We received the email yesterday that DCSA is prepping us to go back to in person fieldwork. Anyone have any ideas on just how this is going to work? I have to say, it has been so much easier interviewing sources over the phone as almost 100% of the time they are willing and able to do the interview right away. My hope is that we only have to do in person for subject interviews and records, but that we can be more flexible with doing both in person and telephone fieldwork. One advantage I see to going back into the field is our company will no longer be able to abuse us by flooding us with work all over the country. I for one was getting sick of having enough work to equal a month, and having only two weeks to accomplish the work.
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If they are gonna get us back into the field, they better take back the crapload of work they already assigned to me. I have 50+ cases sitting here with some that I havent touched in weeks because of the other contracts bullsheeet.
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Save it for may 16 when we go back to the field then theyll have to reassign it due to distance.
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You gotta love how they take advantage of us. I thought my 28 cases assigned with 2 weeks to do them was bad enough, but you may have won the prize for most work assigned.
Just got a message - Going back to the field on 5/16 (Monday) - no other details provided. WTF? 2 years and 2 months to āplanā - and there is no plan.
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Im hoping the bright spot will be immediate reassignment of cases that arent iny area for dcsa. Dhs is still from homeā¦for now .
Havenāt heard anything yet. I expect the email to be incoming by the end of the weekā¦
Am I wrong, or didnāt NBIB/DCSA agents start doing T3ās by phone long before covid, assuming there were no C/D issues? Or did I dream that?
What is the guidance on Subjectās who donāt want to meet in person due to Covid concerns?
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Who cares where they live or even if itās true when they say it. But, Iām certain there will b many sources and subjects requesting that because they arenāt vaccinated, they live with a family member undergoing some sort of treatment, they live with an elderly family member, or they have to be COVID tested for some event soon and donāt want to risk a positive result which may spoil their plans. I find it hard to believe āback to the field immediatelyā was/is issued with no guidance on situations like this.
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Guidance is if subjects have a COVID concern, they can request a virtual or phone interview.
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If Subjects are already working at the job location, which most are now, I donāt think fear of Covid will fly. If thereās an option involved for Subjects or sources to choose whether they want in person or phone 95% will choose phone, thus we arenāt really going back to the field.
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Itās definitely going to be tough trying to meet sources in person again. Sources are way more willing to conduct telephone interviews.
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Nope. Not most.
A lot of folks are on contracts with 95-100% telework posture.
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Maybe the private sector, most feds are back.
In person effective 5/16 after working remotely for over 2 yearsā¦and ZERO guidance ā¦what a joke.
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Yes most people will choose convenience of a phone interview and never mention any legitimate COVID concern but it appears from what I am hearing and the guidance out so far is that DCSA and many other agencies will still allow for telephone interviews regardless of COVID concerns and for convenience purposes like they have been doing anyways for the lat two years to cut costs and be timely with the work they are providing. DCSA doesnāt want to go back to a backlog environment.
I am sure that those that have legitimate COVID-19 related concerns will still be allowed to be interviewed by phone but it remains to be seen if it needs to be a legitimate COVID concern and not just because of convenience of the person being interviewed because they donāt want to meet in person because it will take more effort on their part to make themselves available.
I welcome this change wholeheartedly for the sake of better quality investigations and for the sake of national security.
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You continue to spew this narrative that national security has suffered as a result of using the telephone but this is your opinion and not facts. Subjects and sources have been far more candid with me over the phone and I have developed significantly more developed information since being able to interview via telephone. Many of us who actually talk to other FIās (and not just on an online forum) are in agreement about this and that sources in particular are also far more willing to participate via telephone. And how a huge number of people we interview are still working from home because companies have recognized it is a valuable perk to keep good employees, it keeps costs down and often actually increases productivity. Also have you seen the price of gas lately?
One FI mentioned today that he felt the few investigators (likely over age 55) who are so vocal about the importance and necessity of getting back into the field for āthe sake of national securityā are simply doing so for their own personal agenda - need to dress up and feel important, like flashing their badge, are so programmed as a Baby Boomer to believe itās not truly work if done at home, need space from the spouse and kids, hate sitting at home on the phone, etc etc etc. DING, DING, DING!
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When I read the thread title, Iāll that goes through my head is N2Deepās, āBack to the Hotel.ā
Depends on the agency.
A lot of Feds are on majority telework posture as well.
Has anyone at CACI actually received any official guidance on going out into the field? We got the email a week or so ago stating that this was our ānoticeā that we would be returning to the fieldā¦but nothing since then. I have heard from friends in other companies that the date is Monday and we are going in the field (my supervisor still thinks it will be mostly by telephone). It is all speculation with no official word. Some of us need more than a 24 hours notice. What about all the appointments I have already made for next week? I donāt see how this is financially advantageous to CACI to keep us all in the dark.
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