My agency is sending out furlough letters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:cry me a river....you elected to work for the government for job security and now you know how the rest of us have been feeling for the last 3 years!

And yes, all of you are lazy and do sit on your assess doing nothing.

Try not to be more of a twat than god made you.

[Anonymous]

As others have pointed out, it is ILLEGAL to provide free services. You should not be working during a shut-down.

My Agency is preparing (as directed by the President) by designating who is essential. This list is significantly narrowed -per applicable guidance- than 15 years ago. Letters telling people about the shutdown, if one occurs, will go out on the 4th (which is what we would work through). There is a 24/7 hotline during a shutdown.

Backpay has been a given in the past but not so this time. This would be devastating for many people, not just the feds: contractors, vendors, restaurants, tourists in town hoping to visit the museums, those receiving govt. assistance (incl. veterans), those waiting for passports/visas, etc. This is a BIG DEAL.

Courts will be closed and we've been told to assume -based on past experience- that all deadlines will be moved/delayed.

As for the jealous asshat, you are an ignorant fool. You obviously have no clue what it means to be in the civil service. So, suck it d-bag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question of working while furloughed brings up any interesting question for litigating attorneys, or really anyone with external deadlines.

If I have a filing deadline or a trial, I can assume that I will not expect to meet it if it occurs during the furlough. but I do not feel comfortable assuming that the date will be extended if it is set for after the furlough ends. For example, if I have a trial in ten days, and I am furloughed for the first five, I just lost five days of prep that I won't get back, right?

That is why I would want to work while the government shuts down.

Won't the courts be shut down too?

Maybe, but my point was that if my trial date is after the government opens up again I will have lost the prep days during the shut down. I don't think there is any guarantee that all post-shut down dates will shift.

As a government lawyer you should know that it is illegal to give employment services to the government for Free. I was a law clerk during the last shut down and the judges, their clerks and some of the clerk's office were considered essential. In fact the Treasury employees union filed for a TRO related to the shut down and requiring people to work without pay.

I am the PP you quoted. I do know that. My post was intended to point out the reasons why someone would WANT to work and to highlight the consequence of not working.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain why Congress is not in town working on appropriations bills? Why are they on vacation when a shutdown is looming?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Congress is not in town working on appropriations bills? Why are they on vacation when a shutdown is looming?

I agree. They should be here working on this 'round the clock. Of course, they will get paid during a shutdown . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't see the shutdown happening -- it's too risky for the Republicans. It will damage the economic recovery. Remember Gingrich.

Opinion only turned against Gingrich after he threw his temper tantrum about sitting on the back of Air Force 1. Not sure what it was before then.

From there it will be a race between annoyance at government spending in the abstract and annoyance at being without several government services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have pointed out, it is ILLEGAL to provide free services. You should not be working during a shut-down.

My Agency is preparing (as directed by the President) by designating who is essential. This list is significantly narrowed -per applicable guidance- than 15 years ago. Letters telling people about the shutdown, if one occurs, will go out on the 4th (which is what we would work through). There is a 24/7 hotline during a shutdown.

Backpay has been a given in the past but not so this time. This would be devastating for many people, not just the feds: contractors, vendors, restaurants, tourists in town hoping to visit the museums, those receiving govt. assistance (incl. veterans), those waiting for passports/visas, etc. This is a BIG DEAL.

Courts will be closed and we've been told to assume -based on past experience- that all deadlines will be moved/delayed.

As for the jealous asshat, you are an ignorant fool. You obviously have no clue what it means to be in the civil service. So, suck it d-bag.

Last time backpay was approved by Congress after the shutdown. It can be done that way again.

[Anonymous]

I am a federal employee. I get the legal thing about the government not getting anything for free from me, but no one can stop me from doing some work while a shutdown happens-right?

How likely is this shutdown to happen? How long do you think it will be if it happens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last time backpay was approved by Congress after the shutdown. It can be done that way again.

Of course it can be done that way, but the point is it probably won't happen. Not in the current political climate. We need to be prepared for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question of working while furloughed brings up any interesting question for litigating attorneys, or really anyone with external deadlines.

If I have a filing deadline or a trial, I can assume that I will not expect to meet it if it occurs during the furlough. but I do not feel comfortable assuming that the date will be extended if it is set for after the furlough ends. For example, if I have a trial in ten days, and I am furloughed for the first five, I just lost five days of prep that I won't get back, right?

That is why I would want to work while the government shuts down.

If you are an attorney, regardless of whether you are being paid, failing to file timely is a breach of ethics rules. You have a duty of competency. If you aren't being paid, you need to file the proper paperwork with the court to withdraw. And, I get that you work for the federal government, but the ethics rules contain no such exemption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Congress is not in town working on appropriations bills? Why are they on vacation when a shutdown is looming?

They are not on vacation. This is a Constituent Work Week.

http://www.house.gov/house/House_Calendar.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a federal employee. I get the legal thing about the government not getting anything for free from me, but no one can stop me from doing some work while a shutdown happens-right?

How likely is this shutdown to happen? How long do you think it will be if it happens?

Probably be ok but I think you will be in violation of some statute, rule, policy, etc. So if for some reason you later want to refer to this time, eg, to prove how hard you work--maybe you are getting fired or discriminated against, this cannot help you. Maybe it could be used against you for violating the statute, rule, policy.