Federal Employees - have you been through a RIF or govt. shut down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping for a shut down, people forget exactly how much the govt does. It would be nice for retires not to get their checks, children of fallen officers not to get their benefits, vets not to get their medical checks and to be unable to pay their bills, police officers not to pay for life saving vest

We govt employees are so overpayed and useless I'm looking for some nice time off.

So let me get this straight--you think you're useless and overpaid? And you're hoping retirees and children don't get the money they need to live?

I'm calling bullshit on this one.

Awww. You're not smart are you?

Bleh. Stupid, bleary-eyed mistake but please feel free to pile on .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my friends's office is going through a RIF right now - I think 45 jobs (60%) will be cut. Just the last few days HRs have been meeting with them several times already. They're upfront about how many GS13s, 12s etc will remain with very specific qualifications.

I'm curious, what agency is this? If you don't want to be too specific, can you just give a general idea? Eg, is it DoD? A small independent agency? etc.

small agency under State

[Anonymous]

Looks like it is going to happen....

[Anonymous]

So does this mean some unexpected vaca time and payment for services not rendered a couple weeks later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So does this mean some unexpected vaca time and payment for services not rendered a couple weeks later?

Assuming it actually happens, I predict that we (Feds) will NOT get paid retroactively.

But I am curious about the PP's question: would we have an option to burn leave covering the shutdown period? Obviously, no one is going to get paid during the shutdown period regardless (since payroll staff won't be working either) but I might opt to use my leave if it was the only way to get paid when we re-open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does this mean some unexpected vaca time and payment for services not rendered a couple weeks later?

Assuming it actually happens, I predict that we (Feds) will NOT get paid retroactively.

But I am curious about the PP's question: would we have an option to burn leave covering the shutdown period? Obviously, no one is going to get paid during the shutdown period regardless (since payroll staff won't be working either) but I might opt to use my leave if it was the only way to get paid when we re-open.

What is your "prediction" based on?

[Anonymous]

I think if you are not authorized to work as essential then you can't even volunteer. I don't see them telling people they could get reimbursed for time off if they choose to burn leave,

The whole thing is ridiculous-- the freshman R's are incapable of governing and they are seriously going to screw things up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if you are not authorized to work as essential then you can't even volunteer.

You can probably volunteer. They probably just don't want to officially hear about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does this mean some unexpected vaca time and payment for services not rendered a couple weeks later?

Assuming it actually happens, I predict that we (Feds) will NOT get paid retroactively.

But I am curious about the PP's question: would we have an option to burn leave covering the shutdown period? Obviously, no one is going to get paid during the shutdown period regardless (since payroll staff won't be working either) but I might opt to use my leave if it was the only way to get paid when we re-open.

What is your "prediction" based on?

Political climate. Congress has been introducing bills/amedments right and left calling for furloughs, hiring freezes, freezes on step increases, etc. The R's would see this as a perfect opportunity to get the equivalent of a furlough w/out actually having to pass the legislation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you are not authorized to work as essential then you can't even volunteer.

You can probably volunteer. They probably just don't want to officially hear about it.

I highly doubt this. There's a law that actually makes it illegal to volunteer for the Federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you are not authorized to work as essential then you can't even volunteer.

You can probably volunteer. They probably just don't want to officially hear about it.

I think this probably varies by agency. I know where a friend worked in the last one they took the rules against volunteering very seriously. I'm thinking my current agency would probably let you answer questions from or be on calls with the "essential" people, but I don't think they would let you in the office.

I agree that it the current R's could not care less about the federal workforce and I am not counting on getting paid for any furlough, but that would definitely suck.

[Anonymous]

During the last shutdown there were actually security guards clearing people out who were trying to work.

[Anonymous]

Can you imagine the rhetoric about the recession, unemployment, the budget crisis, etc. if someone introduced a bill trying to get Feds paid retroactively for time they didn't even work?

[Anonymous]

How about a RIF for every district or state represented by each member in Congress? I'd like to see that happen. And they'd be out on their asses PDQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping for a shut down, people forget exactly how much the govt does. It would be nice for retires not to get their checks, children of fallen officers not to get their benefits, vets not to get their medical checks and to be unable to pay their bills, police officers not to pay for life saving vest

We govt employees are so overpayed and useless I'm looking for some nice time off.

If I'm not mistaken, seniors would still get their SS checks, so those blue haired Tea Partiers have much less to lose than many others if the government shuts down. I'm a good liberal and believe in a robust safety net. (Personally, wouldn't mind if my taxes went up some to deal with the debt.) But it makes me livid, especially as a mother, that so much of the cuts are coming from programs that will hurt younger Americans the most-- the environment, consumer safety, health, etc., while programs for seniors are completely off the table. So much for the future of our country. We should at least insist that they return their "Greatest Generation" title! The greedy bastards!