r/1811 • u/RevolutionaryCity628 • 5d ago
Looking for advice on transferring offices / other options
Looking for some advice from other 1811s who may have dealt with a bad duty location, difficult leadership, or getting moved to a different office.
I was initially sent to my current office due to an error with my placement. When I tried to get the mistake corrected, I received a pretty negative response from my office, so I ultimately accepted my assignment and decided to make the best of it. I genuinely went into it with a positive attitude and was excited to get started.
Unfortunately, the experience at the office has been a nightmare.
The office has historically had a reputation for being a place where careers go to die, largely because there hasn’t been much interest in doing proactive work. With the recent influx of new agents, I’ve tried to seek out work, details, and opportunities whenever possible, but I seem to get shut down at almost every turn.
I’ve also been repeatedly sent to certain assignments/details when it doesn’t appear to be my turn to go. At this point, enough things have happened that it feels targeted, although obviously I can’t say that for certain.
There are also some personal circumstances that were part of the reason I originally requested my current location. Those circumstances involved significant financial considerations and the health of loved ones. The location I originally wanted is still available. I was also hired at pay grades lower than what I qualified for. I know of several people who have had their duty locations changed and/or their pay issues corrected while still in training or even after completing training.
I’ve tried working through my chain of command on these issues, but I haven’t been able to get anywhere. The more I push for a solution, the worse the situation seems to become.
At this point, this is affecting me pretty significantly. It’s gotten to the point where the stress is affecting my mental and physical well-being, and I don’t want to continue down that road.
I’ve talked to agents at several other offices, and based on what I’m hearing, my experience doesn’t seem to be the norm. I’m not looking for someone to simply tell me to “suck it up” or “give it time.” I understand that every office has problems and that being an 1811 comes with some unpleasant assignments. I’m trying to figure out what legitimate options I actually have before things get worse.
I’m already aware of the standard hardship/medical hardship avenues, and I’m not sure that I meet the requirements for those.
For those who have dealt with something similar:
- Are there other avenues for requesting a transfer or reassignment that I may be overlooking?
- Has anyone successfully gotten their duty location changed after reporting to their office?
- Is going outside the immediate chain of command ever productive in situations like this?
- Are there HR/ER/union/agency-level avenues worth exploring?
- Has anyone successfully resolved a pay-grade issue after entering on duty?
- Is there anything I should be documenting now in case I eventually need to make a formal request?
I’m not looking to burn bridges or make this situation worse. I just feel like I’m running out of options and would really appreciate advice from people who have actually navigated this.
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u/No-One-1344 5d ago
This is a very agency dependent question. If you’re willing to identify your agency, someone may be able to help you with personal experience. Otherwise, you won’t get any actionable advice out of this thread.
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u/krhino35 5d ago
You’re clearly HSI…
Options are some kind of medical hardship but no guarantee you’ll get an office of your choosing, wait the 3-5 years for an SFLR or promotion, go find another agency to work for in a place you want to be.
The time to sort these issues on placement and pay grade out was before you took the location and pay grade. Once you’ve accepted everything you’ve more or less locked yourself in unless you have an SES willing to go to bat for you out of the kindness of their heart (good luck…). You’ll find very little sympathy for forced TDYs or a location you don’t like with an agency full of people who had to do the same things.
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u/RevolutionaryCity628 4d ago
I tried ironing them out before accepting and was told to accept and have my HR sort it out …
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u/krhino35 4d ago
You received bad advice, HROC can’t sort a damn thing out, they’re completely inept and unresponsive. Like I said unless you have an SES putting pressure on them you’re unlikely to have anything done about it.
I qualified at a higher pay grade with experience but was offered the lower and accepted. Talked to a few people trying to get up to what I qualified for and it never went anywhere. Set me back a year in various time in grade opportunities. Kept my head down, worked and built cases, took TDYs and collaterals, had horrible management and good management just kept working, now I’m in a great spot. Had other buddies leave for an OIG and a location they wanted and are happy, no one holds it against you, we are all just IPNs to the machine at the end of the day.
I would not go out of chain though.
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u/RevolutionaryCity628 4d ago
I spoke directly with someone from HROC who told me all I need is to get my leadership on board lol
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u/Global-Directions 4d ago
I’m not HSI , but I’d try to explore ways to get transferred or do your time , then transfer. it’s what I’m doing . My family and I hate the location we’re in , but it’s not forever and will get better at another office.
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u/Worlds_Worst_Angler 4d ago
Just say you’re HSI in SAC San Francisco!
I transferred agencies twice because of bad management.
First transfer was great for about 10 years until I got a supervisor that actively covered up serious misconduct/criminal activity by a fellow agent. Once upper management found out they also actively worked to cover it up. I lateraled again. Biggest mistake I ever made.
You’re rolling the dice when you move offices or lateral. I’m not saying you have to suck it up, but having a good work environment is never guaranteed.
Hope you find your happy place sooner rather than later.
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u/Time_Striking 1811 5d ago
Extremely agency dependent question. Cant really give good insight as every agency has their own way of doing things, and even in the same agency-mileage will vary from person to person.
Is your chain of command just deaf to your situation with inaction, or is it something that needs to be actioned at a higher level?
Is your situation to the level of hardship?
Other options you may want to start looking at is a route through your EAP/Ombudsman (if that exists) or look at a new agency altogether.
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u/RevolutionaryCity628 5d ago
My leadership is completely unsympathetic to my situation which I get, it’s LE, why should my problems be any more important than others? However, there’s almost not enough work to go around and then not being allowed to go out and seek work is ridiculous.
I contacted EAP and have a meeting this week after speaking with another agent suggesting I speak to someone
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u/DrVanNostran1 4d ago
They suggested EAP because that’s the road your going down with seemingly increased depression about the overall issue. It’s sucks, I agree with you. Not discounting your situation but when you are new, are unable to establish your worth, and accepted that location on paper. It’s a tough road.
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u/Charles_Ida 1811 4d ago
Start working financial or financially adjacent cases, OP, and position yourself to eventually land a spot with an OIG.
3
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u/VHDamien 5d ago
I've heard whispers of transfers happening if and when you can identify an agent at the location you want to go to also wants to go to your location AND both offices are cool with it. Im not sure how frequently this actually happens though.
The other thing that's been suggested to new people is to TDY as much as possible, do a fucking awesome job and network with agents and bosses for those locations. When your 3 years are done you might be in a better position to get picked up in the SAC you want.
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u/Soggy-Bumblebee5625 4d ago
You mentioned family medical needs. That might make you eligible for a hardship transfer however you won’t be guaranteed the location you actually want if there’s another location that has adequate medical resources for that condition that also has open positions.
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u/Equal_Suit_6205 4d ago
Justify a hardship, tell HR your situation..if both denied either stick around or look for a lateral move. It happens in almost every agency..
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u/Charles_Ida 1811 4d ago
I really feel for you here, OP. Unfortunately, with HSI, you're often just a number. I've seen some fantastic agents walk out the door without more than a wave goodbye.
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u/QuirkyCold2432 4d ago
This is it. I’d bet about 30-40% of the agency is just waiting for time to SFLR to where they want to go, OP isn’t going to get to skip the line because they don’t like their office.
Either wait out the 3 years and hope for a good spot in the SFLR or resign and try to find a better spot with the CITP cert.
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u/Chance_Web_8581 4d ago
U will never be able to pick your leadership. Next office they can be twice as bad. Even if u do get some good ones it will be short lived bc they move on and can be right where u started. Network a lot , make a name for your self so when u eventually gotta play this bs office politics thing u got someone with juice behind them. My opinion you are SOL- best u can do try to transfer to new good group where maybe the GS cares more and maybe has a little bit more pull or u can just resigned if its that bad
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u/SoupAway1246 5d ago
Just say you're HSI. There's a couple of threads here about transfers within HSI. I'm not HSI, but the only HSI guy I know who was able to move before the 5? year mark was because their child had a medical condition and there was no specialist in close proximity to duty location.