The Foreign Service Journal, May 2003

S everal recentwalk-ins toAFSA’s Stateofficepromptme to remind you that a key difference between Foreign Service life in the U.S. and overseas is that of privacy. Whileoverseas, there is absolutelynoguarantee that your con- fidences sharedat postwill be kept. StateMEDorDiplomatic Security may hear about your personal problem and become involved. Your assignment may be curtailed. AFSA is concernedbecause some posts are so isolated that there is no one outside the mission — no pastors, no ther- apists, no counselors— to whomone can turn for help. If you or a member of your family confides in someone at post (includingmedical personnel) about a family issue — relations between a parent and child, relations between spouses, etc. — the infor- mationmay be relayed tootherswhomay decide that in the best interests of you andof the depart- ment, you and your family should return to the United States. The Family Advocacy Program, 3 FAM 1810, describes theprocedures usedby thedepart- ment fordealingwithallegationsof spousal or child abuse andprescribes the authority tomedevac and curtail families fromoverseas postings in certain circumstances. Allegations of spousal abuse do not always have to result in a mede- vac and curtailment, but we have found that theymost often do. Federal law requires that allegations of childabusebe reported to theRSOandDS immediately,which invari- ably leads to a medevac and/or curtailment frompost. Either of these scenarios usu- ally results in an investigation by the DS Office of Professional Responsibility. This can prove very disruptive to families. Careers can also suffer, because the department may temporarily suspend the employee’s security clearance. Cases vary widely but it is AFSA’s experience that the department will err on the side of caution. Your col- leagues at post are not trained to recognize which problems require outside attention, and simply want to see the family get help. AFSA has no easy answers. Families in distress might wish to consider curtailing themselves, so they can control their move. An employee may also be able to seek assistance in another country where professional help is available. Stress is another aspect of life at hardship posts. There have been recent cases of supervisors yelling at their subordinates in front of colleagues. Some have included threats to retaliate in evaluations if the subordinate pursues a certain line of conduct or inquiry. Several included threats of bodily harm. One threatened retribution if the employee complained to the “union.” Needless to say, this conduct is unprofessional and unacceptable. There are rules against intimidation. AFSApursues all such charges vigorouslywithmanagement. If the ratermakes goodon the threat to “get” the subordinate via the EERprocess, AFSA is there to protect the employee. The better recourse is for supervisors not to indulge in such behavior. Everyone has bad days. Stress is inevitable. Better to take awalk, take a day off, eat some choco- late, go home early, go shopping, or talk it over in private. But don’t indulge in abu- sive behavior. And if you find yourself having trouble with your subordinates, sign up for one of the FSI leadership andmanagement courses. Because real leaders don’t yell at their subordinates. ▫ MAY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 There is absolutely no guarantee that your confidences shared at post will be kept. V.P. VOICE: STATE ■ BY LOUISE CRANE Don’t Count on Privacy AFSA Helping DS In response to increased demand for training for new federal law enforcement employees, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, has been working on a six-day-a-week sched- ule for over a year. FLETC is the place all new State Department Diplomatic Security agents go for training. Ordinarily, employees who are forced to work more than 40 hours per week would receive premium pay, but the DS agents at FLETC were not receiving this. AFSA wrote to department management several times requesting overtime payments or Law Enforcement Availability Pay for these DS agents. The department’s response was that overtime is not available to trainees and LEAP is not available until DS agents receive their credentials. AFSA then learned that OPM recently ruled that the six-day training week is reg- ularly scheduled work and constitutes hours of work for the purposes of calculat- ing overtime. AFSA called the depart- ment’s attention to the OPM decision and said trainees should immediately receive premium pay and all those who were denied premium and/or holiday premium pay while in training should receive back pay with interest. As a result, the depart- ment will begin paying premium pay to trainees at FLETC as soon as OPM clarifies its decision. AFSA is waiting to hear how the department will respond to the back pay issue. Business- Class Travel AFSA recently wrote to urge the department to allow business-class travel for employees and family members trav- eling on authorized and ordered departure, providing all the other conditions are met. We’ll update you when we get a response. ▫ AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Continued from page 3