Took a position where I use my TS/SCI as a contractor.
Long story short they’ve been letting me work currently remote but are getting frustrated I haven’t showed up yet but thats because im currently in the middle of trying to buy a house in that area and had some other issues pop up that kinda hassles moving across the area.
Anyway, today they called me and kinda made a threat that if I dont show up by this certain date its not gonna be good for me.
But I guess my question is what can they really even do besides fire me? I’m going to try and just make it work for the short term till I officially move to that area, but with the way they worded it they made it sound like they could take away my clearance / ■■■■ me over heavy.
I guess they could admin debrief you… and somebody else on here seemed to indicate that was not a good thing. But they’d kinda be shooting themselves in the foot as nobody wants to do that if they don’t have to. Hard enough to find cleared folks these days.
But I wouldn’t ignore them completely… better make at least a short-term appearance if that’s possible. My two cents (not adjusted for inflation)
I’m not sure I’ll be able to make an appearance. I’m currently stuck looking for one of my animals that got out in a whole different city like 3+ hours away.
Couldn’t I just outright quit to get away from the situation? I would like the job don’t get me wrong, but I’ve gotten plenty of offers as of late as like you said people need cleared people. Its just a crap situation where ive had some hiccups.
You need to prioritize and set expectations with one or the other. Whichever is more important comes first and the other will just have to take a back seat for a little while. If the house is more important, take time off (paid or unpaid). If the job is more important, tell the bank/homeowner/agent (whoever you need to tell) that you need to schedule house closing stuff around your work hours.
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The house isnt even the main issue. Its the fact one of my animals ran away, and its something I bottle fed since it was 2 days old. I’m hesitant to even leave incase they come back since it just happened last week. I tried telling them this but of course they don’t care. They just want me to fill a seat for them. Hence why after they threatened me verbally I’m curious about what they can even really do. I think more than likely I’ll just end up quitting as no matter what this has left a sour taste in my mouth.
Firing for cause is usually not that cut & dry. It takes time to fire someone. They need to build a case against you. Normally they would start by putting you on a performance improvement program or some such. There is a possibility they can lay you off at a moment’s notice, but that too may have some contract stipulations.
Having said all that, it seems like your personal life is in flux and the job is getting in the way right now. Have you approached HR to ask for special arrangements? Most companies will at least try to work with you. Situations like this may qualify for certain benefits such as FMLA or other unplanned or unpaid time off. If you have any PTO, you can always use that. If your company is being unreasonable and you have a clearance, it should be pretty easy to find a similar job elsewhere and make arrangements with them.
Bottom line: try to set expectations. If they won’t agree to it, then re-evaluate your job situation.
So they’re letting you work remote, with an expectation that you’ll eventually be in-office/onsite? Did they give you any “work remote until this date”?
Edited to add: You have a TS/SCI - I’m guessing you’re not using it very much while remote. Your employer may be thinking, at least in part, that they could put someone else in that billet, if you’re not going to be onsite. Some organizations or programs are very stingy with billets, and they don’t want to give one to someone who isn’t using it.