Are Federal Workers Overpaid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course not. My DH could quadruple his salary in private practice. Most specialty lawyers in fed govt are woefully underpaid. Their admins are way overpaid though. My admin actually works for a living.

Why doesn't he leave? Oh, wait, he really doesn't have to do very much, does he and in private practice he would have to put in 80 billable hrs. per week. Lazy lawyers work for the Fed. govt.

No actually he doesn't leave because he values time spent coaching and raising our children along with me, in addition to his paid work and other professional and volunteer commitments. And he doesn't have to make more money because I work full time, too. Any more stupid comments you'd like to make?

Bullshit! If he could double his salary, he'd leave in a heartbeat. He stays in a good, safe job because he can't make it in any law firm.

Spoken like someone who doesn't work for the government.

Attorneys are excepted services employees who don't have the same protections as the civil service. They are at-will employees.

And your last part, about not cutting in a law firm, is just offensive. Many, MANY attorneys like civil service. They like promoting government work and doing things that, while boring, are important (e.g., FOIA).

You sound bitter. Please go take a nap or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lawyer just out of school at my old firm made $165K. I left the firm took a pay cut of over $100K and make
$136,771 -- the maximum amount I can make for my position as a GS-14. If I move to a GS-15 position I can make a maximum of $155,500. I already knew I was under paid in comparison. But I'm O.K. with the salary because the hours and quality of life is better.

What I find annoying is that people still believe I somehow make more than my private sector counterpart just because someone with a HS degree makes more in the federal government than her private sector counterpart.

That cannot be a GS-14 stepped all the way out. A GS-14, Step 6, at my agency makes the amount you quoted, $136,771 (btw- this is without the year end bonus, and mid year bonus)...and we go up to a Step-10. We also don't have to be lawyers--just scientists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course not. My DH could quadruple his salary in private practice. Most specialty lawyers in fed govt are woefully underpaid. Their admins are way overpaid though. My admin actually works for a living.

Why doesn't he leave? Oh, wait, he really doesn't have to do very much, does he and in private practice he would have to put in 80 billable hrs. per week. Lazy lawyers work for the Fed. govt.

No actually he doesn't leave because he values time spent coaching and raising our children along with me, in addition to his paid work and other professional and volunteer commitments. And he doesn't have to make more money because I work full time, too. Any more stupid comments you'd like to make?

Bullshit! If he could double his salary, he'd leave in a heartbeat. He stays in a good, safe job because he can't make it in any law firm.

I'm an AUSA, and my old BigLaw firm would take me back in a heartbeat if I wanted to go. I'd make triple my salary now, easy. I work as hard now as I ever did there for MUCH less money, but the difference is that now the work I do actually makes a difference. And my work is more interesting and I have more responsibility than 90% of the law firm partners in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lawyer just out of school at my old firm made $165K. I left the firm took a pay cut of over $100K and make
$136,771 -- the maximum amount I can make for my position as a GS-14. If I move to a GS-15 position I can make a maximum of $155,500. I already knew I was under paid in comparison. But I'm O.K. with the salary because the hours and quality of life is better.

What I find annoying is that people still believe I somehow make more than my private sector counterpart just because someone with a HS degree makes more in the federal government than her private sector counterpart.

That cannot be a GS-14 stepped all the way out. A GS-14, Step 6, at my agency makes the amount you quoted, $136,771 (btw- this is without the year end bonus, and mid year bonus)...and we go up to a Step-10. We also don't have to be lawyers--just scientists.

You must be on a different scale. I'm looking at the 2012 OPM table for DC and a 14-6 makes $122.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lawyer just out of school at my old firm made $165K. I left the firm took a pay cut of over $100K and make
$136,771 -- the maximum amount I can make for my position as a GS-14. If I move to a GS-15 position I can make a maximum of $155,500. I already knew I was under paid in comparison. But I'm O.K. with the salary because the hours and quality of life is better.

What I find annoying is that people still believe I somehow make more than my private sector counterpart just because someone with a HS degree makes more in the federal government than her private sector counterpart.

That cannot be a GS-14 stepped all the way out. A GS-14, Step 6, at my agency makes the amount you quoted, $136,771 (btw- this is without the year end bonus, and mid year bonus)...and we go up to a Step-10. We also don't have to be lawyers--just scientists.

You must be on a different scale. I'm looking at the 2012 OPM table for DC and a 14-6 makes $122.

No. You are right. We are on a 'complex' pay scale at my Office which is why we get paid more.

[Anonymous]

Why doesn't he leave? Oh, wait, he really doesn't have to do very much, does he and in private practice he would have to put in 80 billable hrs. per week. Lazy lawyers work for the Fed. govt.

Ok, then, if it is so easy and we don't work that much, why don't you come do my next trial for me? I'm sure you'll be really successful and get to go home at 5 pm every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lawyer just out of school at my old firm made $165K. I left the firm took a pay cut of over $100K and make
$136,771 -- the maximum amount I can make for my position as a GS-14. If I move to a GS-15 position I can make a maximum of $155,500. I already knew I was under paid in comparison. But I'm O.K. with the salary because the hours and quality of life is better.

What I find annoying is that people still believe I somehow make more than my private sector counterpart just because someone with a HS degree makes more in the federal government than her private sector counterpart.

That cannot be a GS-14 stepped all the way out. A GS-14, Step 6, at my agency makes the amount you quoted, $136,771 (btw- this is without the year end bonus, and mid year bonus)...and we go up to a Step-10. We also don't have to be lawyers--just scientists.

You must be on a different scale. I'm looking at the 2012 OPM table for DC and a 14-6 makes $122.

No. You are right. We are on a 'complex' pay scale at my Office which is why we get paid more.

What is a 'complex' pay scale? What are the qualifications?

[Anonymous]

lawyers have destroyed america, we all pay money out of our pockets due to their lawsuits and settlements against businesses and creation of stupid new laws that create a circular affect of money back to their industry. The real scum bags stealing everyone's money is not the government but the lawyers. Good luck changing this problem because we elect these shitbags to represent us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lawyers have destroyed america, we all pay money out of our pockets due to their lawsuits and settlements against businesses and creation of stupid new laws that create a circular affect of money back to their industry. The real scum bags stealing everyone's money is not the government but the lawyers. Good luck changing this problem because we elect these shitbags to represent us.

You might feel differently if you personally suffered an injury and were not able to obtain justice for your case. Friends of mine are from another country where lawyers are still a privileged, elite class. A doctor botched a routine operation on a family member who died as a result. They did not sue because that's not what they do over there. No lawyer would take that kind of case. No justice for them and the doctor just goes on practicing as if nothing happened.

[Anonymous]

I'm a federal worker. I have a PhD in Economics from a top ten school. I could probably have doubled my salary by going into consulting. However, the firm would own me, and I would probably be working long hours, if I even had a job in this economy.

I've always felt that that's the point of working for the government: trading off salary for security/life work balance.

[Anonymous]

Actually it's the lobbyists who destroyed America.

Oh, wait...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lawyers have destroyed america, we all pay money out of our pockets due to their lawsuits and settlements against businesses and creation of stupid new laws that create a circular affect of money back to their industry. The real scum bags stealing everyone's money is not the government but the lawyers. Good luck changing this problem because we elect these shitbags to represent us.

You might feel differently if you personally suffered an injury and were not able to obtain justice for your case.

Or if you were the victim of a crime and there was no lawyer to prosecute the offender. Or if you were wrongly accused of a crime and no lawyer would defend you. But why let reality get in the way of a good conspiracy theory?

[Anonymous]

I am a GS 14 lawyer and I make 160k. When I left private practice 2 years ago I was making $280 before bonus. I don't think that I am overpaid or underpaid. The way I see it I traded money for quality of life. If I were still at the firm I would either be at the office or working from home not lying in my bed surfing on DCUM.

I think that the issue with the govt personnel cost is that they re unwilling or unable to get rid of the dead weight. There are lawyers at my agency that do nothing but they know that they will not get fired. Also some managers are so obsessesed with "head count " that they are always pushing to hire more people even when they know that there is no enough real work to go around.

[Anonymous]

Why not make everyone in government bill time and put them on a quota system? That would help get rid of the under-performers.

[Anonymous]

OK, I'll bite.

Fuck you, troll.