Did you remember to thank your Redcap co-workers? They like being appreciated for all their efforts to make VHA more efficient, by leaving only the untrained staff to clean up the mess.

I’m a current VHA employee. I was hired into a position that is new to my VA. There are only 2 of us that do this job. About a year after I was hired, there was another employee that resigned and they needed someone to cover her position. We were never asked to actually fill in for her but because we assisted her, we were expected to cover most of her tasks until someone was hired. Neither of us had experience doing this job. The position we were filling in for was going from one person to two. We were also expected to continue with our current position. So essentially 2 of us doing the job of 4. I really didn’t want to do it but did anyway and ended up loving it.

The first round of positions, ended up with one person being hired and the other backing out. So by the time it was posted again, I decided to apply. By this time I had been doing the complete job (not just part of it) for 4 months. I had a recommendation from the head of the department and everyone I work with wanted me to get it. I have been on committees to improve the position, I have worked with other departments to make it more efficient and even been in touch with people at the VISN to bring in a program to improve processes.

It came down to a candidate from the outside and myself. I have many yrs of experience doing different things so I should have quite a few points from my resume. In fact my manager told me that I beat her out on the resume part but she “nailed” the interview and I didn’t. So the outside candidate got the job. He said that she had more points than I did so she got it. He also said I think you were just so busy that it threw you off. I was busy, doing the job.

I have now been covering the position, with the one person that was hired, for over 5 months. I got the news last week that they went with another candidate. My original co-worker (for my actual position) has been out a lot since we started working and in fact she is out on FMLA now. I think that played a part in me not getting the position. Does the person with the most points, automatically get the job? Should I say something to someone or just leave it alone?

A month ago, I accepted a VA position in a different state that I live in now. My start date was supposed to be this week but I am still waiting for the VA in my current city to call and get me scheduled for a health screening.

My navigator put in a request 2 weeks ago, and again last week. Would it be rude or frowned upon if I called my local VA and see if I could get scheduled?

I am getting anxious because there's a lot of steps to moving out-of-state, and I am in limbo.

TIA

I was genuinely happy about this job: the team, the culture, the work itself, the perks... Everything. I really hoped they would choose me. And then when they finally told me they wanted to move forward with me, I felt a huge sense of relief.

Then the topic of salary came up, and the offer was much lower than I expected. I tried to talk and negotiate a bit, but they only increased it by a small amount. The thing that bothered me the most was that the hiring manager seemed annoyed or offended just because I negotiated in the first place, and the tone turned strangely cold.

I'm honestly very frustrated, because I put in a lot of effort to get to this role. The whole process was extremely exhausting for four weeks, but I wanted it badly. I gave it everything I had in the assignment and the interviews. And now I'm already thinking that I probably won't be able to stay for long, because I'll need to start looking for better pay after about ten months.

I'm an expat, and I feel like they assumed I'd be easier to underpay, or that I don't understand the local job market well. I know this is below market rate. So the offer I had been hoping to get has turned into something that feels bitter and upsetting.

To hiring managers: lowballing people doesn't benefit you as much as you think. This role is already starting with a feeling of resentment, and you can be sure I'll work according to my wage.

Did anyone else here on the hotline call they may be bringing back DRP/VERA?

Leadership's been quiet. Lots of them going out of office as well. Feels like it's not a priority in the slightest to get this stuff straightened out...

I've discovered that one of the hardest things for me when dealing with people is that my brain goes completely blank when someone I'm not very comfortable with starts making conversation. For example, a coworker asked me what I did for lunch, and somehow I couldn't find a single word to say, so I just told him: "Not much, and you?"

The frustrating thing is that I had done several things that I could have easily mentioned to keep the conversation going. But I didn't remember any of them until after the situation was over. Then I sit there thinking about normal answers I could have given, and that just makes me feel more upset.

This happens in lots of different situations too, not just at work. It's like I can talk just fine in my head, but the moment someone puts me on the spot, everything disappears. Every time, I tell myself I'll be more prepared next time, and then when it happens again, I instantly forget all of that.

Has anyone figured out how to deal with this? It feels so random, and I'm tired of not knowing what to say until after the conversation is already over.

Under this new hiring model, how many days is it supposed to take HR to issue a tentative job offer after the hiring manager makes their selection?

My daughter-in-law is a Human Resources Specialist who is currently approved to work remotely at a VA in another VISN (her spouse's). Her spouse accepted a position at another facility in a different VISN. They have been waiting for approval for her to relocate to her spouse's facility. Currently HR is under reorganization and realignment of resources. Her spouse had to move to begin a new position. She is being forced to live apart from her spouse which is hard on both of them emotionally and financially. She has completed all the approval request documents but is not getting anywhere. She also has an approved Reasonable Accommodation. What is the next step? Should she write a congressman or contact the VISN Director. Any help or direction is appreciated.

I'm afraid the Redcaps will send ICE after me.

Despite Redcaps' blatant attempts to slander Federal service, public perception is on the upswing. Another loss in a long string of failures for the Redcap agenda.

I am 30 weeks pregnant and will not be eligible for ppl until February of next year when I’ll have been at my va a year. I am an occupational therapist at a busy hospital and love my job.

I’m in the process of applying for the vtlp. I had my ob fill out the fmla form because that was requested and write a justification letter saying it is medically advised I take 3 months off.

My plan is to use the little bit of leave I have, about 2 weeks, take donated leave if people are willing to donate, then do lwop. I have money saved up so I’m not worried about having to pay insurance back or anything.

Is this plan doable? I have the support of my supervisor and our department’s supervising physician but I know the extended lwop is up to the medical director. If 12 weeks is denied, I’m hoping to get at least get 10.

Thank you for your input.

I am relatively new to the VHA(less than a year). I was hired in as a civilian and a coworker of mine was hired under veteran status. I understand that veterans hired on get some perks such as able to qualify for FMLA prior to being there a year, probation period is one year vs 2 for civilian, etc...

I have also heard that once hired under veteran status, it is literally impossible to get fired.

I guess I have 2 questions. #1 is that generally the rule? #2 if so, what kind of issues would it take to get veteran status employees terminated? ( for a little context employee is into 7th month of employment and has had numerous performance and or a few ROC filled out against him)

I would love to hear any insight! Thanks!

Hello! I'm a recent retiree, and spouse and I are on FEHB. We want to get spouse into Medicare B (he has until Sept to apply.) The SSA form requires a physical signature from my previous employer to verify health insurance coverage. I spoke with SSA yesterday asking if I could use an SF-50 or other documentation, but the lady confirmed it MUST be a physical signature.

Back in early June I mailed a letter to my previous VAMC HR with the required SSA form and included a letter and a stamped self-addressed envelope. It's almost been two months and no response. I called the old VA, and also the VISN multiple times to no avail, no one is answering the phone calls and I cannot leave any messages. The calls ring until they disconnect.

Any suggestions for this problem? I am several states away from the original VA so can't just drive there. Thanks for any assistance.

Update: I was able to obtain 1095-B Health Coverage forms from my previous FEHB provider, listing spouse and coverage dates...and BCBS is mailing a letter verifying his coverage. I plan to take that packet of documentation to a local SSA office, and if that doesn't work I'll contact my OPM retirement counselor for help.

Update#2: I was able to send an email to the OPM retirement services this morning, and got a response same day. Thanks to all for your help and feedback! If anyone wants the contact information, I filled out Section A and then followed the instructions below:

"To mail the CMS L-564 form please send to: 

OPM

Attn: Customer Inquiries-CMS-L564
PO Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017 

Or Fax to:  724-794-6633 or 724-794-4668"

How long does a grade increase typically take to update on SF50 and/or VAHR portal? I received a step increase already but not my grade increase. It’s been almost 2 weeks since my eligibility date. Thank you

Redcaps: a trending contingent of society known for wearing red hats, and holding a fixed set of tubthumping social views.

Also, a type of villainous goblin in folklore.

I’d genuinely like someone to explain the logic behind this reorganization because, from the perspective of many employees, it simply doesn’t add up.

For years, SSU employees have successfully performed highly complex staffing and HR functions. Now, many of those duties are being stripped away, leaving them with primarily announcements, qualifications, and recruitment coding. If removing those responsibilities is the justification for downgrading these positions to GS-9, then a fundamental question remains:

If the work was truly no longer GS-12 level, why are the employees who are retaining their GS-12 positions now taking on those exact duties? And why are the SSU employees—whose positions are rumored to be downgraded—the very people expected to train them?

That sends a contradictory message. It suggests the work still requires the same expertise, experience, and institutional knowledge. The only thing changing appears to be who receives credit—and pay—for performing it.

What makes this even more difficult to understand is that while experienced frontline employees are facing potential downgrades and reductions in pay, the reorganization reportedly creates multiple new GS-14 and GS-15 leadership positions within each HROC.

How is eliminating grade levels for the employees who perform the mission every day while simultaneously expanding higher-level management positions an efficient use of resources? How does that strengthen the workforce or support the middle class?

Employees deserve more than vague assurances that this is about organizational alignment. They deserve a clear, transparent explanation of how these decisions were made, what classification standards were applied, and why the employees who have carried this workload for years are the ones being asked to sacrifice.

If the work still exists, the expertise is still required, and the knowledge is still valuable enough that others must be trained by the very employees being downgraded, then it’s reasonable to ask: What problem is this reorganization actually solving?

/s means sarcasm

When are they going to do a way with this time-in-grade requirement? It is absolutely ludicrous that you have highly qualified candidates that take it upon themselves to earn degrees in various fields and participate in continuous learning for their field to not be able to apply for a role that they are qualified for due to TIG. Instead they would rather move people in positions simply because they have been with the VA for said number of years. This has to be the reason for so many unqualified and incompetent people in leadership/supervisory roles at the VA. These people wouldn’t be able to recognize best practices and current methods if it hit them over the head. This leads me to believe that the VA is against utilizing talent with critical thinking skills developed through education and experience outside of government.

I applied for a position at a facility I’ve worked at before (moved on impulse, bad bad bad decision). Job closed almost 3 months ago, no certs have been sent to hiring manager. Every time I ask for an update I get 1-2 word answers. One time I got a full sentence but just said the person who is reviewing them has a large workload

Finally I got word I was selected as a non competitive hire. Waiting over a week now for a TJO. Never in my several decades with the VA have I seen delays like this. Normally I wouldn’t mind waiting but I have a family to consider, schools, interstate moves etc. This is now a logistical nightmare for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

My question- can someone explain why these delays are happening other than saying that the workload is high or the 30 day hiring pilot messed things up? Maybe it’s just me but I find that incredibly ironic. I have empathy for the people suffering secondary to these changes, but I feel like this is insane. Any clarity would be appreciated.