comp time that's unuseable - vent

[thatgirl2478]

DH works for the Feds in a public serving capacity (he sees clients in his office).  They normally work standard hours 8-4:30, but have always seen clients at other non traditional times by appointment.  It has come down from 'the top' that now they have to have x number of non traditional hours each week/month - including Saturday / Sundays. 

His office only has 2 people (himself and another coworker) who can actively counsel people, so they each have to work one Saturday a month (not a big deal in the vast scheme of things) but that week that they work an extra day they will only get comp time for.  And because they are so thin on counseling staff, he can't ever take PERSONAL leave let alone use his accrued comp time, so at the end of the year he ends up losing it all.

I'm apparently the only one who thinks this is bullshit...  it pisses me off immensely.  But there's nothing that we can do about it because we need his job and he's salaried.  I just hate that the system (that they have never had any complaints about btw) is fucking the workers over again.

[y4m]

Can he not ask what the hiring plans are to prevent this situation?

I agree that comp time isn't a fair payment if you then aren't allowed to actually take it off due to staffing concerns.

[cheezer]

I can't speak about comp time and the ability to use it as I know a lot of industries regularly work more than 40 hours a week and I don't know about comp time with the feds. But he should definitely approach someone about not being able to use his vacation time. That's just ridiculous.

[mlvmd]

Does he put in for leave at the end of the year? If they turn it down they are supposed to be able to carry it over (lots of paperwork involved in this). Or is there unwritten pressure not to request the time so they don't have to justify the carryover? I'm surprised that HR hasn't noticed the amount of use or lose being lost and asked for an explanation. That's often something that is monitored and questioned.

[thatgirl2478]

He does put in for time off. And it's sometimes granted. They are automatically able to carryover x amount of leave, but not comp time and he's already maxed out his personal leave because for a long time (2 ish years) he was the ONLY counselor in the office.

Supposedly they've posted and interviewed for an additional counselor, but who knows when that's going to be approved.