Shulkin wants to fire pr0n-watching VA employee
The Military Times reports that VA Secretary David Shulkin want to fire a Houston-area VA employee who was busted looking at pr0n while this person was supposed to be treating a veteran.
Because of current federal laws, the employee will receive at least one month’s pay while the appeals process plays out.
Shulkin called that unacceptable.
“This is an example of why we need accountability legislation as soon as possible,” he said in a statement. “Current legislation in Congress reduces the amount of time we have to wait before taking action. I look forward to working with both the Senate and the House to ensure final legislation gives us the flexibility we need.”
In the government office where I worked in a former life, they busted a fellow watching adult material on our network and they fired him immediately, out of a cannon. This seems to me to be a VA problem.
Shulkin is asking Congress to give him the authority to dump the ash and trash at the VA and they should do it sooner rather than later. However, the unions and their minions in Congress will interfere.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
Try it in civilian business…hello parking lot immediately…actually you couldn’t even linger in the parking lot.
And while “technically” illegal, good luck ever getting a job in a related field ever again. Blackballing still very much happens.
Yup, my wife works HR for a huge company (big enough to ruin an Oscar party.) They will never put anything damning in writing for a former bad employee…but the back channels of HR are an interesting dynamic to observe.
Yup. Wife works in an industry that is similar. They are careful with what they put in a HR file when firing someone but let’s just say the HR Departments know each other and have each other on speed dial. When getting hired they always tell you don’t lie on the app because we will find out and they are not kidding.
This story is one of the problems in a nutshell of what the VA is. Special rules that apply nowhere else. How long have we been asking for a cleaning? If the President wants to make some huge brownie points he could do this tomorrow.
It isn’t just a union problem. If you are in a management position, you aren’t allowed to be in the union. Google “Kim Graves” if you don’t recall the name right away. She is the regional office director who should have been fired for stealing from the VA (amongst other things) but she still stalks the halls here in St. Paul. I’ve refused three times to get on an elevator with that slimeball. She even has the gall to lecture us underlings about integrity and accountability. So, as an employee of the VA I will agree that it is a VA thing.
Try it in any workplace with some accountability and you will get shown the door ASAP, and probably have some sexual harassment suit filed on you by a co-worker as well.
No one expects that anyone work every minute of a workday, in gov’t or outside of it. There is office banter, longer-than-permitted lunches and so on. This ain’t that. If you are stupid enough to be watching porn at work, a place where your laptop or pc is not your pc or laptop, then I have to believe that you want to be canned and can’t, for whatever reason, bring yourself to resign.
Congress is too busy watching porn themselves to do anything about this. This jerk off should be brought up on charges right away! Off with his Dick!
I just don’t get this. I don’t understand how it’s impossible to fire someone like this! Or at the VERY least suspend them without pay!
I don’t know the disciplinary procedures within the federal gov’t but it’s always about the personnel rules. Evidently, there are so many safeguards built into the system for employee protection that termination is a protracted process requiring notice, hearing(s), mitigation, review, and appeals. It’s like cap punishment, in a sense. Sure it exists on the books but getting to the needle part takes years.
I wonder what he was watching?
Won’t happen if it was gay porn. Some BS about tolerance and diversity.
They’d give the clown the week off, not charged to their leave balance… WITH PAY!
If an act of Congress is what it takes to be able to fire incompetents, ne’er do wells, lazy folks, and the various other freakazoids currently employed at the VA, could we get on with it? Don’t care who is to blame for it getting this bad, but obviously a bunch of folks need firing. Make it happen, all y’all.
I’m sure his AFGE (American Federation ofl Government Employees) Local will still do all they can to keep him in pay he is while they pull all the chickenshit stunts they can to keep him on the payroll.
We once had a guy tested positive for cocaine, then admitted to doing it multiple times. First time they ever drugged tested the dude on our base in Western Mass. He worked there for 27 years. He was in the process of termination and decided to try to railroad people for his poor mistakes. He appealed which took forever, about 3 months at least. Was still getting paid and lied to his wife about his actions. She actually called up asking if her husband was at work or not.
He ended up fighting the drug test and blamed co workers for his drug use. They actually allowed the dumbass to retire with full retirement pay. This is a guy who signed the TDP and understood the rules.
Nice system, huh?
Also wanted to add, work for the VA here in NCR. We have some psychopaths working here. We got a lady who was fired by the VA in one office, then rehired 3 months later to another department. She is wreaking havoc on the workplace as we speak. Still have yet to terminate her or even give her paperwork.
VA is a jungle.
It’s not condined to the VA. Wife has dealt with this in 2 different companies. Sorry to say it was a black female each time that was turning the entire place into a toxic dump. They were afraid to discipline or fire her because she was a black female and the resultant lawsuit. Finally got rid of one that was charging up a company credit card with hotel rooms to hold trysts with some of the employees but that took a new boss and over a year.
huge difference though jonp, VA at times disregards PPM regulations. Talking federal guidelines being misconstrued and abused.
Those companies got poor leadership’s like the VA though.
Burn it down completely, fire everyone and give the vets a 1 year card to go where they want for medical care. Hire back those that aren’t worthless and make it attached to the DOD with no a union clause. Get rid of the civil service preferential hiring and make it a veteran preferential hiring to those qualified. Let those who have made a career of taking care of service members continue their service. The culture of the VA now is untenable and unacceptable for those of us who have served. Create a mission for the VA, enforce that mission and recoginze and reward those who accomplish that mission. The civil service pukes who hold positions now need to be cleaned out and replaced with people who care.
Civil Service Preferential hiring? That is actually Veteran preference hiring to begin with. VA has a good amount of veterans that work there and let me tell you…some of those Veterans are weasels too. I can tell you from most of the reports I write on VA facilities that some of the VCS workers that are scamming are indeed vets. And from where I work, I seen a lot of lazy vets not helping the cause, they talk a mean game…but they don’t do shit but game the system for extra paycheck. Hell we got people crying hostile workplace when they are the ones causing the issue.
Sure you are right to some point that the old regime is ruining the process. But, making it part of DoD doesn’t really solve the situation and no union clause doesn’t either. Shulkin actually trying to do the right thing but OPM regulations hamstring him from doing anything. There are a positions in VA that are non bargaining positions to begin with.
Its a lot easier to armchair the situation and make these recommendations.
Concur…
The master agreement between the AFGE (union) and the VA states “Prior to considering candidates from outside the bargaining unit, the department agrees to first consider internal candidates for selection … in all cases … first and full consideration shall be given to any best qualified candidates within the facility.” This prevents a veteran from applying for a good position and effectively negates any veteran preference points available if any member of the union in the facility wants the job.
agreement may say that but doesn’t work like that at all. you actually have to have some qualifications to apply for most VA positions with exception of housekeeping and janitorial services. Some guy thought he had a right to my job because he was security forces but I have Emergency Management experience and it went to me. I was a dod outsider and he was already a VA employee in same building. they have priorities but dont have to follow it
That’s why I don’t use the VA…
One bad apple and here we go again. Lol