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Here Is Your Chance to Save Money: A Virtual Suggestion Box

Windshield Assignments

Fiscally Responsible Fed
Somewhere
Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:26 AM

Post Reply

As a former employee of USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service, I can suggest that this agency be examined closely for inefficiencies. To be fair, FSIS is burdened by the "carcass-by-carcass" inspection requirement for slaughter, and "daily" inspection requirement for meat and poultry processing plants. However, it is well known that there are people that "game the system" to "drive up" mileage reimbursements to supplement their incomes, and there are also numerous assignments, both inspection and veterinary, in the boondocks where inspectors sometimes show up and the plant has finished operations for the day. Some veterinarians find reasons to visit plants every day, even though they may not be called by the inspector to examine a carcass and make a "final determination." These situations are commonly known as "windshield assignments," because the inspector/veterinarian spends more time behind the windshield than in the plant. Veterinarians could be employed on a part time basis in these cases, or "on call" and not report unless the inspector calls the veterinarian on a suspect animal. Likewise, if Congress changes the law to allow risk based inspection rather than daily inspection, then visits to plants in outlying areas can be based on risk. FSIS already has data developed regarding plant profiles and risk. All that is needed is a change in the law to allow less than daily inspection in processing, and other creative solutions for slaughter (carcass-by-carcass) inspection and the priorization of veterinary presence in inefficient assignments. Finally, the law is such that FSIS can not regulate plant efficiency, so if a plant chooses to slaughter only 8 cattle over an 8-hour period and is "isolated," it requires the presence of a GS-9 inspector full time, and veterinary presence to examine any carcass the inspector does not "pass." Certainly there is plenty of room for improvement in operations of an inspection program that has remained essentially the same for over 100 years.

Re: Windshield Assignments

Immigration Officer
USCIS
Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:53 PM
Here's one for you, not to knock you or the FSIS, but exactly how many different agencies do we need involved in food inspection anyhow? We have several departments involved as it is, all with differing mandates, and different rules that they enforce. Why not streamline them all into one agency similar to how Customs and Border Protection was consolidated?

Re: Windshield Assignments

Border Patrol Agent
U.S. Border Patrol
Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:33 AM
I don't think I have ever heard anyone EVER say you should reorganize just like DHS. There is no better example of how not to do things than the DHS. In fact you could cut our budget in half if you did away with our 20 layers of management all on detail to somewhere and while you are at it you can do away with the six or seven special interest details for programs that do nothing more than produce news papers, web pages, monthly magazines, and whatever the hell else all the people who don't want to do our actual job do.

Re: Windshield Assignments

Fiscally Responsible Fed
Somewhere
Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:45 AM
YES, that's a good idea.

It has been surfaced time-and-time again. However, for all the components that have a piece in food inspection, there is a committee and a bunch of Congressmen and -women that have "turf" that they won't easily give up.

That is the main reason things haven't changed for 100 years. Do you expect that this Democratic Congress will be any different?

If you think BO can convince Congress to make this change, good luck. The concept has already been given new life, but it probably will not grow any legs.

Terminal Sick Leave

Civil Servant
DOD
Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:34 AM

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"Terminal Sick Leave" is something I have seen in some agencies--people with about 30 years of service and 2,000 hours of sick leave all of the sudden have an illness and are unable to report to work at all, use up all their accumulated sick leave, and retire.

Yes, there is usually some form of medical documentation but a close examination of it frequently would cause one to ask if the situation was really disabling or not. In my former agency, I raised this phenomenon to LER when I heard a District Manager (GS-15) announce he may take terminal SL when he had a medical problem arise (he's still on the job, however).

The example is offered to demonstrate the cavalier attitude toward the use Terminal Sick Leave in this agency. My inquiry was ignored. Managers approve but never follow up on long term SL taken just before retirement.

Accountability for close scrutiny of such requests could ensure people use SL for its intended purposes, and don't abuse it at tax payers' expense.

Re: Terminal Sick Leave

Occupatonal Safety Specialist
Bureau of Prisons
Fri Jun 5, 2009 9:06 AM
For you to think that the 2 million or so government employees are going to "donate" their "earned" sick leave, is laughable. When the executive staff are using Terminal Sick Leave, you can bet your butt that the staff below the executives are going to use theirs as well. The system is flawed and needs to be fixed. Add the hours to our retirement and maybe people wont use up their leave before retirement. You my friend will never get anywhere with this arguement. If it is on the books, I have the right to use it. Lets fix the problem, or I will be using my Terminal Sick Leave as well.

Suggestion Box

LSR
VA
Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:07 AM

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I think a "suggestion box" is laughable. Here at the VA, we have a suggestion box and people use it. We get feedback on those suggestions: down to the last one, management has found some way to say NO to each and every one. Why should the Executive Branch be any different? Just another way to blow smoke up our skirts.

Re: Suggestion Box

PSA
VA
Thu Jun 4, 2009 12:38 PM
Wow...you hit the nail on the head. This has been, without fail, exactly our experience at this VA. My co-workers and I came up with 12 different ways to save money here. Every single idea was shot down for one reason or another. So we all gave up. A 'why bother' attitude permeates our hospital.

As a Marine veteran, I came here with high hopes of "serving my country further" and "being an agent of change." Now, however, I just come to work, do my duties, and leave promptly at closing time.

Re: Suggestion Box

LPN Primary Care Camp Hill,Pa. nurse 1986.
VA
Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:35 PM
my most favorite is to hold lots of meetings to figure out how to mange the nursing shortage to find out later our director who has an engineering degree and new, hired too many folks to do medical transcriptin/dictation/billing and coding, 35 I am told and nursing has been taking a beating ever since, morale is at a long time low, the nurses that don't care about quality of care are doing just fine. Providers are asked to take care of additional patients beyond their scope of practice because there is no monies to replace the one that retied. Of course the providers manipulating the system are doing just fine. We have lost some of our finest doctors because of mismangement and the good'old boys network. Providers are brought back from retirement to give care, paid big bucks as an incentive and some are doing a half ass job. Our new chief made it clear she does not want to be interupted and keeps her door closed.New providers are lacking VA computer skills,thrown to the dogs.
Susan

NSPS

Financial Program Analyst
DON
Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:09 AM

Post Reply

We have converted to NSPS now for a full cycle. It does not seem to be any more fairer than the prior system and is costing the government more. Being under NSPS also takes us away from our work load at least 2 days per year doing self assessments then Supervisors must write their assessments so not only is it wasting days of work that has to be caught up , it's a system that is a very costly one and from our pay pool outcome, the average to poor employees still are getting the valued employee rating as it takes more effort to give an inferior rating.

VERA

VERA
US DOE
Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:14 AM

Post Reply

My suggestions is to lower the early retirement qualifications. Currently it's "any age" "25 years". Change to "any age" and "20 years".
Many like myself will opt out early.

Re: VERA

Diversity Manager
DOL
Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:56 PM
And that does what for the taxpayers?? what should happen is no retirement until a minimum age of 62

Re: VERA

Engineer
DOD
Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:35 AM
I agree with the origional post. Early retirement would open up job slots for the currently unemployed.
The more people employed, results in more money spent and more tax dollars gererated, which both stimulate the economy and reduce the deficit.

In addition, an early retirement would reduce the retirment annuity. Less annuity means the goverment retains more money which can go toward reducing the deficit.

Save Federal dollars

retired
retired
Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:22 AM

Post Reply

Privatize TSA. There is absolutely no reason for these jobs to be filled with federal employees and now they will be given union representation! Federal employees stationed at the checkpoints do not make the flying public safer. TSA is nothing more than a Bush era kneejerk reaction.

Re: Save Federal dollars

Immigration Officer
USCIS
Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:50 PM
AMEN! Unfortunately that seems to be all the Congress is good at anymore, kneejerk reactions to situations that don't really exist.

Be sure to pack your shampoo in your checked bags, don't want terrorists getting ahold of it and washing the hair of the flight crew!

Re: Save Federal dollars

Retiree
Retired
Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:53 PM
Abolish TSA.

That would be a double savings. Besides not paying for TSA, we would also get rid of the harm they are doing to the economy as part of their self-serving efforts to make their agency seem important.

employee suggestion program

materials handler
us forest service
Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:31 AM

Post Reply

how can I find out where my agency's employee suggestion program is located at? I do have some suggestions for cost cutting.

Re: employee suggestion program

Civil Servant
DOD
Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:41 AM
Usually your HR office, and the folks that handle "awards and recognition"
in that office would coordinate the employee suggestion program.

In some cases, the agency may have a form so that basic information is included in all suggestions made.
Total Comments: 89
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