there are many better government agencies to work for. - Tax Examiner IRS Employee Review

The IRS work is production line. Period. You are directed: when you see this, do this. If you are accustomed to self-directing, using logic, and decision-making, this job is not for you. Sadly, the union and the management have a stranglehold on each other and many workplace issues are actually not addressed as a result. There are diversity issues. Employees treat each other badly, and a select few are regularly bullied. Many people keep their heads down and say nothing. I tried that. Then I became a target of bullying. Who imagined this could happen? I said nothing, just did my job and the hostility escalated over several years until I was recorded in my car, a general pronouncement about me circulated through the general population, and i was unable to resolve the issue in meetings with my direct managers or through the union. Example: my LUNCH BAG was pulled forward on my desk and left open in my absence and my supervisor appeared to know about it. Two years later I joked in a faxed question to an HR person. By the changed behavior in the principals,that HR person apparently reported my quip about bullying to those involved...and never answered my HR question. My experience was that, as a dues paying member, the union did not protect me from the hostile and toxic practices that were accepted as standard procedure by people who had worked there forever and apparently had not worked anywhere else besides, maybe,in a factory. There is not much room for advancement if you are not an adherent of this work culture. There is even less room if you are a transfer from another agency since they hire by IRS duty time and not your SCD. Low level front line supervisors are called managers. In my experience these are people who survive the work culture by employing gossip and finger-pointing. They deflect attention from themselves and I would say a low percentage of those raised to supervisory positions have any college management training whatsoever. They manage using "bad parent" strategies and do not trust their people to do the job. They do not raise themselves above the malicious gossip and, in fact, use the gossip machine to their own ends. Finally, if you have any HR issues you will be expected to rely on your untrained supervisor or ask some union person, or callan 800 number and take out a ticket for some untrained HR customer service person to call you back. And...don't even think about retiring from this agency. Get out while you can.