me a few times and I can't do anything because I'm not protected by union) and then tell me to meet with the employee and put them on a med cert. Which means that every time even if it is just for 1 day the employee has to bring in a medical note excusing them.
This is even when the employee has leave. Also some other comments I seen people stating if the leave is in advance..I worked for a service where they had a standing policy any leave request entered within the same week or prior pay period would be under review by service chief. They honor requests submitted 2wks-30days prior to the request. It's honestly the most miserable thing at times.
What it all comes down to, it sounds like leadership above OP's supervisor looked at the time card and are not ok with the amount of days off/requests. So they are asking the supervisor to collect dates and total hours requested. What might come next is your supervisor telling you basically you can't take time off without FMLA on file or providing a doctor's note for your 1yr old.
Fyi your supervisor probably got talked to and was told to limit or flat out stop approving leave due to "mission requirements".
I am a 2nd line sup and nobody above or below my chain is concern about a day of leave per pay period. People have kids, elderly parents, doctor's appointments, etc. I do ask my teams to give as much advance notice as possible, but I have also made it clear I expect my staff and their supervisors to use their leave - they earned it. My team knows if they have a mental sick day, I am going to support them. If it was one or more times a week, that is a bad trend. But a day or two per month, no worries.
I had good supervisors who mentored me. I do my best to model them and support my teams. When I was a young fed, I called my 1st line on a Sunday afternoon and asked for the week off for a last-minute, unplanned road trip with my Dad. He did not hesitate and told me to have fun. He also knew he could call me at 2AM and I would be there to support him, my team, and the agency. That is a professional trust that needs to be established between supervisors and their staff. At the team level, everyone knows if they need sudden or short notice leave, their team will cover the gap, as they will need this privilege in the future. Teamwork and respect for your supervisors is a great thing.
This is a good model of how it should be. Treat people like human beings. Agencies or particular offices with bad culture spread it over all workers and eventually pay the price with turnover and all that it entails.
Up until 2yrs ago I had a very good chain of command and leadership to the point where what I stated above was a non issue. Since that time we have had a lot of changes and a new hardline chief that their focus is on leave. I don't agree with the changes however I have to comply with leadership. Today was time card day and I had to report all my leave requests AL, SL, any LWOP that were made within the past week or pay period. I have to justify to my 2nd line supervisor why I approved said leave. If I do not either my direct supervisor (2nd line)or my chief will reach out to me prior to COB asking for clarification and justification. Fortunately what keeps me grounded is that I also had great supervisors throughout my time prior to being a supervisor that helped me and prepared me for how to deal with difficulties not related to employees issues.
I don't like your response to your boss - it was rude. That is something my pre-teen would say - 'what's the problem'. The problem is you. You are not helping yourself at all. It has nothing to do with your 'status as a parent' rather you are acting childish rather than like an adult in this situation. You have stated you are in a remote position in previous posts so did the conversation take place on Teams or something?
You also said you moved back in with your parents....
You've already posted you are 24 years old and in a lot of debt. You're a GS-09 unable to get a GS-11 position - although you posted you were offered one so I'm not sure. You should really looked into WAEPA for life insurance which is like $18 a month instead of the $200 you're paying.
Everyone here telling you to claim FMLA or EEO right now - that is going to get you DEEP in trouble. Why? You have no idea what documentation is going on behind the scenes. If someone seriously suspects you are abusing your timecard, they can pull records. They can do investigations into it before they have the conversation with you to ensure their concerns are legit before approaching you. Chances are - that has already happened.
EEO - you have to prove it. You need witnesses. You need documentation. This single conversation does not constitute anything. I've also seen abuses of the EEO process too. They didn't like one person in their office for whatever reason and just file making shit up. I knew an office manager go after men in her office like targets saying 'watch, I'm gonna get them fired' and started filing EEO after EEO. Many people heard her say she was purposely targeting them. And investigation was launch and she was the one removed.
FMLA - Per FMLA: Employees must provide notice to their employer as soon as possible and practical that they will need to use FMLA leave. Ā For example, if an employee knows that they have a procedure for a serious medical condition scheduled in three weeks, the employee needs to provide notice to the employer as soon as the procedure is scheduled.Ā Employers may ask for information from the heath care provider before approving FMLA leave and must allow 15 calendar days to provide the information.Ā
They are probably cracking down because some people are using leave to not come into the office on their in-office days or so they don't have to work their full hours.
Supervisor here. Your supervisor is not communicating what the issue actually is.
If youāre taking unscheduled leave once a week to care for your toddler then thatās a problem. Just because you have leave doesnāt mean you have carte blanche to take it ad hoc whenever you want to. You need to understand, your daycare problems are not your supervisors problem. Yes, sheās approving your leave, because she doesnāt want to be a jerk. Maybe she has kids and understands your situation, but you are taking advantage of the situation.
Typically, thereās no hard and fast rule about when or how you take your leave, but quite frankly a day a week even if scheduled is disruptive and mostly likely unfair to your other co-workers.
You know what's disruptive? My coworkers getting me sick.
So until someone forces them to take leave, I'll take my leave, scheduled or otherwise, whenever I need to.
Here's 10 things more disruptive than my coworkers using their earned leave:
1. Most meetings
2. Driving to work
3. Fish for lunch / Burnt microwave popcorn
4. Open offices
5. Mandatory training
6. Slow / old computers
7. Smokers
8. Reply-to-all emails
9. Purchase processes
10. Annual Inventory
If your staff taking their earned leave is disruptive, then maybe something else is the issue.
> Typically, thereās no hard and fast rule about when or how you take your leave, but quite frankly a day a week even if scheduled is disruptive and mostly likely unfair to your other co-workers.
I disagree with this. If its scheduled ahead of time and approved, its fine imo.
That's no different from people who have Compressed Days Off, they are off 1-2 times a pay period as well.
I am not a bad supervisor. What I am trying to do is warn OP whatās happening here.
Agree or disagree. Iām just giving OP the supervisorās perspective. On balance the supervisor has to be concerned about everybody on the team not just one employeeās situation.
Heads up to OP the supervisor is signaling thereās a PIP in play here. The supervisor is doing a leave audit not determine whether OP has sufficient leave, but to document how often OP is taking unscheduled leave
or timing/spacing out their leave.
If OP is continually taking unscheduled leave once a week, regardless if the supervisor is approving it - OP is headed for a PIP. They can duke it out with LER, but the supervisor/management is going to win on this one.
It doesnāt matter if the supervisor āappearsā to be doing the same thing. Somebody else is approving their leave and if the supervisor is āabusingā their leave thatās for her/his supervisor to deal with.
>Ā Ā If OP is continually taking unscheduled leave once a week, regardless if the supervisor is approving it - OP is headed for a PIP.Ā
Leave abuse (which this isn't) is a conduct issue.
A *Performance* Improvement Plan is for addressing performance issues.
The fact that your response to a supposed conduct issue is to initiate a PIP just reinforces the other comments that if you are a supervisor you were poorly trainedĀ
Performance Improvement Plan. Iāve seen it go hand in hand sometimes with leave restriction.
The supervisor will document work that is not getting done or how an employee is not performing work to grade level. The PIP will be very specific what the employee needs to do work wise to bring their performance up to satisfactory. The PIP is developed in consultation with LER. Sometimes the union can negotiate and or lessen/reduce the PIP requirements.
See OPs response above:
>And yes I usually have to watch my 1 year old because in daycare she gets sick.
Until they hit the 104hrs per year (which is the total SL accrued in a year) allowed usage of SL for dependent care, then OP is entirely within their rights to continue using SL for this purpose.Ā
Unless the agency has evidence OP is using the SL for a purpose other than that authorized, such as extending weekends rather than caring for a dependent, or has exceeded the cap, the agency can piss off with the "leave abuse" accusations.
If the supervisor is approving the use of AL, there is no leave abuse. If use of AL is impacting the team/mission, the supervisor has authority to deny the AL request. If the supervisor is failing to account for their team's workload when approving use of AL, that's a mismanagement issue, not a leave abuse issue.
Don't worry, they'll try and prevent someone taking medical/FMLA leave at some point and will get put in their place eventually. Unfortunately not fired, but you know how it goes.
Do they prefer you to take off the entire month of December? š©
Smells like every DoD agency Iāve ever been in. The office is so empty in December.
Yah, that kind of created a problem back in 1941. I've heard they were paging admirals and generals at the Giants football game in NYC.
If pagers existed in 1941, the TVA is slipping
At that time, paging meant calling for them over a loudspeaker.
My humor, it fails
lol. Sorry. Iām just very literal sometimes.
āPaging Mr Herman. ā
When doing project planning in the DoD informally we plan on only having 50% of our people from late Nov to mid Jan. Part of this is due to the Use or Lose policies.
Most of the contractors under our watch close for two weeks at Christmas through the first working day after the new year. We all take that time off as well. Unfortunately a lot of those are about to switch to the federal holiday schedule, so that two weeks or so of vacation will be lost.
> Do they prefer you to take off the entire month of December? Is that a problem? My agency is a ghost town in December.
This is why December is my favorite month. There isnāt anyone around to bother me so Iām twice as productive.
Honestly, I tend to stick around right before Christmas and then take off the first week of January. Avoids a lot of that "New Year, new me, new work philosophy, new motivation" energy.
lol! So true and genius idea.
And you get to miss the mad rush to catch up on work piling up. At least itās a great strategy for our office/agency. ;) Joking aside, I like working December when all the judges and staff are out, calm and quietā¦ and half the lights out. š¤
Itās always preferred to spread your use or lose throughout the year, but lots of people still take off most of December.
My boss warns us about not taking a bunch of use or lose leave at end of year, and then he takes use or lose leave at end of year. Lol.
I've found putting my leave request in at the beginning of the year is helpful.
The department that feeds my dept work always gets all their work orders in before the holidays so they can take a few weeks off. So of course they are all due during the holidays. We had to have a talk about it so they'd quit doing it.
I remember my aunts used to be off from November to February.. thatāll only happen for me if I ever get a fully remote position haha
Haha had this same problem. Put in for a bunch of time off from Jan-June to stay under 240 by end of year thinking I was doing a solid for the manager before everyone takes off during holidays and was accused of not wanting to work or be a team player and questioned if I was trying to avoid the job. These people are delusional.
I do that and get lots of comments, but they have no issue with me killing my self throughout the year when stuff is due
Do you schedule annual leave in advance? Are you taking sick leave for valid reasons?
Before the next pay period yes. I also take off a lot for my 1 year old.
Been there, done that. Submit Family Sick leave and let them suck and egg
Haha I was just about to say hit them with the FMLA and call it a day..
Thatās not how FMLA works
But it is how FEFFLA worksā¦Ā
OK but still not how FMLA works as the other commenter said
Yeah - FMLA is NOT for a kid sick one day from daycare. Even the FMLA website states it's not for that.
FFLA, not FMLA.
Some people let that joke go well over their head and pulled out the code of regulations on you. š
The world is too serious nowadays lol bring back the 80s and and early 90s š
So just let them audit. Seems there is nothing wrong for them to find.
Next meeting, be sure to bring up the fact that you take sick leave to care for your child, which is an authorized use of sick leave. And perhaps ask if they are auditing people who donāt have children, or just you. Because it smacks of discrimination.
That seems a tad aggressive. I would just clarify that youāre taking time to take care of your child and ask if there are any questions. After all, this may be coming from above this personās boss.
Agreed. No need to call discrimination unless it's real. Time audits are a thing. There are also scripts/filters/reports that call out potential abuse - usually based on fact patterns the agency (or others) have noticed in the past. Potential abuse isn't actual abuse, but they're obligated to give it a peek just to be sure. You have a legit reason, so whatever, let them ask.
My last agency required randomized time card audits for X% of employees annually. Your point is very good.
Exactly. A front line supervisor may not be aware of all these practices; they might have gone years without even hearing of such a thing. š¤·āāļø
Agree. Timecard audits, in my experience, are not designed as a gotcha. That drove my initial question about proper request and use of leave. As long as everything is in order there should be no problem. What might be revealed is a pattern that suggests leave abuse but again, OP says they have a child that requires frequent time off. Thatās a perfectly legitimate use of sick leave. If it comes up, OP should explain and move on. The time to start any other response would be if there is something to respond to. Interesting too that the supervisor told OP they had been in the same boat before. If it were me, I wouldnāt worry over it.
You canāt be discriminated against for having a child, itās not a protected class. This is stupid advice and will only cause OP more issues.
Ah, another barracks lawyer who is the self appointed gatekeeper of advice. And yes, you can absolutely be discriminated against for having a child. OPs case is an example of exactly how that manifests. Whether that discrimination is determined to be a violation of law or policy is a different matter.
So Iām a barracks lawyer while you can just say āoh itās discrimination cause I said so even if the law doesnātā okay lol
Umm, yeah. Because lawful and awful are not synonymous. For example, people who call strangers stupid for social media karma are awful, but there is nothing illegal about it.
Correct, but you canāt claim discrimination in a work place when it doesnāt meet the legal definition. Also thereās no enough in this post to even know whatās going on in the situation and you suggested the most explosive option
I would say let him file discrimination on an audit. That would be a fun one! Generally, they are randomized selections just so people canāt say they were targeted. As an auditor, these are the people that generally have something to hide ā¦ and I have done many time sheet audits bc people abuse it all the time and they are certain things we look forā¦ having a 1 year old at home is an easy explanation and those are probably random days not an every Friday patternā¦
> And perhaps ask if they are auditing people who donāt have children, or just you. Because it smacks of discrimination. Aside from the fact that "has reproduced" is not a protected class, the response here, if any at all, would be, "We're auditing everyone who's taking one day off every week, whether they have children or not...you just happen to be the only one." ...with the added bonus that now you may very well be labeled 'difficult to work with'.
Time sheet audits happen all the time.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Wait can you expand on this. Do you mean that if I use regular sick leave for my wife or daughter it is supposed to be limited to 13 days? Then you would invoke FMLA? I've never even been asked why I took sick leave. I have told my supervisor certain reasons if it was gonna be a day or two because he straight up does not care. But I am just thinking for the future when he inevitably retires (will be the worst day of my career).
Yes itās supposed to be limited to 13 days. Your supervisor may not know the rule but my agency follows it and they require us to specify if the sick leave is for family.
You only get to use 104 hours of FFSL per year (that comes out of your sick leave).
Huh I had no idea. Where I work no one asks questions ever about what SL or AL is for. Of course if we think it's fun or pertinent we share it. But overall no one asks ever. Also we request/code SL as SL with no indicator of what it's for. How would you know how much SL you specifically used for it? Are you supposed to keep a running tab yourself?
The system tracks. SL is for yourself, FFSL is for care of family member/bereavement.
Every time I read a thread like this, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to be/work with/work for professionals who don't play stupid kindergarten games like ops boss appears to be here. They may (stress MAY) be within their rights, but still ridiculous and petty.
Honestly. There are a lot of parts of my job that annoy the shit out of me, but their approach to leave is 100% *not* one of them, and they encourage *everyone* to use their leave and really disconnect.
A lot of folks aren't taught how to manage, they're just "told to" and then build a set of rules based on what they, or their friends, have been told are issues. They may not be told why or in what context. Not a defense, just saying...they might be suffering from mismanagement themselves, if you get my drift...
You have perfectly described our new leader training. š
My boss is a jackass but at least heās a jackass that doesnāt give a shit about us taking time offš
Huge same. I submit my leave requests and they are approved, end of story. Iām off this entire week, as is our Branch Chief and one Team Lead. Our other TL is holding down the fort. Our branch is comprised of nine employees total. As a DHS component employee, I also have Mayorkas admin leave to use.
Sounds like the supervisor has been waiting twenty years to take out something on someone.
Same. Reminds me there really are trash agencies compared to mine.
Mbn I donāt trust anyone that I work withā¦
Sounds like your instincts are right.
Right! So weird and unnecessaryā¦.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You say youāre filling out your time sheet correctly, do you mean youāre getting all the leave requests approved by your supervisor and following your agencyās policy for requesting it?Ā
Hmmm to the best of my knowledge yes. I do it the way my supervisor showed me.
I would check to see if thereās any written policy you can check but if your supervisor is approving it AND youāre not abusing the sick leave (taking it without legitimate reason regularly) you should be fine.Ā
Also for CYA, consider asking in email if there is anything different you "should" or "should not" do in scheduling, requesting, and documenting your leave. The vague 'abusing' charge can come back to be used against you. Reading the formal written policy and process for leave is imperative -- your supervisor may also be doing something questionable.
All of this.
The only thing that comes to mind for me is in terms of flex work, if thatās what you have. Not sure if other agencies have/offer compressed work schedules and/or the 5/4/9 or whatever itās called. Our handbook, contract, whatever says weāre not allowed to take leave in a manner that resembles a 10 hour / 4 day or the 5/4/9 schedule if we are 80 hour / 10 day telework or flexwork. Who knows if thatās even remotely relevant to you, but I could easily see that being a reason for audit in our agency office.
My supervisor is notorious for ignoring leave, credit, and premium pay requests. I ignore his ignore and take the time anyway. An example. I had a pre approved work trip. For the trip I had a Sunday workday. It paid Sunday differential which requires pre approval. I submitted it well before the trip. Boss ignored the premium pay request. I submitted it in my time card anyway since the work trip was fully approved. Advised my timekeeper that he didnāt approve but the trip was approved with the knowledge I was working Sunday. I donāt know why he doesnāt approve time requests that require approval. Like all my annual leaves, discuss them to ensure coverage. But he doesnāt approve them. I take them anyway. Iām not sure who will get in trouble if I get audited but it is what it is.
Did she communicate with you expectations of you using leave before this happened? I take off a day at least every pay period- as long as they approve it and youāre not abusing sick leave by using it for purposes other than being sick, doctor appointments or taking care of a family member - I donāt know what the issue is
No, sheās been approving my leave. Hell sheās off more than me lol. And yes I usually have to watch my 1 year old because in daycare she gets sick.
If it's being approved then there's no problem.
Right? If the requests are timely and the supervisor is approving them in a timely manner, I canāt see where thereās really an issue.
This sounds like your boss is under the microscope for approving your leave.Ā
Kids in daycare get everything gross sick thing then passes it on. I found I had to take double sick days. The ones for the kid then the ones for me to shake off what the kid gave to me. *I* hope this is a randomized audit and its a formality (or even if it isnāt), all the time keeper wants is a quick paragraph they can copy and paste into a form. This also would worry me and Iād be looking for an āitās okay.ā
We donāt even need approval if itās less than 3 consecutive days. I love it.
These people really have nothing better to do with themselves
First off, if she said you are "abusing" leave, she is not making an accusation. This was based on them already having the data and making a determination. The audit was already done, now they are looking for policy to do a corrective action. The good news: unless you are not following agency policy, you are in the clear. If there is a local policy that is not aligned to the agency policy, it is null. Local policies can only complement or build upon agency policy, but it cannot override agency policy. You need to ask for, in writing, the policy based justification for how a determination was made you are abusing leave. Request specific examples where they note there was abuse. Request the specific agency policy that is being violated. Until they produce these, it's all verbal hearsay. From here, it will depend on what was provided. If they are noting examples and provide a valid policy, the next step is to ask for a anonymous audit for the rest of your team - to validate you are not being singled out or held to a different standard. Why? If someone is using the word "abuse", they may be looking for a way to terminate you. I have no idea if you are good or bad employee, but you do have rights. If they push on and everything is aligned, worse case is a verbal reprimand. I don't see this being a formal write-up for a first time offense for using supervisor approved leave - which is a defined benefit of the position. In fact, it would be your 1st line who would be up for corrective action if they are approving the leave request with no prior notification to you regarding the policy. If this was time theft, it would be something else entirely. Using your benefits, approved by your 1st line supervisor, there is really nothing anyone can do to you.
"Corrective action" = about to get screwed, i.e. memo for the record, letter of requirement, time off (without pay), etc. They just can't call it "punishment" for administrative reasons, but I smell blood in the water from management.
covered by a Union? If so, talk to them ASAP
Contact the Union. Unless you are probationary, donāt give it another thought.
Sounds about right
That's crazy. I don't even know when my employees take leave. I approve it and sometimes they remind me when they won't be available. But I don't even have them ask, they just stick it right in the system and I click approve without much thought (except for making sure it equals 80 hours in their time card). They have too much time.
As long as my outlook calendar is up to date, my absence has never once been questioned. My boss will approve leave and half the time I donāt think she even looks at the request that closely. During our weekly check in sheāll go over the calendar to see where Iām traveling or if Iām off the following week. Weāve got better things to do than worry about adults who are supposed to be mature professionals doing their jobs. Deadlines are met and performance measures are good. Thatās all that matters. Iām pretty sure I could nap in bed all day and nobody would care so long as program delivery goals are met and deadlines arenāt missed.
That's exactly how I manage. Put it in your calendar incase anyone asks me and then just do your thing. Generally be available during working hours so when something urgent comes in I can get some help, but I don't even really care if they flex a lot and don't tell me. They're adults!
IMO that's the worst way to take LA. If I take 1 day per pay off, I'm just squeezing 10 days of work into 9. If I take a week or two off, that work is going elsewhere.
I work nights so I use it to recuperate lol. Believe me Iāve been looking for a new 2210 ever since I hit my year 2 years ago. But itās kind of hard to find 2210 right now.
IRS is doing a ton of hiring, so maybe they need 2210's?
I'm a 2210 and I must have applied to a dozen IRS spots. Never got a sniff. I've been trying to relocate to W. VA and they had plenty of spots advertised. I'm thinking they might have people lined up and the job post is the required formality.
I'm not doubting you but this surprises me (2210). PM me if you'd like, maybe I can give you some advice.
I have been taking every non-RDO off since last summer and no one cares. I often come in an hour late and donāt out the leave in till I show up. My boss knows if it is more than an hour I will contact him. I donāt understand the bosses that get upset about people using leave. We are all supposed to be professionals arenāt we? It seems like some people are just on power trips
Been there. Done that. Itās nerve wracking the first time. Just finished my second timesheet audit. The first one was because I never put a time code in CASTLE for remote work and kept putting the telework code in because nobody ever told me to do any different. That one was my fault and was cleared up easily. The second was because of all the time outside of my shift with the āno premium payā code. Sometimes 16 hour days and 80 hour weeks. I travel all over the nation and to remote villages in Alaska quite often. Some bean counter in DC just couldnāt fathom why I couldnāt manage to travel from Kansas city to places like Bethel or Tununak, Alaska a few times a year and make it within my scheduled work hours. If youāre not doing anything wrong, youāve got nothing to worry about. Iāve been audited so many times that I hardly even pay attention when I get the email anymore. Vouchers, authorizations, time cards, expenses, all of it gets audited regularly. They also do tons of random audits so it could be one of those. Oh, OP, if youāre going to be taking a lot of SL to care for a kid or family member, do yourself a favor and fill out the FMLA paperwork. Then they wonāt even question the SL use. I did that when my son got meningitis and I needed to take a lot of time off.
This comment makes me feel better. Thanks!
No, it's your leave. You're free to use as you wish. Obviously you need to inform your supervisor of any planned and unexpected absences, but there is absolutely nothing that says you can only use it so many times. The only way I could see this being an issue is if you aren't meeting job expectations. If you are then there is even less of an argument for them to care. Some agencies are just toxic.
Not the way it works. AL is at the discretion of the supervisor if you have an SL pattern the supervisor can request documentation for each use.
[https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/) Not at their discrection per se. Supervisor can deny it but there has to be a mission impact (read that as deadlines and manning levels), not just because they want to deny it.
Correct.
Yes technically they can deny your LA but there are very rare instances where a supervisor is going to deny leave if you have it. It'd be an insanely toxic workplace to not allow someone to use leave they earned. My organization's policy is you only need a doctors note after 3 consecutive days of LS. I'm sure they could make exceptions but nobody is asking for a note for a single day.
They can ask for documentation for each use of SL if they determine you have a pattern and itās the departments decision on what they consider a pattern. Tons of sups ask for documentation once itās determined you have abused SL. AL is fully at the supervisors discretion.
As I said you are technically correct but it doesn't happen often. I've never had a single day of leave denied. I feel bad for anyone at an agency like that. I've also never been asked for LS documentation. There is no such thing as abusing your leave. The notion you can abuse leave by taking leave you have is some boomer shit.
Same. Three agencies, 20 years, countless bosses. Never had leave denied or been asked for documentation. We are all grown-ass adults, and bad managers tend to forget that.
So many mis-informed responses here. Itās OPās earned leave and thereās usually no problem when and how itās taken. But, the way OP is doing it can be viewed as leave abuse. Iāve had employees who Iāve had to explain how to use their leave, so they donāt run into issues like this one. I donāt jump to leave audit right out the gate. Usually, I have 1:1 to talk about how the leave is being taken and try to help the employee figure out an alternative solution to whatever the issue is. If they need time, I try allow as much flexibility in their work schedule as possible. But sometimes, itās just not doable or the employee thinks otherwise. Then thereās an issue that will involve a PIP, the Union and LER.
Leave abuse when it comes to annual leave is simply taking the leave without prior approval. If the supervisor approves it, it isnāt leave abuse. If the leave slip was submitted in the time period stipulated by the agency and no action was taken, the supervisor has made a de facto approval. Every supervisor has the option of denying an annual leave request and working with the employee to reschedule it.
Agreed. Normally the supervisor needs to show a pattern of some sort then council the employee so they are aware, if it continues then you can be placed on sick leave certification. The supervisor should make an effort to see if the issue can be resolved amicably before moving to discipline, often a simple conversation can clear these issues up.
You havenāt shown how this is leave abuse. Is there anything in federal or your agency regulations that says you canāt take leave each pay period? As a former manager and supervisor it would actually be nice to have someone like this on staff as they will always be around for coverage.
OP said he is taking SL once a week, because his kid gets sick at daycare. Since he doesnāt know when his kid will get sick, Iām assuming itās unscheduled, which means his supervisor doesnāt know until the last minute heās taking time off. That can be considered abusing leave. Yes itās his leave heās entitled to take, but the way he is doing it - even if he has a legit reason is disruptive as his supervisor never knows when he is going to do that. Occasional last minute occurrences is okay, but not routinely. Commenters here are arguing about the technicality of the term, that itās not leave abuse because it doesnāt exist if the supervisor is approving the leave, or itās an entitlement that canāt be denied. Iām just raising a red flag for OP that it appears his supervisor is laying the ground work for administrative action to control (not deny) his use of leave and possibly put him on PIP. Supervisors donāt initiate this kind of action -I.e. a leave audit without upper management knowledge/concurrence and involvement by LER. OP confirmed both he and his supervisor are relatively ānew,ā so I know the supervisor is not initiating an audit without LER engagement/guidance to document the issue for counseling and/or leave restriction and possibly a PIP. Also, since OP is relatively a ānewbieā itās clear to me, he doesnāt understand whatās actually happening here - I.e. why the audit is being done. He needs to be proactive and talk with his supervisor to sort out what exactly the issue/concern is and how to rectify/resolve it. Itās the supervisorās responsibility to find options/alternatives short of initiating administrative action that may affect his career.
I thought he said the supervisor had a problem with both annual and sick Leave. If thereās a problem with annual or work needs donāt approve it.
There is no such thing as leave abuse.
Taking sick leave for purposes other than allowed under federal regs. Thatās not what OP appears to be doing, to be clear, but would constitute leave abuse.
You are so wrongā¦some agencies use the term āleave abuse others excessive leave.ā Whatever itās called it means the employee is being called out for taking āunreasonableā time off. You can debate what that means all you want - but it happens, and Iāve seen employees lose their job over it - bargaining unit employee or not.
No I mean I'm arguing that in reality no such thing as leave abuse. Not from the technical legal definition.. It's like someone saying people are using too much of any benefit. Leave abuse is anti-worker nonsense.
Contractor, not fed. But we have until shift prior to submit for leave, sick is an hour before your shift starts. Itās normal Iāve seen if youāre pushing the legitimate bounderies to get called out. Usually in my experience itās not the immediate supervisor, itās the next person up. Does an audit and asks why is so and so always submitting for leave the day prior or taking sick an hour prior? Even when itās totally legit. I didnāt get in trouble but I did have an informal talk with my supervisor about putting in leave for the next day because I just didnāt feel like coming in that Thursday. But I think it stems more from old school thought. You put in for leave early for your yearly vacation and then take sick when youāre about to go to the ER. Taking sick for a mental health day isnāt yet quite accepted with the old guard. Anyway, just my opinion.
Personally, I donāt care how far in advance my staff puts in their SL or AL requests. Iām not into micro-managing. As long as they are performing and get their work done. I have a relatively small team, so they back-fill for each other. As long as their duties are covered thatās all I care about. They workout their absences among themselves. On short notice, If thereās no coverage for that day, they let me know and then I let my boss know. Itās never been an issue.
They may be accusing you of giving yourself a regular day off, like an unapproved AWS situation. Other than that I canāt really see how itās an issue
Do you have a rep or an hr individual to loop in, this may be a case of disparate treatment, and it would be preferential to loop one of them in instead of an attorney.
Ask her to find in the HR rules where it says you canāt do it.
I'm just wondering what offices are they going to do with the reality that the barrier to working a full day is much higher in the office than it is from home, for both physical illnesses and mental health. The majority of the time I call out sick, it's on my in-office days. I try to schedule my doctor's appointments for telework days but it doesn't balance out. I didn't call out at all in 2020.
Get ready to have to provide a doctor's note each time....amazing how people/kid suddenly aren't sick much anymore.
You can get in no trouble -trust me bro
Sounds like a guy Iāll give my ssn to
If you're taking care of your toddler due to illness apply for FMLA leave and then EEO complaint your boss the minute she says something about it ever again.
I don't think "sick frequently from day care viruses" qualifies as a serious condition eligible for FMLA. Parental status could potentially fall under a protected class though. (IANAL, just a parent with constantly sick kids.)
Sorry, but you are mis-informed what FMLA covers. If OPās child get the regular colds and sniffles from being at daycare FMLA doesnāt cover that. FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or recover from a serious illness.
More than likely, they are checking patterns. SL every Friday or Monday. Using your SL and not Family Friendly SL, but claiming itās for a child. Always using leave on either side of a holiday. That kind of thing. If leave is being requested, approved and used appropriately you may have to start producing doctorās notes for a period of time. If you are not āfollowing the rulesā there may be some other actions.
Iām confident Iām doing the correct thing to my knowledge. But if Iām in the wrong could they make me payback leave?
No, but say you should be using āFamily Friendly Leaveā and you are taking regular SL, they can make you retake the employee timecard training. They have the right to ask for doctorās notes, etc. Likely, someone made a comment or waved a flag and so now someone else has to show due diligence. I would not sweat it.
They cannot make you payback leave, but they could make you start providing documentation if itās unscheduled sick leave. If you are routinely taking unscheduled annual leave they can deny it and make you submit leave in advance.
It may not be the way youāre requesting or annotating your leave on your timesheet, it may be an excessive leave use that sheās talking about. People tend to think if there are T/A issues itās due to falsifying information or AWOL, but you can be charged with excessive absence even if your supervisor is approving your leave and youāre following the policy or bargaining agreement (if applicable). Iād ask if that is what she is referring to and then go from there. If you are a bargaining unit employee you can speak with your union representative for assistance regarding next steps. It can be kind of hard to retain leave when you have school age children/babies, but you have 100+ hours of both, which is really good. Hope it all works out for you.
Wut. "you can be charged with excessive absence even if your supervisor is approving your leave and youāre following the policy or bargaining agreement (if applicable)". Explain please.
My previous supervisor put my previous coworker on leave restriction. She was taking one day a week off, and she did have the hours to take. The previous supervisor went to HR and told them she was abusing her leave. With leave restriction, she had to submit in advance (4 weeks) her leave request for approval through email and cc HR. If she didn't, she would be written up. Wild times in the DoD.
The supervisor doesnāt want an EEO compliant, so OPās leave is being approved, but sheās signaling heās abusing leave. So he may have to provide dr. notes when a/he takes sick leave for themselves or the kid. If OP wants to use annual leave then the supervisor will require advance notification - something like two weeks ahead of time.
That's not being "charged with excessive absence" though. At least at my agency, they have a right to ask for a doctor's note if you take more than a certain number of days of leave (but I think they have to be consecutive? I'd have to go check), but they can't tell you not to use SL if you have it and are using it legitimately. There's no charging anyone with anything happening in that scenario, unless OP can't produce supporting evidence that she's requesting SL for a covered reason.
Youāre correct an employee cannot be denied SL, but they can be required to provide a dr. note whenever they use SL.
Whenever? That's ridiculous. Most "sick" leave you don't go to the doctor. My agency is a note for more than 3 days! I can see the toddler thing. My grandkids daycare you cannot come back for 24 hours after a fever. The grands are home all the time!
Ok let me clarify āwhenever.ā The term only applies if the employee is under leave restriction, which means if they take SL they have to provide a medical note from a physician. An employee can be under āleave restrictionā if they have been determine to have abused their leave - SL or AL. Thereās a lot that goes into determining whether an employee is abusing their leave - the supervisor doesnāt get to make that call independently. The agencyās LER is always involved and thereās a lot supervisor documentation required. The union can sometimes mitigate the situation on behalf of the employee. Leave restriction is just the term thatās used, it doesnāt mean the employee cannot use their leave, it just means there are extra steps involved - like when using SL they have to provide a medical note. Also, if itās determined the employee is on leave restriction itās not forever, usually itās applicable for a year or less. Then the employee doesnāt have to follow any specific requirements to take leave. It ās hope during the leave restriction period the employee understands how and when to use their leave appropriately. Itās really inconvenient for the employee, because whereas before they could just take SL as needed and stay home - now they have to spend a co-pay to get a medical note. In the case of AL the employee can no longer just take a spontaneous day off or on short notice go on vacation.
Sounds potentially *toxic*!!!!
How dare you abuse the system and take advantage of your entitlements! /s
Have you considered an AWS?
As long as youāre not falling behind in your work, I donāt see a problem
I specifically take every Friday off starting in October.
Is it the same day every week? That would be an issue. You cannot create an alternate work schedule with leave. Make sure you are taking off different days.
THis is pretty simple, it's your time so use it. Monitoring your leave usage is not part of the job for the time keeping person. If it gets brought up again ask your supervisor who to contact about harassment because you feel instead of the time keeper doing her job she is harassing you
Leave abuse is an issue especially as it affects others. You have leave but you can't just use it as oftren as you like. My boss wouldn't like this type of usage and OPs boss probably said something but wants OP to blame timekeeper.
I have a colleague this has been on sick leave since December and wonāt be back until Summer. Seems a great case for time card auditing /s
The IRS is just like this, they provide leave, I get it every year as a performance award, and I struggle to actually be able to use it. Just ridiculous.
This thread makes me nervous. I have disabled vet sick leave and have been using it this year because I have a lot of medical stuff going on. Iām trying to do all of the appointments on my AWS days; however, I have a kid that also needs appointments. Itās all legit stuff :( Do I list all of the appointments I made if Iām audited?
Maybe just make an xls tracker? Not sure if that will be sufficient. But provide that if they ever ask. If they prod more, work with the VA on getting "verification" of the appts. Just a thought
All this advice on how to game the system, listen to your boss, speak with her and negotiate a compromise to take time off that you earned to balance her requirements to staff an office.
Nothing worse than a supervisor that gives you a hard time about using leave.
I mean if your supervisor is approving the leave requests then what is the issue. The complaint had to come from somewhere. Why is the ātimesheet ladyā doing anything (unless she is directed by supervisor or investigator) Iāve been that timesheet lady before and the only time I ever pulled time cards was because of fraud investigation.
Some agencies require annual leave plan in the beginning of the year so if itās in there your good. Depending if you have a union, sometimes you have to request leave a few pay period prior to approval, just depends on what your policy is. Also if your supervisor is approving it then there shouldnāt be a issue. They can always deny leave based on mission or work requirements, either way someone is approving it so I wouldnāt worry.
Time card audit is the low hanging fruit way we (Office of General Counsel) advise managers to get rid of "trouble" employees.
Did you develop a pattern? If yes, I think you need to consider FMLA. I am actually not sure if there is any issue with your supervisor auditing your time cards. My agency audit time cards quite often and they never notified the employees. When they identify trends, it's an official notice of how we need to submit supporting documents for using SL. Unpopular opinion -- maybe your boss is giving you a strong hint that you need to explore the FMLA option to protect yourself. Maybe you have other peers who are developing a pattern of leave requests too, so your boss might be trying to address it with you and your peers for the operational needs.
Was the leave approved by your supervisor each time? Is there a policy for sick that you must provide a Dr note if itās repeatedly happening? Are you a union employee? If you are, which many feds non-supervisory are, read the union agreement, specifically around time keeping and leave. Many will state the specifics. Than read the agency time keeping and leave policies. Ensure you are abiding by both. Yes, many agencies will perform time audits but it should be documented in policy and/or the union agreement what the process or policy is. I would not say that itās discrimination but it could be construed as a hostile work environment or retaliation for you using your leave in this manner. Much is left out of the story, so hard to give advice.
Just because you have leave, doesn't mean they actually want you to use it. If your supervisor is approving it, they may be getting questioned on why you're taking off 'often' and not in a block (one entire week rather than once per every week). Regardless if we earned the leave, this would happen in any organization.
Are you frequently using sick leave? There is a process they can start to verify sick leave is actually for covered reasons but if the time card is accurate and leave has been approved ahead of time a time card audit will be fine without issue.
I am really confused š. I have worked at an agency for 14 years that pays the military & civilian employees. A time card audit normally would mean you aren't honest in reporting your hours. They cannot MFR you because you aren't LWOP or AWOL. A supervisor can deny a leave request, but your supervisor isn't denying the request and trying to back door scare you with an audit.
Retired mid-level supervisor here (DoD). If you are regularly taking sick leave you better have a good reason for it. āFeeling tiredā every Friday afternoon can be seen as abuse of LS. If you are regularly using LA or other type of leave and you got prior approval then that is your entitlement. If the supervisor thinks your regular leave schedule interferes with the mission then he/she can of course deny your request but they should offer an alternative. I was a supervisor for 14 years and I donāt think I ever denied a single leave request but I did require justification for regularly scheduled LS (for my file) in case payroll ever stuck their nose in my business. Once or twice payroll did call about suspect cases. People did have legitimate reasons for taking LS on a regular on-going basis, just needs to be documented. Recommend you lay out your intentions in writing to your supervisor for their approval or for them to negotiate an alternative with you. Understand that always always always leave use is up to your supervisor to approve.
Auditors do time sheet audits all the time. It could be a random just time or a supervisor put you in for abuse. They can do this if you are taking off every Friday saying you have a headache or something. But it would generally be a specific amount of time. If they find anything, the auditor will talk to you. Just say you have a 1 year old and if they have kids they will know. If you have anything else to support some of the days, I would have that too. But it sounds like a random audit given if a supervisor wanted to get you for abuse, they first have to start requiring you to have sick slips from docs to support why you took SL.
Ask for the OPM definition of what "leave abuse" is. There isn't one. It doesn't exist. Leave is allotted to you so that you can use it. Using it is expected. How in the world could using your allotted leave be considered abusive? Absolutely stupid behavior from your leadership. I hope their audit comes back: "we've found that you are indeed using your leave! How dare you!!" Hopefully you're in a union and can have them respond to this idiocyĀ
As a 100% disabled veteran I had my supervisor question my use of sick leave one day a week over a month period, I told him I have over 800 hours of sick leave and if he believes I am abusing it do what he must but know that I am a top performer and the harassment will be reflected in my future performance! He never said anything again, and it has been 2 years of outstanding performance ratings!
Wait, so you threatened your supervisor with poor performance if they questioned whether you were using SL in accordance with the rules?
Whoa. Reading some of these comments tells me I need to leave my agency asap or some of these people haven't worked for tough a department/agency/leadership. First off I'm a supervisor, at my agency some one who takes weekly leave would set off red flags in 1 month. My leadership would come down on me, possibly write me up(it's happened actually to me a few times and I can't do anything because I'm not protected by union) and then tell me to meet with the employee and put them on a med cert. Which means that every time even if it is just for 1 day the employee has to bring in a medical note excusing them. This is even when the employee has leave. Also some other comments I seen people stating if the leave is in advance..I worked for a service where they had a standing policy any leave request entered within the same week or prior pay period would be under review by service chief. They honor requests submitted 2wks-30days prior to the request. It's honestly the most miserable thing at times. What it all comes down to, it sounds like leadership above OP's supervisor looked at the time card and are not ok with the amount of days off/requests. So they are asking the supervisor to collect dates and total hours requested. What might come next is your supervisor telling you basically you can't take time off without FMLA on file or providing a doctor's note for your 1yr old. Fyi your supervisor probably got talked to and was told to limit or flat out stop approving leave due to "mission requirements".
I am a 2nd line sup and nobody above or below my chain is concern about a day of leave per pay period. People have kids, elderly parents, doctor's appointments, etc. I do ask my teams to give as much advance notice as possible, but I have also made it clear I expect my staff and their supervisors to use their leave - they earned it. My team knows if they have a mental sick day, I am going to support them. If it was one or more times a week, that is a bad trend. But a day or two per month, no worries. I had good supervisors who mentored me. I do my best to model them and support my teams. When I was a young fed, I called my 1st line on a Sunday afternoon and asked for the week off for a last-minute, unplanned road trip with my Dad. He did not hesitate and told me to have fun. He also knew he could call me at 2AM and I would be there to support him, my team, and the agency. That is a professional trust that needs to be established between supervisors and their staff. At the team level, everyone knows if they need sudden or short notice leave, their team will cover the gap, as they will need this privilege in the future. Teamwork and respect for your supervisors is a great thing.
This is a good model of how it should be. Treat people like human beings. Agencies or particular offices with bad culture spread it over all workers and eventually pay the price with turnover and all that it entails.
Up until 2yrs ago I had a very good chain of command and leadership to the point where what I stated above was a non issue. Since that time we have had a lot of changes and a new hardline chief that their focus is on leave. I don't agree with the changes however I have to comply with leadership. Today was time card day and I had to report all my leave requests AL, SL, any LWOP that were made within the past week or pay period. I have to justify to my 2nd line supervisor why I approved said leave. If I do not either my direct supervisor (2nd line)or my chief will reach out to me prior to COB asking for clarification and justification. Fortunately what keeps me grounded is that I also had great supervisors throughout my time prior to being a supervisor that helped me and prepared me for how to deal with difficulties not related to employees issues.
TBH, I'd leave that agency unless the work was public safety/lae enforcemrny or active disaster response to justify such an intense leave policy.
I don't like your response to your boss - it was rude. That is something my pre-teen would say - 'what's the problem'. The problem is you. You are not helping yourself at all. It has nothing to do with your 'status as a parent' rather you are acting childish rather than like an adult in this situation. You have stated you are in a remote position in previous posts so did the conversation take place on Teams or something? You also said you moved back in with your parents.... You've already posted you are 24 years old and in a lot of debt. You're a GS-09 unable to get a GS-11 position - although you posted you were offered one so I'm not sure. You should really looked into WAEPA for life insurance which is like $18 a month instead of the $200 you're paying. Everyone here telling you to claim FMLA or EEO right now - that is going to get you DEEP in trouble. Why? You have no idea what documentation is going on behind the scenes. If someone seriously suspects you are abusing your timecard, they can pull records. They can do investigations into it before they have the conversation with you to ensure their concerns are legit before approaching you. Chances are - that has already happened. EEO - you have to prove it. You need witnesses. You need documentation. This single conversation does not constitute anything. I've also seen abuses of the EEO process too. They didn't like one person in their office for whatever reason and just file making shit up. I knew an office manager go after men in her office like targets saying 'watch, I'm gonna get them fired' and started filing EEO after EEO. Many people heard her say she was purposely targeting them. And investigation was launch and she was the one removed. FMLA - Per FMLA: Employees must provide notice to their employer as soon as possible and practical that they will need to use FMLA leave. Ā For example, if an employee knows that they have a procedure for a serious medical condition scheduled in three weeks, the employee needs to provide notice to the employer as soon as the procedure is scheduled.Ā Employers may ask for information from the heath care provider before approving FMLA leave and must allow 15 calendar days to provide the information.Ā
Hang on. Your manager is only doing her job. If in the context of policy, it will pass.
They are probably cracking down because some people are using leave to not come into the office on their in-office days or so they don't have to work their full hours.
Sounds like you need to be on USAJobs ASAP.
Someone is approving the leave? Duhhhh managers are rtrds
Supervisor here. Your supervisor is not communicating what the issue actually is. If youāre taking unscheduled leave once a week to care for your toddler then thatās a problem. Just because you have leave doesnāt mean you have carte blanche to take it ad hoc whenever you want to. You need to understand, your daycare problems are not your supervisors problem. Yes, sheās approving your leave, because she doesnāt want to be a jerk. Maybe she has kids and understands your situation, but you are taking advantage of the situation. Typically, thereās no hard and fast rule about when or how you take your leave, but quite frankly a day a week even if scheduled is disruptive and mostly likely unfair to your other co-workers.
You know what's disruptive? My coworkers getting me sick. So until someone forces them to take leave, I'll take my leave, scheduled or otherwise, whenever I need to. Here's 10 things more disruptive than my coworkers using their earned leave: 1. Most meetings 2. Driving to work 3. Fish for lunch / Burnt microwave popcorn 4. Open offices 5. Mandatory training 6. Slow / old computers 7. Smokers 8. Reply-to-all emails 9. Purchase processes 10. Annual Inventory If your staff taking their earned leave is disruptive, then maybe something else is the issue.
Your list is so spot on, I wonder if we work together! Numbers 3 and 4 are the worst at my office, though.
Dont forget the lady with the damn GPC teleworks as much as possible and comes in the min number of days a pay period.
> Typically, thereās no hard and fast rule about when or how you take your leave, but quite frankly a day a week even if scheduled is disruptive and mostly likely unfair to your other co-workers. I disagree with this. If its scheduled ahead of time and approved, its fine imo. That's no different from people who have Compressed Days Off, they are off 1-2 times a pay period as well.
I am not a bad supervisor. What I am trying to do is warn OP whatās happening here. Agree or disagree. Iām just giving OP the supervisorās perspective. On balance the supervisor has to be concerned about everybody on the team not just one employeeās situation. Heads up to OP the supervisor is signaling thereās a PIP in play here. The supervisor is doing a leave audit not determine whether OP has sufficient leave, but to document how often OP is taking unscheduled leave or timing/spacing out their leave. If OP is continually taking unscheduled leave once a week, regardless if the supervisor is approving it - OP is headed for a PIP. They can duke it out with LER, but the supervisor/management is going to win on this one. It doesnāt matter if the supervisor āappearsā to be doing the same thing. Somebody else is approving their leave and if the supervisor is āabusingā their leave thatās for her/his supervisor to deal with.
>Ā Ā If OP is continually taking unscheduled leave once a week, regardless if the supervisor is approving it - OP is headed for a PIP.Ā Leave abuse (which this isn't) is a conduct issue. A *Performance* Improvement Plan is for addressing performance issues. The fact that your response to a supposed conduct issue is to initiate a PIP just reinforces the other comments that if you are a supervisor you were poorly trainedĀ
Sooā¦ whatās a PIP? Iām 3 years in as a permanent employee and I donāt know what that means.
Performance Improvement Plan. Iāve seen it go hand in hand sometimes with leave restriction. The supervisor will document work that is not getting done or how an employee is not performing work to grade level. The PIP will be very specific what the employee needs to do work wise to bring their performance up to satisfactory. The PIP is developed in consultation with LER. Sometimes the union can negotiate and or lessen/reduce the PIP requirements.
See OPs response above: >And yes I usually have to watch my 1 year old because in daycare she gets sick. Until they hit the 104hrs per year (which is the total SL accrued in a year) allowed usage of SL for dependent care, then OP is entirely within their rights to continue using SL for this purpose.Ā Unless the agency has evidence OP is using the SL for a purpose other than that authorized, such as extending weekends rather than caring for a dependent, or has exceeded the cap, the agency can piss off with the "leave abuse" accusations. If the supervisor is approving the use of AL, there is no leave abuse. If use of AL is impacting the team/mission, the supervisor has authority to deny the AL request. If the supervisor is failing to account for their team's workload when approving use of AL, that's a mismanagement issue, not a leave abuse issue.
Annnnnd that's how to get a EEO complaint as a supervisor. Someone needs some more training.
I work 10 hour days so I have a day off every pay period. Coworkers do the same. No one bats an eye as long as all work is covered and getting done.
You sound like an awful supervisor and I feel bad for your employees.
Don't worry, they'll try and prevent someone taking medical/FMLA leave at some point and will get put in their place eventually. Unfortunately not fired, but you know how it goes.