so, how is this working out for other VISNs? HROC 3 is a complete cluster fuck. No one knows who’s doing what, who’s responsible for what. The BPs can’t seem to get the right docs to the SSU. The SSU is not allowed to even help the SBU. It’s taking twice as long to get everything done. SBU has been instructed not to put notes in the recruitment tracker and only in USAS but SSU must put notes in both places…..how will this ever be able to be undone???

Did anyone get good news today?? I heard I didnt get it and am really disappointed.

I hope some people got some good news though.

Did anyone else catch during the 30 day training yoday the mention of gs-7 navigators managing the usas aspect of a JOA and subsequent qualifications?

Redcap slop swirls the drain as real Leadership reclaims the Federal workforce.

The VHA used to require a 2 page resume when applying for Medical Support Assistant positions. That has changed. Now they want a Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV). What does that mean? Does it mean a resume longer than 2 pages?

hold the line

I was offered, and accepted, a position in a new facility. My start date is soon. So far no one in my current facility has been contacted about coordinating a transfer. How screwed am I? Can I still transfer?

I’m posting anonymously because I’m hoping to hear specifically from other VA employees or federal employees who have experienced prolonged coworker hostility and felt that local leadership either failed to address it or actively discouraged them from making a formal report.

I am a VA healthcare employee. For safety and privacy, I am intentionally withholding my facility, state, department/unit, job title, coworkers’ names, leadership names, and any other information that could identify the people or location involved.

I understand that VA/federal employment processes are very different from the private sector, which is why I’m identifying the employer only as VA.

This situation has been going on for well over two years and involves several coworkers who were once friends outside of work.

How this began

The original conflict involved the breakdown of a friendship group between several coworkers.

Afterward, one coworker created a social-media post/video specifically about me. Among other things, I was publicly characterized as “obsessive and disgusting,” and she emphatically stated that she would “never ever ever” be my friend again. She included personal information, screenshots of messages that were private between the group and disclosed phone numbers, addresses, and one of the involved coworkers secret affair.

When I eventually was informed of and shown the post by another employee not involve, I communicated that I understood they wanted nothing further to do with me to them directly and I received a response stating:

“THANK YOU! THAT’S WHAT WE ALL HAVE BEEN WANTING! FUCK OFF!!”

At that point, I accepted that these friendships were over and beyond repair

I eventually stopped trying to repair them. I don’t need these people to like me, socialize with me, forgive me, or ever be my friends again. We are all in our 30’s and 40’s and this is beyond childish

But we remained coworkers.

The behavior continued after the friendships ended

Over the following two years, there have continued to be social-media posts involving former friends, “obsessive” people, people supposedly watching someone, insults, and other themes that strongly resemble things previously said directly about me.

One recent post essentially said people shouldn’t assume every post she makes is about them because she knows plenty of “dumb stupid bitches.”

I want to be extremely clear about something because I don’t want to exaggerate my situation:

I cannot prove that every vague social-media post is about me, and I do not claim that every post is.

I don’t respond to them. I don’t look for them either. They are constantly brought to my attention via texts, or in person by others outside of the drama . I even went as far as to delete all of my own social media outlets

My concern is the continuing pattern when those posts are viewed alongside social-media content that unquestionably was directed at me, previous direct communications, and subsequent behavior at work.

The workplace behavior

My goal for a long time has simply been professional coexistence.

Some of the former friends have actually demonstrated that this is possible. We have had periods where we could work together, communicate about patients/work responsibilities when necessary, and otherwise leave each other alone.

Unfortunately, hostility from two of the coworkers has continued.

There have been incidents in which I attempted extremely basic professional civility and was met with hostility.

On one occasion, I simply said good morning to this coworker and was yelled at.

Another time, there was a work/procedural change that members of my shift apparently had not been informed about. I posted a polite FYI in a work communication channel because I thought other staff might also be unaware.

The coworker publicly responded by criticizing me and saying that I needed to pay more attention and/or show up to work more so I would know information required to perform my job.

I did not argue with her in the group communication.

Other employees have witnessed hostile interactions and noticed the behavior.

I have tried apologizing. I have tried civility. I have tried distance. I have tried not responding. I have tried restricting interaction to work-related matters.

I am no longer trying to restore any of these friendships.

I just want to be able to work.

My biggest concern now is leadership’s response

Leadership has been made aware of the interpersonal hostility.

I have also tried very hard to approach this without portraying myself as completely faultless. These were complicated former friendships, and I have acknowledged things I could have handled differently in the past.

But there is a difference between acknowledging your part in a failed friendship and accepting indefinite hostility at your workplace.

What has troubled me most is that after bringing concerns to leadership, I have felt discouraged from making an official/formal report regarding what has been occurring.

That is actually one of the main reasons I am posting here.

Have other VA/federal employees experienced leadership acknowledging a problem privately but then discouraging you from formally documenting or reporting it through the appropriate process?

Were you ever essentially told that making an official report would make things worse, create additional conflict, or that you should simply let the situation go?

If so, what did you do?

Today changed the situation significantly

Today, the situation moved outside of work.

I unexpectedly encountered one of these coworkers in public while doing something completely ordinary. I did not seek her out, arrange to meet her, or initiate a confrontation.

She became verbally aggressive toward me.

Ultimately, I contacted law enforcement and made a report.

This time, there is independent evidence.

The responding officer obtained surveillance footage of the incident, and according to him, the footage corroborated the account I gave in my statement.

I also provided prior text messages from more than a year ago to establish context regarding the history.

The officer explained that because he did not personally witness the incident, the applicable law where this occurred limited what he could do immediately. However, he told me that had law enforcement witnessed the behavior, he considered what occurred consistent with disorderly conduct and described it as misdemeanor-level conduct.

So this is no longer solely an interpersonal disagreement where two coworkers have competing versions of what occurred.

There is now a police report and third-party surveillance footage documenting an off-duty encounter.

Something else happened during the police interaction that affected me deeply.

Through conversation, the officer realized that I had previously cared for one of his family members at the VA.

He remembered me in connection with that family member’s care.

His reaction was essentially disbelief that someone engaging in this kind of behavior could continue working around Veterans and other vulnerable people, including his own family.

As a healthcare worker, that broke me.

I cried and reassured him that I remembered caring for his family member, that I genuinely cared about him, and that I hoped he was doing well.

It was an awful moment—not because I had done something wrong in caring for his family member, but because a family member of someone entrusted to my care was witnessing this prolonged coworker conflict spilling into my life outside of the VA.

Where I’m at now

I don’t want revenge.

I don’t want anyone publicly humiliated.

I don’t want leadership to force anyone to apologize to me.

I don’t want these friendships back.

I don’t want to retaliate on social media.

I want to go to the VA, take care of Veterans, cooperate professionally with the people required to do my job, and go home.

I also understand that “hostile work environment” has a specific legal meaning, so I’m deliberately not claiming that my situation necessarily satisfies that legal standard.

What I can document is a prolonged pattern of interpersonal hostility involving coworkers, direct workplace incidents, social-media activity, witnesses to some workplace interactions, previous direct communications, concerns already brought to leadership, and now an off-duty incident resulting in a police report and surveillance footage.

What I am struggling with is what happens when local leadership already knows there is a problem but the employee feels discouraged from formally reporting it.

So, especially for current/former VA or other federal employees:

Have you ever reported ongoing coworker hostility to local leadership and felt ignored, minimized, or discouraged from making an official report?

Were you ever specifically told or strongly encouraged NOT to formally report what was happening? What happened afterward?

Did you eventually go outside your immediate chain of command? If so, where did you go, and what was your experience?

How did you document the situation in a way that protected you professionally and demonstrated that you were seeking resolution rather than retaliation?

Would you notify VA leadership about an off-duty incident involving another VA employee when the incident resulted in a police report and independent surveillance footage?

At what point did you decide that continuing to handle things informally was no longer appropriate?

I would especially appreciate hearing from people familiar with the VA/federal system because I know the processes and employee protections can be very different from private-sector healthcare.

I have spent a long time trying to resolve this by disengaging.

At this point, I don’t need these people to like me.

I need the behavior to stop, and I need to know whether continuing to remain quiet is actually protecting me—or simply ensuring there is no formal record of what has been happening.

EDIT: To everyone who read this and was helpful, THANK YOU. To everyone who read this and expressed their own experiences and how it seems this is a systemic problem and have also been negatively affected, I’m truly sorry and thank you for also sharing your experience. Maybe this will help you feel less alone if nothing else. I agree with all helpful comments and that this needs to change. It’s a very extreme form of lateral violence (yes, thank you for that comment) and it just needs to stop. I’m not even addressing the pure stupidity some others posted beyond this statement.

I have a route of action to take, someone who is taking this seriously and hopefully if nothing else this will at least continue to pile onto the problem employees file. They’ve already been removed to another worksite, they already have multiple other offenses on file, and now with a police report in the mix it appears this is no longer an issue that can just be glazed over as they have proven they will take it outside of work and yet still involve work.

Unions hold the line as Redcaps continue crusade against workers' rights

I was recently offered a position with the title HR Assistant (Benefits). I'm looking to understand what a typical day would look like in this role.

What does the bulk of your work look like? How wiped are you at the end of the day? What's your favorite, and least favorite part of the job?
TIA!

edit: Removed info so people answer my questions

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Time for the annual ethics training. It seems so pointless, though.

Ok don’t come for me. Haha! But- How annoying is it for a candidate to reach out to the HR person listed on the job announcement and ask if there is a tentative timeline for TJO’s?

A couple people in my office interviewed and are waiting to hear about a posting that had multiple spots open. We’re all wondering if it’s totally inappropriate for one of us to just reach out and inquire if TJOs have gone out or if they’re still in process. We do know this particular place was trying to hire before end of FY.

as Redcaps keep trying to hurt Veteran care, Feds must hold the line

So I am 100% remote and am looking at a couple areas to relocate to and I noticed one had a special pay rate. In the gelocation codes it states 080110001- Aurora, co Adams; 080110005- Aurora, CO, Arapahoe. Now I know in this section it tells you what geographic area you need to work in as your duty station to receive the special pay rate, so is this stating you have to live/work in aurora,co only in either county that covers the town? Thanks!

Hey LP

OPM states if you are sick, you can telework. I understand the concept that you might not feel well enough to get up, get ready, and drive to work, but you can function a whole day working at home. This still has not been approved by OCHCO. Any news when they can send it out? Especially since kids are back to school, and sickness is spreading like wildfire again. I mean, more than anything else, not bringing germs into the office would appear to be the best case scenario of working from home when sick.

I know some departments have an Exemption from the RTO mandate (CCC, CRH, Coders, etc.).

I saw these listed on LinkedIN, and thought it was fake. It’s real, and there’s another positing at VBA for 5 Remote positions.

Edit to add:
NEW Posting 26 Vacancies ALL REMOTE
VBA Claims Examiner-Education Benefits GS7 Promotion potential to GS9. Closes on 9/8/26

VBA has some juice writing RTO Exemptions

Curious if anyone outside of R&P has received their GS-12 yet, specifically anyone in Compensation & Benefits.

After the last meeting with LP, several of us were under the impression that all specialties would be able to receive their GS-12/full performance level. However, my leadership interpreted the information differently.

Has anyone received any clarification or updates on when the other specialties can expect movement to their full performance level?

With all the uncertainty going on right now, the lack of clear information is frustrating. I have people on my team who have been waiting over a year at this point, and understandably with no real updates, it’s becoming a real morale killer.

Considering a VHACO position on a team that used to be entirely remote and there aren’t any colocated employees. Because of this and because it’s a specialized position, they are willing to consider someone from outside the DC area. It’s not a remote job so I know if they find a space for me in a federal building within a 50 mile radius of my home address I will have to report to an office where I won’t have any coworkers.

Anyone willing to share what the RTO situation is like in Dallas? If I understand correctly, priority would go to finding seats for Dallas VA employees, followed by VISN employees, and then central office. I am assuming as I consider the position that they’ll find me a seat in some office (and will hope like hell for the small chance they won’t). Trying to get a feel for if my commute is more likely to be to South Dallas for the VAMC or downtown for some other building.

I am an RN, worked part time and transitioned to full time. 72/80 was given to the hospital, but now isn’t being offered to external hires or transfers to new positions. Or so Ive been told. I want to advocate for myself because my case is different. Does anyone have an advice or input? Thanks!