NTEU  Chapter 301 President Gary Denison submitted the following editorial opinion. 

Ground Hog Day – OCC Redux

Do you remember the movie Ground Hog Day starring Bill Murray?  The movie is about a weatherman, who finds that he is living the same day over and over again.   It is a great comedy classic that you can easily rent to enjoy a good chuckle. 

The OCC has it own version of Ground Hog Day in which the same scenario keeps being played repeatedly.  Unfortunately, in this story there is no comic relief, and the ending is often very tragic.  The OCC version of Ground Hog Day begins late in an employee’s career.  The employees have usually put in many years of dedicated service to the organization, often missing out on  anniversaries, birthdays, games, plays, etc.; because they were out of town on an assignment and spending their time in a hotel room instead of enjoying these events.  The employees have rarely complained about such, acknowledging (for better or worse) that it is just a part of the job.  In fact, such employees believe that their family and the organization appreciate their dedication and that they will be appropriately rewarded for their hard work and ethos.

However, late in their career an event beyond their control can happen.  A large bank merger occurs, a number of other banks disappear, a new manager arrives, and/or a crisis on which they had been working finally abates.  Regardless of the reason, employees suddenly find  themselves in a situation where they are no longer needed in a particular location. 

As one Senior Deputy Comptroller often says, “If this were Bank of America, we would simply get rid of the employee.”  Fortunately, we are not a 100,000 employee strong organization like BAC, but a much smaller organization.  We can’t afford to treat our employees like they are disposable assets…or at least we didn’t use to.  However, according to several senior OCC executives, the agency is bending over backwards for these employees.  Management provides them with “an accommodation” by allowing them to go into the OCC’s Resource Group (aka Resource Cadre) for a period of up to three years. 

So exactly what does an employee who goes into the Resource Group do for the agency?  Well, it is pretty much a given that you will rarely see work in your hometown, so a world of air travel and hotel rooms await you.  You may also be asked to use your examining skills in some of the largest banks and/or in more troubled institutions.  For your efforts, you will receive a solid “3” in your annual performance evaluations.  You will have a manager, but you will rarely speak to that manager except at your interim and annual evaluation.  You will be responsible for sourcing your own assignments and will receive little if any agency assistance.  However, if you should be idle, you will then hear from your manager. 

You will still be missing those anniversaries, birthdays, games, plays, etc, but at least you didn’t have to totally uproot your life by moving to a new location.  Finally, you will be forced to sign a contract stating that the OCC has no obligation to offer or find you a job and if you do not find a job within the organization at the end of the three years that you agree to resign.  As one can see, this is quite “an accommodation” for the employee, who in the view of senior management is giving up absolutely “nothing in return.” 

Recently, the OCC has lost several very experienced examiners who have run up against their three-year deadline in the Resource Group.  Although these employees were highly productive and made significant contributions to our bank supervisory efforts, the OCC made no reasonable attempt to retain these employees in their current location.  The employees were located in major metropolitan areas where there is plenty of bank supervision work.  Instead, the OCC pointed to the contract stating that they had “accommodated” the employee, and it was the employee’s responsibility to find a job within the organization.      

Meanwhile, OCC management continues to post positions for two-year contract hires, while it allows 30+ year employees to walk away.  As we know, contracts are renewed and extended all the time, and there is nothing that precludes OCC management from extending any of these Resource Group contracts.  If OCC management believes they have made the organization stronger by enforcing these contracts and causing talented individuals to leave the agency, they are sorely mistaken.   

As a Chapter President and a 34-year OCC employee, I have frequently voiced concerns at our quarterly Labor-Management Relations Committee (LRMC) meetings about how poorly field examiners are treated when they retire.  I can personally attest to the vast difference that exists between an OCC headquarters employee versus the average field examiner.  At year-end, I witnessed a pathetic send-off for four retiring field examiners, all with over 30 years of experience.  I also had witnessed the flipside (antithesis) of that, attending a retirement session in HQ for a 30-year retiree. 

[Note:  Bargaining unit employees can be assured, when we negotiate for pay and compensation as we have been entitled to under Dodd-Frank, we will request funding that provides for an appropriate send off for all retirees regardless of their location (Not the $5 person that OCC management says is available but nobody ever seems to see.)] 

I have also voiced concerns about the lack of a meaningful retention program for older employees nearing retirement.  I am shocked at how often management fails to ask employees, “Is there anything that we could do that would cause you to stay longer?”  We have repeatedly asked management to develop such a retention program, but no meaningful program has ever been forthcoming.  At a recent town-hall meeting, a Deputy Comptroller was asked what the OCC was doing to retain experienced employees.  The response was “there is no program…but we do look at how long people stay after eligibility and we do talk about it.”  How reassuring….’we do talk about it’. 

The OCC is an organization that historically treated its employees as its most valuable asset.  I guess we should be grateful that we have not become a Bank of America that would simply get rid of unwanted employees.  However, as countless retirees will attest, the OCC is not the caring organization that it once was.  If you are thinking about joining the Resource Group, I would strongly advise against it as a career move unless it is your only option.  Any experienced examiner asked to sign an employment contract should read the contract carefully and assume nothing is forthcoming on the part of OCC management to avoid disappointment.       

NTEU  Chapter 301 President Gary Denison submitted the above editorial opinion.