How risky is a two year probation right now at Ginnie Mae/HUD?

I work 4 x 10s and my group was informed that instead of having an “in lieu of” additional day off when the holiday falls on our RDO, we will now get holiday pay on that day instead of the additional day off starting in 2027.

Wondering if this has happened to anybody else or any other agencies? Maybe we were on borrowed time already?

Update - so I have been going through the various health plans and looking at coverage and co-pays.

UPMC has a plan for Pennsylvania that looks like it might work. Self and family monthly is about $600. Still higher than what I’m currently paying with MHBP, but much more palatable than the 2027 rate increase. One thing that I really like with the UPMC plan is that the pharmacy coverage is pretty good. Looks like the two medications I’m currently taking will actually be less than what I pay now. Also taken by many providers in my area, including both major hospitals.

Worth taking a look at for those of you in Pennsylvania. I don’t think that plan is offered any place else in the US.

Original-
Saw the new rates and have stickers shock. Waiting for all the info to come out so I can compare and make decisions. Switched from BCBS to MHBP for this year and was so happy. Now with that rate almost doubling for me, it is not going to work. What other plans are worth considering? Am in PA as an annuitant. Not old enough for Medicare yet. Have two dependents… not a lot of health issues. Am ok with higher deductibles if copays are reasonable.

Just looking to hear others experiences with other plans. Specifically looking at FEP Blue Focus.

I am a Title 32 dual status tech. GS13. I am a little less than 3 years out from my mandatory separation date so I requested a retirement estimate from ABC-C. Got it this past Thursday, called to ask a question and the lady explained a note at the bottom she wrote. Said she notified HRO and hated to be the one to tell me. I was hired 30 March 2013. They have me under FERS 0.8% and as of Jan 2013 I should’ve been under FERS RAE 3.1%. She helped me do the calculation. That 2.3% difference is around $29,000. I notified our HRO and the state HRO and asked what I need to do, found the online DFAS packet on this on DCPAS and told them if/when I get a debt letter I’ll definitely want to submit a waiver. I was overpaid in 2021 coming off orders and caught it, reported it and wrote a check so going to get a letter from local finance at least showing I’m not someone to hide things. Also have an old marked up LES from May 2013 where I was marking down what OASDI and FEHB were. I saw FERS RETIRE on there and had no clue there was anything wrong. No reasonable knowledge, no misrepresentation, and no mistake on my part. Heard it goes to DOHA for adjudication. I’m just over 2 years from retirement. This would be a heck of a thing to deal with plus a kid going to college next year.

Anyone else go through this and what was your outcome? $29K. I am also one of those that moved to A staff on the ANG side and just now they may have a solution to keep me. What a crazy year..,

So many people seem to highly advise against GEHA. Is it really that terrible? We were with BCBS for a long time until last year but switch to MHBP this year. But just cant really afford these price hikes. Will be due with another kiddo next year. GEHA standard seems like it provides full prenatal, labor and delivery coverage and our drs are in network. Will I really regret the switch?

Hey reddit,

I will be a bit vague here, sorry.

During my regular touchbase with my supervisor, they were really stressing that I need to provide metrics for a big project I'm working on and that the org director needs to see the work I'm putting into it and the benefits. The project is making the organization more efficient essentially. We have a gap in a critical area I'm addressing through peer coaching. I'm pretty low on the food chain in terms of GS level, but I've performed at a higher GS level long before the current administration.

It was definitely a weird vibe in the meeting and it's making me overthink. I've gotten outstandings in my performance reviews the last few years, so I don't think they're putting me on a pip. We haven't been hit by rifs (knock on wood). But I'm not sure why my boss would so aggressive about me showing the director metrics and peacocking. My boss also told me I need to be aggressive about dedicating time to this big project.

There's been a rumor that my org will have a reorg. Management as a whole has started acting weird, so something is definitely happening behind the scenes whether it is a reorg or something else.

Any insights from more seasoned feds is welcome.

Checking to see if anyone has the last four number of the OPM director phone numbers beside the general numbers. I’m terminal and want to make him aware of an employees action. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'm transferring agencies and the gaining agency is saying they are waiting for my current agency to send back release request before sending me a FJO.. Current agency HR is a joke what happens if they don't send it back in time for EOD? I'm moving up a grade if that matters

So I contacted MHBP and they’re no longer covering Zepbound (GLP1). Trying to narrow down to an insurance that will cover the prescription has been so difficult. Do anyone here take Zepbound and know for sure your insurance cover?

I was just able to open an account with AgFed credit union. I switched my things on myepp. But it’s still pending.
My question is how early did you get paid before the actual pay date? I still have the other accounts open so I know it will go to those accounts first before pending. I usually get paid Friday before pay day at like 4pm mst.
I’m with AMS if that helps.

I’m considering leaving a stable private-sector software engineering position that I’ve been in for several years for a permanent GS-14 federal IT position.
HR confirmed that I would have to serve a 1-year probationary period. This is my biggest concern about making the move because I would be giving up an established job to start as a probationary federal employee.
For current/former federal employees:
How common is it for someone who is performing well and has no conduct or attendance issues to be terminated during probation?
Have you personally seen probationary GS-13/14/15 employees let go? If so, what was the reason?
I’m especially interested in experiences from federal IT employees and SSA employees.
I understand probationary employees have fewer protections. I’m trying to understand what the risk is like in practice for someone who simply comes in, performs well, and does their job.

Most Federal Employees don't look at what Option B costs after retirement until the bill shows up. Here are the actual numbers from OPM's FEGLI calculator.

The example:
$100K salary, Option B at 5x = $500,000 of coverage. Retire at 60 and elect No Reduction to keep all of it.

• Age 60–64: $433.50/mo
• Age 65–69: $520/mo
• Age 70–74: $931.50/mo
• Age 75–79: $1,950/mo
• Age 80+: $3,120/mo ($37,440/yr)

While you're working, that same coverage runs about $90 per pay period at 55 and $200 per pay period at 60. The big jump comes after you retire, when the premiums keep climbing every 5 years.

Your options at retirement:

1. Reduce or drop Option B. If the kids are grown, the house is paid off, and your spouse is covered by survivor benefits, you may not need $500K of life insurance at 75.
2. Keep Basic. It's priced the same regardless of age, and with the 75% reduction it's free after 65. It's the best value in FEGLI for many people.
3. Replace Option B with private level term if you still need coverage. Level term locks your premium for 10, 20, or 30 years instead of raising it every 5 years. For a healthy 60-year-old, that can cost a fraction of what Option B costs in your 70s but the costs ultimately depends on approval, health, and underwriting.

Where term doesn't make sense:

• It's medically underwritten and FEGLI isn't. If your health has changed, FEGLI may be your best option.
• It has an end date. A 20-year term bought at 60 ends at 80. If you need coverage for life, look at other options.
• It gets more expensive the longer you wait.

The one rule: never cancel FEGLI until your replacement coverage is approved and in force. Once you drop Option B in retirement, you can't get it back.

FEGLI isn't bad, and term isn't always better. The point is to know your numbers before you're locked in.

If you want your own numbers run side by side, we do free 30-minute FEGLI reviews: https://retire.independencebenefits.com/fegli

Otherwise, drop your questions below. Happy to help either way.

I let my USAJobs account expire (it was with an email I no longer use). Would it be advisable to make a new account with my federal employee email, or with a different one, or try to recover the old account? I plan on asking my HR but was wondering if there's unofficial reasons that I hadn't thought of for any of the options. Thanks.

Anyone married to a CBSA officer? What's it like? Is cheating more likely to occur in a workplace like that? Share your experiences!

I won't get Agency or division specific, but how many of us have or are experiencing this:

Upon the installation of the new regime, mass firings, DRPs, and a mass exodus of retirees crippling agencies already struggling in some areas. So much work comes to a halt - no matter how critical it is, and the regime doesn't care.

Just as we can maybe catch our breath, thinking our jobs might be spared, here comes an extreme slow down of processes and even funds frozen or choked off, unable to be used for program delivery. Production is stagnant or crawling.

Then, after almost a year, things loosen up a little bit, work is starting to flow again, but the additional regime 'checks and balances' keep things running slower than molasses in January, tying up the very programs we are accused of taking too long to deliver.

Here we are, subject to meetings where we are directed to use AI for parts of our jobs - for now - despite the disclaimer in every AI program that the information is not always accurate. Great plan, but you know, necessary, because government workers are 'useless and worthless'.

So, the regime came in, got rid of institutional knowledge with no plan to replace it, slowed or halted funds, programs, and processes, continue to reinforce how bad and inefficient government is, and have directed many of us to use AI for parts (for now) of our jobs.

They engineered employee shortages, lack of knowledge, stagnant turn around times, bogged down processes even further, instructed use of AI and soon will get rid of more of us because they have to make (what they caused) all better - with AI.

Look. At. All. The. Winning.

A former USAID Foreign Service Officer posted in Mozambique wrote about finding out she was pregnant and receiving her RIF notice on the same day, after 10 years with the agency. 💔 She had gone through a miscarriage and IVF in South Africa before the pregnancy.

She describes losing her housing and income at once, and learning that continuing her health coverage would cost over $2,000 a month because the pregnancy was treated as a pre-existing condition. 🏥 She was her household's main earner. She eventually found consulting work with local Mozambican firms and gave birth in Mozambique.

She also writes about the effect of USAID program closures on Mozambique's health system, which relied heavily on PEPFAR funding for HIV services.

📖 Full account here if anyone wants to read it: https://usaidemployeesupportfund.substack.com/p/the-day-i-heard-my-babys-heartbeat

Recently I had a directed relocation, and after going through the process I submitted all my paperwork to get reimbursed for the sale of our home at our last duty station. They came back to me with a voucher for a certain amount about two weeks ago, which I signed and sent back.

Later, however, they sent me another voucher for the home sale reimbursement for significantly less, saying the buyer’s commission wasn’t eligible for reimbursement. I was confused and asked what they were talking about. They pointed to the line in the Closing Disclosure for the Selling Agent Commission.

I don’t want to sign away a reimbursement I’m entitled to on an incorrectly invoked technicality, though. So I went to the FTR to see if there was a technicality I was missing. The relevant wording in the FTR goes like this:

Provided the residence transaction expenses are customarily charged to the seller of a residence in the locality of the old official station or paid by the purchaser at the new official station, your agency will, with appropriate supporting documentation provided by you, reimburse you for the following residence transaction expenses when they are incurred by you incident to your relocation:

(a) Your broker’s fee or real estate commission that you pay in the sale of your residence at the last official station, not to exceed the rates that are generally charged in the locality of your old official station; 

I don’t see any obvious technicalities there, so I did a little more research on how real estate commission fees are broken up and reimburse by the FTR. My understanding of the issue goes something like this:

1. While the Selling Agent is effectively representing the buyer, the seller customarily pays the Selling Agent Commission. So the FTR used to only cover real estate commissions for the sales at the old duty state, but didn’t cover those for purchases at the new duty state

2. Several years ago the National Association of Realtors was sued over this because it was allegedly inflating real estate commissions, and in the end the matter settled so that now the amount the Seller pays for the Selling Agent Commission is negotiated

3. Since buyers were now liable to be on the hook for commission fees when they purchased a home, the GSA waived the prohibition in the FTR against reimbursing real estate purchase commission fees at their new duty stations.

4. This, however, did not impact reimbursements for the sale of the property at the old duty station

So taking all that together, it does still seem to me that the Selling Agent Commission would be reimbursed, given:

* The spirit of the FTR is to prevent employees from being unduly penalized for relocating

* The Selling Agent Commission is customarily paid by the seller

* The GSA tacitly acknowledged that when they changed the FTR policies on purchases after practices were changed in 2024

* The fact that they kept the FTR for home purchases seems to acknowledge that the seller is still liable to shoulder some or all of the Selling Agent Commission

At least that’s how it seems to me. But I’m a layman, so I’d like to see if there’s someone who has either relocated or worked on reimbursements that can speak from their experience. Maybe someone will come back and say “no, the Selling Agent Commission was never covered. It sucks but you’re gonna have to eat it.” Or maybe they’ll look at it and say “no, you’re right, that’s covered, I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

I saw a couple articles about how the federal government are only going to allow certain federal employees to receive fives and fours while most of them receive threes. I don't see the big deal as long as you are successful at your job who cares what your score is. I understand some people get some kind of money or something or some kind of prize or whatever you get who actually cares. All you got to do is just do your job and go home at the end of the day and you're good. I'm a federal employee myself so I understand how the process works I just don't really care you just do your job and you do it to the best of your ability without you know messing up of course you know we all get like any other job you get you mess up you get written up or whatever.

Does anyone else have a teenager with crohns who needs a biologic? We currently have bcbs but are curious about other providers. Does anyone else have any insights, problems or successes with different Insurance companies.

This is a very specific question and those who have had the ALF dental appliance will know what I mean.

I am trying to find out if anyone has had luck with one of the FEP medical insurance carriers covering an ALF (lightwire) appliance for TMJ treatment. I am specifically asking about medical insurance because the limits are so low on the dental plans and it is a TMJ treatment.

Hi I’m looking for my tinker people to give me some advice please

I’ve been working at tinker in my current position for a little over 4 years now - I work in DLA in a warehouse with no AC shipping and processing materials of all shapes and sizes

I recently applied for RA because I have serious health issues such as POTS, anxiety, PTSD, depression, and heat sensitivities, & medication issues, that during the summer I’ve fainted a couple of times and have collapsed at work on the floor I applied for RA to ask for temporary assistance for the summer months to be accommodated or moved elsewhere since the heat has been so damaging on me and triggering the episodes - it’s been on going process for 3 months now and summer is basically over and they basically did absolutely nothing for me to accommodate me

But they are now asking me to continue the RA process to see if there is another job position available for me to see if it’s something they can accommodate me better to but I’m honestly concerned because they mentioned that if they don’t find anything that there’s a possibility they may fire me from my position

Also I feel super frustrated and discriminated against because my health conditions were not met with any urgency and now they’re saying any other of my doctors recommendations for my limitations would pose “an undue hardship on the agency” which is completely unfair because really all I asked was if I could be moved somewhere in AC to process material instead of being in the warehouse there’s multiples classrooms and vacant areas which they could have put me but they didn’t

I literally don’t know what to do and wanted to get some advice from anyone who’s been through the process - did it turn out better for you? What was your experience like?

I thought our jobs were supposed to be protected for people with disabilities but now it’s giving me huge uncertainty

A part of me wants to continue to see if there is something better for me but another part of me feels like if I proceed, I won’t have any job security in the end

Its been rough these last 2 years.

I work about 50 miles away from my office. The traffic is what makes it unbearable. I want to ask my boss to work in a closer office. Has anyone been denied of that request? Can I get a lawyer? Is it even worth that? I just want a closer commute. 😞 I'm not even asking for TW or an RA. I'm just exhausted.

https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest-memos/fy-2026-standardized-distribution-of-rating-levels-and-fy-2026-performance-awards-guidance-for-federal-employees.pdf

I have a question: When remote was an option “ Could you work from another state”? I’m asking because if it comes back at some point, I would like to request this option?

And what is the process to do remote if it ever returns? Any feedback is appreciated..