The Biggest Issues Undermining Morale: Pay, Workplace Flexibility
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The prompt for this round of the FEDforum is team morale. This week, hear from the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (NAAUSA).
Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) generally enjoy their jobs. Overall engagement among U.S. Attorney Offices (USAOs) has been above the median every year that Best Place to Work Survey data has been collected. But one area has consistently weighed scores down and undermined employee morale: pay. While pay has been a consistent frustration for AUSAs, issues related to telework and workplace flexibility have also emerged in recent months and undermined team morale. Inconsistent access to work life benefits and under compensation compared to other Department of Justice attorneys has had a lasting negative impact on team morale and hampered the effective administration of justice.
Despite high overall scores of the Best Place to Work Survey, AUSAs have placed pay satisfaction in the lowest quartile every year expect one. Currently, AUSA pay satisfaction is ranked 359 of 407 agency subcomponents.
While most federal employees, including attorneys at the Department of Justice (Main Justice) are paid under the general schedule (GS), AUSAs fall under the administratively determined (AD) pay schedule. AUSAs are systemically underpaid due to the complex and antiquated structure of the AD system.
The current discrepancies between the GS scale and the AD schedule result in, at times, an over $40,000 gap in minimum pay between GS level employees and AUSAs in the AD schedule. The gap is most significant for more junior AUSAs who often struggle with other financial obligations such as student loan debt.
Unfortunately, many AUSAs find more lucrative opportunities in Main Justice or leave public service entirely because of the pay issues. This effectively turns U.S. Attorney Offices into training grounds for the defense bar or Main Justice attorneys and creates a brain drain out of U.S. Attorney Offices.
The brain drain has been exacerbated in recent months by limited access to workplace flexibility benefits. As USAOs begin working on their post-pandemic reentry plans, AUSAs have expressed a strong preference for continuing to telework at least part time. In a survey of over 700 AUSAs conduced in late 2021, virtually all AUSAs reported they were able to successfully do their job while teleworking. The overwhelming majority also supported a baseline department wide policy allowing at least two days a week of telework.
Not only were AUSAs just as productive while teleworking, but they also report having more time to focus on their work and enjoying their jobs overall.
“The eliminated commute and eliminated time 'getting ready' for work—especially for women whose expectations for physical appearance require much more time and effort—contribute to more time to get my work done,” one AUSA explained.
As U.S. Attorneys begin releasing reentry plans, AUSAs have been frustrated by the return to strict and rigid in-person work requirements. In an April 2022 survey conducted by NAAUSA, 51 percent of Districts with AUSAs responding to the inquiry reported offering at least two days of telework a week or four days per pay period. In the other 49 percent of Districts, the AUSAs report feeling ignored and discouraged by telework limits that are out of touch with the nature of their work.
Survey respondents note that “failure to support telework suggests to AUSAs that management does not trust them” and “[AUSAs] are professionals and should be treated as such.” Another explained, “After demonstrating our diligence and success over two years of teleworking, under the immense stress of a global pandemic with an unknown expiration, it would be nice if the Department treated AUSAs with more respect and trust.”
NAAUSA continues to urge the Department of Justice to adopt of uniform, baseline telework policy allowing at least two days of telework a pay period.
The discrepancies between AUSA pay and telework eligibility compared to Main Justice creates a brain drain that leaves the front line of our federal criminal justice system ill equipped to meet mission needs. As one AUSA explained, “The Civil Rights Division is permitted to telework 8 days per pay period. This is yet another example of DOJ attorneys being treated better than AUSAs. DOJ trial attorneys are paid more than AUSAs and can telework twice as much.”
This column from the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee and law enforcement groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDagent audience.
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