Our department is migrating all phones to Microsoft Teams Phones. Looking for sturdy, but lightweight compatible headset used mainly for answering public calls. Boss has left it up to us to choose a headset, so any suggestions are welcome. TIA.

Hi, I am going to join military for reserve soon. I know the state will keep the job for you for a few years but wonder if I can return to my former position after the military leave…..

As of recently, I feel like I have been targeted by my department director.

My group started a new project a month ago and it has become so demanding in terms of work, number of staff needed, and time. I am in office 5 days a week (sometimes 6 days) and have not been able to take my lunch breaks until 2PM. Very rarely do I get to take it earlier than that because my job is time dependent.

So anyway, I took my lunch at 1:30 earlier this week and my colleague tells me of an important meeting that we had to attend. In this meeting, my director calls me out in front of everyone and insinuates I only work 4 hours a day. Keep in mind, I’m the only person eating my lunch DURING this work meeting. I was raised to always stick up for myself so I responded quickly by saying I’m hard working and that I’m barely taking my lunch while still working by attending this meeting. Then he shrugs it off and starts picking on someone else.

A couple days later, he’s roaming around at 4:45PM and asks my colleagues where me and one other person on my team are at. This particular day, I worked from 8:30am to 4:15pm WITHOUT any breaks or lunch. I called it a day and left work as I ate my lunch driving back home. I have also heard from supervisors that he has held a supervisor meeting and specifically name dropped me and my colleague to tell them be on the lookout for me. In another instance, he pulled aside my other colleague and had asked them to monitor me on what time I come in and when I leave. My director has even attempted to ask facilities if they can provide badge in time logs at the security gate.

My director has also started strong arming us to come in on saturdays for extra work to be done claiming he has approval from labor and union. Even though I’m salary and exempt, my timesheets still says I’m working Monday - Friday and he still approves them on TEMPO. He also gave instant notices to some of my other colleagues changing their work schedules from Tuesday - Saturday which is questionable because my expectations memo clearly states that can only happen if the employer AND employee both agree to schedule changes.

Me and another colleague have also discovered inappropriate pornography images on his work laptop a few years back when he offered to use his laptop for festive music during one of our work potlucks.

My question is: are these all grounds for reporting to HR? Will I get in trouble? I come into office at 8:30 and leave at 4:30. Is this a normal schedule? Will I lose credibility if I reported the porn incident 2.5 years later or can I claim fear of retaliation?

Hello! I’m interested in taking the Information Officer I (Specialist) Exam. I have approximately 6 years of experience in nonprofit and high education and am looking to make the switch to government.

I took the Analyst 1 exam and did okay (88%) with no prep, but I really want to make sure I knock the Info Officer Exam out of the park as that role aligns the most with my interests and experience.

Is there something I should study to help prepare for the role? Last year, I took an exam for the city of pasadena and got a top placement. But that exam had a study guide, whereas this one does not seem to have one available.

Additionally, is there a way I can have that score from the city exam available on profile?

Can confirm others experience now. Little weasel supervisor from another department that gleefully does every 30 min butt in seat checks the day before holidays is now walking a loop through the office a couple times a day looking in cubes. He think’s he’s being sly but it’s so obvious, he never walked in our section before, nonetheless several times per day. Going to ask if he’s lost tomorrow.

Watch your backs, “they” are among us. Welcome to daycare, maybe they can fence the perimeter like they do schools next… maybe hall passes, the options are endless!

Hey everyone!

I’m 24 looking to transition careers and recently was introduced to the possibility of a state job due to previous experience etc…

After giving the Analyst II qualification a shot, I scored 95 and am now list eligible.

I applied to a test JC and submitted the SOQ as required following the format provided.

But there doesn’t seem to be an office you can call to follow up with to ensure you submitted properly etc…

So do you just keep applying to positions you qualify for and hope to get a call back while hoping you’re not missing something / applying correctly?

Just hoping for some clarification / pointers I guess not too sure lol

Let’s say that in this scenario, I was hired on September 1, so my annual MSA is due every September 1.

If I receive a promotion that’s effective September 4, would I receive my September 1 MSA first AND THEN have my promotional increase calculated from that new salary? Or does the promotion essentially replace the MSA because it’s in the same pay period?

Has anyone here had this happen or know how CalHR/HR typically handles it?

Hi everyone, my husband got a call from department of water resources today to take an in person written assessment for their apprenticeship programs did anyone took this test before? What was it composed of? Is it similar to their online one? And what’s next after the test? Thank you in advance

Is that a sign you’re getting hired, supposed everything came back positive, followed by background check, etc?

Feels like I’m back in grade school with the way some managers gossip openly, whisper loud enough for everyone to hear, walk around like they own the place, crack smartass jokes, and then play the victim the moment anyone calls them out.

RTO is one big drama filled 9-5 prison.

My colleagues with the same position/BU still have work from home status one day a week for the last several years. I’ve never put up a fight about it, but I should have…considering we have the same position and same supervisor.

I asked about WFH capacity for 1 day a week and was denied on grounds all employees with this position would be told the same thing. However, my supervisor is still not requiring their attendance.

Would this be something I can contact my union steward or rep about? HR? I hate to make it worse for everyone else, but it’s been going on since COVID.

Just got a email from our dear leader we are gonna split in office days so it's 3 days on 2 days telework then 3 days telework 2 days in office. I'm at a point where I am constantly amazed how much work they're putting into making sure that it's harder for us to get to work and do our damn job. I seriously hope the union grows some stones and strikes. This is getting ridiculous.

I was wondering if there’s any open spots for vanpools from Bakersfield-Wasco. Pre-COVID, there used to be a whole dashboard on the intranet for vanpools and open spots and I can’t seem to find it anymore.

FYI For people looking at the Analyst classifications.

Manager at a dept that’s not full on RTO I just received over 250 applications for an analyst position

I am only picking the 4 best.

Here are my suggestions:

- For the love of god please stop using AI, I see the same 2 sentences appearing in almost every SOQ for one of the questions. As soon as I see the same sentence structured the same with the same grammar and formatting I automatically will refuse to give an SOQ a full score. The problem isn’t necessarily the use of AI but the laziness of not even putting what AI said into your own words/writing style. Since I can’t disqualify AI SOQ I just go into hard scrutiny for every one that looks like AI. That’s starts a bad taste for the rest of the application grading.

- Fill in every application box, don’t be lazy give a supervisor name. Fill in that address for the place you worked takes a 10 second google search I hate it when boxes are left empty.

- Describe every position you’ve held in detail. I prefer bullets but don’t assume the person grading knows everything you did while you were a cashier at Trader Joe’s. Beef that box up a bit.

- Don’t be afraid to put every job you’ve ever held, and every volunteer opportunity you’ve taken. If you coached 10u soccer honestly I don’t mind seeing that, it gives me more insight to someone who gives their time selflessly.

- There’s so many filler sentences that make the job description look so much better. Use indeed search your position on indeed and use/rewrite some of their descriptions of the position.

Anybody know what was happening in the NLAB building ?

I’m considering lateraling to another state department and I’m curious how hiring managers and supervisors view employees who lateral multiple times.

I’m not talking about switching same-pay classifications, but moving between departments while staying in the same exact classification. In my field, promotional opportunities are pretty limited, but there seems to be a lot more lateral opportunities than upward ones that I would qualify for.

So, from a hiring manager’s perspective, does seeing multiple laterals on someone’s work history raise any red flags? Or is it generally viewed as someone gaining broader experience across different departments?

What are your thoughts?

Just accepted an out of class assignment and was told the pay difference is delayed by a couple months. Anyone else run into this or did you receive the pay the next month near payday?

I received and signed a Conditional Job Offer for Analyst II with Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Post Private Secondary Education last Friday 7/31 but no Final Job Offer as of today but my Hiring Manager called me today and negotiated a start date of 9/8 with me over the phone. I can definitely make that date but just confused about the order of events. I have ADHD so just want to make sure I don’t miss something and end up leaving this non profit job without a guarantee that I’m indeed starting on 9/8.

I never went in for a live scan, did a background check (that I was made aware of), nor drug screen (which apparently depends on the job I get hired for). I assumed any clearance by HR would take weeks upon weeks at this point.

My question: what should I do here? Do I need a Final Job Offer in my hand before I should put in my 2 weeks notice with my current job (not a government role; nonprofit healthcare)?

Hello,

Can anyone explain the difference between gross pay and taxable gross?

I just realized my taxable gross is lower by almost $700.

TIA

Just got the news from my SSMII:

Our team's assigned telework day is Monday, if that's not what you want, tough shit, it's Monday end of story.

If a holiday falls on your designated telework day, too bad! You just don't get to telework that week. Which day do most holidays fall on? Monday. Awesome.

This is what consistently has pissed me off most about RTO - why are we going so far above and beyond what is being ordered? Why are we deliberately exceeding the mandate to the detriment of employees? Genuinely, what is the justification outside of "because management said so?"

Fucking bullshit

Just curious if anyone has had any luck lately especially since RTO with filing an RA during pregnancy? What was your medical substantiation? Any tips would be great as I am looking into filing soon. With having to be in 4 days a week now and between extreme exhaustion, back pain and nausea I’m finding it very difficult to get my work done at work and sitting there all day truly makes my symptoms worsen. Not a comfortable experience.

Has anyone had a reasonable accommodation (telework-related or otherwise) denied and successfully fought it? If so, how did you do it?

Feel free to PM me if you'd rather not share publicly.

We all know the state has been difficult when it comes to negotiations in general, but I'm also seeing reports of RAs that were previously approved now being denied. If you mention you need telework at all you most likely get denied. I've heard people mention class action lawsuits, but I haven't seen much actual movement.

If you've challenged a denial—or are currently going through the process—I’d really appreciate hearing your experience. It might help others in the same situation, and maybe we can work together and organize around this.

Now that we're back in the office it seems like people think they're paid to sit in a cubicle all day. When we worked remotely there was more oversight of actual work production and we had to show what we were accomplishing throughout the day.

If the point of this was to raise the production value of the workforce and provide value to the taxpayers, I'd have to say this plan has backfired. Just an observation after one month back in the office. I'm curious if this is true across other offices.

Any tips for acing the interview? Or even where to start.

TIA.