ChemEng's Account talk...

[Gaetaone]

A performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is like a second probationary period. It requires the Supervisor/Manager to spell out what employment areas are deficient and what the employee needs to do to bring them up to a satisfactory level. If someone is out to get you they make the standards in the PIP unachievable.

John

 

[ChemEng]

I hate to be contrary to Ebb's move, but today I am pulling the trigger into Stocks.

 

[tspgo_com]

A performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is like a second probationary period. It requires the Supervisor/Manager to spell out what employment areas are deficient and what the employee needs to do to bring them up to a satisfactory level. If someone is out to get you they make the standards in the PIP unachievable.

John

A PIP in essence is different from a probationary period. If you get a PIP letter you will do OK. If you get a PIP your supervisor will be watching to make sure that the "Element" is maintained at a FS level. Once the period is completed you are home free. Failure in another element during the PIP period should not affect the "Element" in question. If you get a PIP there should not be adverse action imposed. A PIP is like saying "You did wrong. Go and don't it again. I will be watching you for xx days and after that it will be water under the bridge". You might be asked to attend some vogues training during the PIP period.

Good luck ChemEng. We are all with you.
Again, thank you for your great contribution.

 

[rokid]

I'd keep a chronology of everything that happens (dates, times, attendees, and who said what). A chronology is very useful as the process proceeds. I'd also keep a copy of it at home.

A PIP seems like an odd approach. If you actually violated their policy, I'd think a verbal warning or, at worst, a Letter of Reprimand would be more appropriate. Note that a Letter of Reprimand stays in your personnel file for several years.

If they insist that you sign for some type of informational material, do it. You don't want to be accused of insubordination. However, I wouldn't sign anything that is an admission of guilt.

If humble doesn't work and you have to bring in a lawyer, you need to start looking for a new job. You may win the case, but you'll damage your career. It looks like you're the victim of overzealous security people and somewhat confused and scared management.

However, have you tried just talking to your supervisor one-on-one or are they just taking a totally adversarial approach?

Good luck.

P.S. On second thought, considering the environment, maybe you should start looking for a new job, immediately. They sound like real knuckleheads.

 

[Eldritch Flatus]

My supervisor had an experience where he was called in to the ceo's office and was told by three managers there that they could do whaterver they wanted because they were managemnt. He informed them that any further discussion would have to take place with his lawyer, myself, and a union representative present, They immediatly fell all over themselves apologizing. Even though we weren't union members, they had to represent us. This was years ago but the principles still apply. Management will try to bully you, but they cannot do anything they want, and like all bullys if you stand up to them they go away. You must be low key and non confrontational and avoid appearing to present any threat to them, just tell them you have done nothing wrong and can prove it. They are just on a little power trip and when they find it will be a large hassel for them to harrass you they will stop it. New Employees do have rights also and if there is a union for your organization, they can help.

 

[ChemEng]

Dear god I didnt realize all this was going to be involved!

Im hoping that the issue is going to be resolved this week while Im in training, but if its not then I may have to pursue some of these courses of action. *sighs*

 

[nnuut]

Best of luck ChemEng, of course you know when you're innocent you're innocent!

 

[Griffin]

I've been an investigating officer on cases like these. One actually involved a guy who was having extremely sexually explicit e-mail conversations with his sixteen year old baby sitter. He lost his job, but only because the "misappropriation of government property" was so incredible blatant that Johnny Cochran couldn't have helped him. Another one I've seen involved a guy viewing child pronography, and he was an IT security guy. He lost his job, but was eventually able to plead down his case in civilain court to a misdameanor and now is back woking for the Fed in a different agency. It really takes doing something this stupid to get in serious trouble.

The moral of the stories is that, you are probably not guilty of doing anything that droves of other people aren't doing already. So if your not doing anything uniquely wrong, they better be prepared to take down the whole kit and kaboodle if they are going to take you down on something silly. As FogSailing said "cooler heads will prevail" (because they are doing the exact same things you are). Be nice and it will go away.

Dear god I didnt realize all this was going to be involved!

Im hoping that the issue is going to be resolved this week while Im in training, but if its not then I may have to pursue some of these courses of action. *sighs*

 

[tsptalk]

Some of you may remember that I was suspended for internet use a couple of years ago. They said I was "running my business from work" because I posted on the message board from a gov't computer, and those posts promoted the site, and I was making money if someone clicked on the ads. OK, if that's a no, no, then I was guilty. But here's the thing...

Do not trust your managers. After my "buddy" manager told me "don't worry about it, don't get the union involved, I will take care of this", he ended up giving me the maximum suspension allowed. Thanks buddy.

Some of you may be managers and might be able to explain why he would do this. He said he got pressure from above, but he made it clear that he had the final say and the decision to give the max was his.

So, be careful, watch your back, and good luck!

 

[Gilligan]

Chem,
There was a Supreme Court case in 1975, NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) vs. Weingarten. The agency has to allow a union rep to be present during a questioning session. The Weingarten Right attaches when four conditions are met.

1. The meeting between the employee and management is an examination.
2. The examination is in connection with an investigation.
3. The employee must reasonably believe that disciplinary action may result from the meeting.
4. The employee must request representation.

http://www.unionism.com/weingarten_case.htm

 

[ChemEng]

(This is a continuation of articles I posted here and here. I recommend reading those if you haven’t already.)

Yesterday I received one of the final updates to my thumb drive saga. Given the amount of build up that I have had with it, it was rather anticlimactic.

Rottentomatoes.com is not porn
After an extensive and comprehensive review of each website that I visited that was marked with having sexually explicit content, they decided that there was not ANY pornography on ANY of the websites. This issue was dropped completely from the list of “charges.” Even though it was dropped as a consideration for me, my leadership is further pursuing the matter with how IT could mess up that badly several hundred times. I will get an update when those happen as well. Unfortunately I will not be able to listen into those conversations though.

A personal thumb drive is not government issued
I another shocking decision–personal thumb drives are not government issued. Therefore I was in violation of some federal policy. The course of action to correct this was a letter of counseling stating that I used a personal thumb drive and remedial computer training. The remedial training was conducted online and included pressing questions like “What is the minimal number of characters your password should be?” I learned a lot. :/

I tried to get them to keep the letter of counseling local, but there was specific guidance given by my SES4 for a report to be filed. There was no way around it. It’s just the cost of getting high visibility on a matter.

JAG thinks adult porn isn’t that bad
The JAG thought is that some adult porn viewing at work is alright, but absolutely no child porn should be allowed. Im sure that this is based on a legal definition of what is acceptable computer use instead of how that definition was chosen to be applied by the local IT professionals. I did find it nice that they draw the line very clearly I suppose even though it directly conflicts with federal policy. It wasn’t worth bringing that up.

Thumb drive resolution
I get my thumb drive back but it is now government property. Although it will not be tracked on my hand receipt so it can be easily misplaced without accountability. This really bothered me because it put the moral decision of “reclaiming” the thumb drive on me. I’m still not certain that what I did was wrong, but to put me in a situation that I do feel is wrong (stealing) I felt was reprehensible.

I’ve already taken off the Unclassified sticker and put the content that was removed back onto it, but I’ve got to decide now if I want to be a thief or not. sighs

Conclusion
That is the end of that (I hope). It has been a painful experience, but one I am glad is over. Hopefully there won’t be another run-in with the IT Nazis for a very long time.

Additionally, I got my yearly performance review and my rater had everything checked at “Exceptional” so it doesnt look it impacted there. I have a conference with my senior rater tomorrow and all indications are positive that the meeting will go well.

 

[12%ayear]

(This is a continuation of articles I posted here and here. I recommend reading those if you haven’t already.)

Yesterday I received one of the final updates to my thumb drive saga. Given the amount of build up that I have had with it, it was rather anticlimactic.

Rottentomatoes.com is not porn
After an extensive and comprehensive review of each website that I visited that was marked with having sexually explicit content, they decided that there was not ANY pornography on ANY of the websites. This issue was dropped completely from the list of “charges.” Even though it was dropped as a consideration for me, my leadership is further pursuing the matter with how IT could mess up that badly several hundred times. I will get an update when those happen as well. Unfortunately I will not be able to listen into those conversations though.

A personal thumb drive is not government issued
I another shocking decision–personal thumb drives are not government issued. Therefore I was in violation of some federal policy. The course of action to correct this was a letter of counseling stating that I used a personal thumb drive and remedial computer training. The remedial training was conducted online and included pressing questions like “What is the minimal number of characters your password should be?” I learned a lot. :/

I tried to get them to keep the letter of counseling local, but there was specific guidance given by my SES4 for a report to be filed. There was no way around it. It’s just the cost of getting high visibility on a matter.

JAG thinks adult porn isn’t that bad
The JAG thought is that some adult porn viewing at work is alright, but absolutely no child porn should be allowed. Im sure that this is based on a legal definition of what is acceptable computer use instead of how that definition was chosen to be applied by the local IT professionals. I did find it nice that they draw the line very clearly I suppose even though it directly conflicts with federal policy. It wasn’t worth bringing that up.

Thumb drive resolution
I get my thumb drive back but it is now government property. Although it will not be tracked on my hand receipt so it can be easily misplaced without accountability. This really bothered me because it put the moral decision of “reclaiming” the thumb drive on me. I’m still not certain that what I did was wrong, but to put me in a situation that I do feel is wrong (stealing) I felt was reprehensible.

I’ve already taken off the Unclassified sticker and put the content that was removed back onto it, but I’ve got to decide now if I want to be a thief or not. sighs

Conclusion
That is the end of that (I hope). It has been a painful experience, but one I am glad is over. Hopefully there won’t be another run-in with the IT Nazis for a very long time.

Additionally, I got my yearly performance review and my rater had everything checked at “Exceptional” so it doesnt look it impacted there. I have a conference with my senior rater tomorrow and all indications are positive that the meeting will go well.

Tell them to get a life and to worry about more important issues!! That is why I never use the internet at work. Not worth the trouble. I cannot be bothered with stuff like that. Nothing is worth losing your job over. Wait until you get home to look at the sites you like like Rotten Tomatoes. These days Big Brother is watching and it is kind of good in a way.

 

[12%ayear]

I've been an investigating officer on cases like these. One actually involved a guy who was having extremely sexually explicit e-mail conversations with his sixteen year old baby sitter. He lost his job, but only because the "misappropriation of government property" was so incredible blatant that Johnny Cochran couldn't have helped him. Another one I've seen involved a guy viewing child pronography, and he was an IT security guy. He lost his job, but was eventually able to plead down his case in civilain court to a misdameanor and now is back woking for the Fed in a different agency. It really takes doing something this stupid to get in serious trouble.

The moral of the stories is that, you are probably not guilty of doing anything that droves of other people aren't doing already. So if your not doing anything uniquely wrong, they better be prepared to take down the whole kit and kaboodle if they are going to take you down on something silly. As FogSailing said "cooler heads will prevail" (because they are doing the exact same things you are). Be nice and it will go away.

People who use the internet for porn at work are nuts. I hate people who are looking at minors. They are sleazy and deserve to be locked-up. That guys sounds creepy and sick. Lock him up..

 

[ChemEng]

Wait until you get home to look at the sites you like like Rotten Tomatoes.

Lesson learned. Like everyone else, we stay quite busy with work. But I would cruise rottentomatoes on Friday nights when the wife wanted to go to see a movie and neither of us knew what was showing. *shrugs* It wont happen again though I can promise you that...

 

[Show-me]

Glad to hear it is working out. Leave the drive. Staples 2MB 20 bucks.

 

[Sunnyskies]

Glad it worked out for you. Ask that the letter of counseling be placed in a sealed envelop with the purge date on the outside. This will keep prying eyes (acting managers, etc) from seeing it. It should also be kept in a separate file (not your work performance file) in your supervisors office. Make yourself a reminder on the purge date to check that it is removed. If a copy is put in your official personnel file, ask that it be removed also.

I'm glad that your supervisor isn't letting this effect your evaluation.

 

[NTXDiver]

I work in IT with a large Fed agency and lately we have been on a pogrom as well. Security seems to be everywhere and really over-reacting to the slightest infraction.
I agree with most folks here -- that you got hammered for what should've been a fairly minor incident. I'm unsure of exactly why you were chosen for the 'treatment', but it sounds pretty hard-handed. At least it didn't affect your final eval and a LOR is temporary (if you remember to have it purged).

Glad it worked out in your favor :blink:

 

[ChemEng]

Im riding stocks through the 4th.

I debated taking money off the table to hit the penny on Monday and move back in on Monday. But now Im thinking that Monday will be green for USMs so Im staying in.

 

[ChemEng]

Im going to stocks today. I want to move into I, but Im worried about the potential of a +UFV. If markets stay on top through 1150, then Ill move 100I. If it continues to oscillate, then Im going to move into 50C/50S.

 

[USNAVYRETIRED]

Im going to stocks today. I want to move into I, but Im worried about the potential of a +UFV. If markets stay on top through 1150, then Ill move 100I. If it continues to oscillate, then Im going to move into 50C/50S.

Chem... Maybe I still don't understand much about the FV's, but wouldn't a +FV for tomorrow be a good thing if you IFT'd to the I fund for tomorrow???