Are Federal Workers Overpaid?

[Anonymous]

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

Won't make a difference people will just pad hours jut like in law firms. We need to get rid of civil service protection and a real evaluation system.

[Anonymous]

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

Government contractors already do this. We have to bill time to established contracts and tasks. Those tasks and contracts have deliverables and we're rated on how much we accomplish during each period (semiannually). And underperformers are more easily removed from employ than civil servants and frequently are removed from contracts. Judging by what output I have gotten over the years for what I pay and what I've been billed for, I think the majority of government workers work harder for their billed hours than the majority of lawyers who bill hours do.

[Anonymous]

At DHS, where a 25 year old straight out of grad school can be a GS-13, hell yes they are overpaid.

[Anonymous]

I'm not overpaid, but alot of my counterparts in private who get to "work from home" 80% of the time probably are. I'm happy for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Government contractors already do this. We have to bill time to established contracts and tasks. Those tasks and contracts have deliverables and we're rated on how much we accomplish during each period (semiannually). And underperformers are more easily removed from employ than civil servants and frequently are removed from contracts. Judging by what output I have gotten over the years for what I pay and what I've been billed for, I think the majority of government workers work harder for their billed hours than the majority of lawyers who bill hours do.

PTO employees are on a quota system.

[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.

t

I have always worked in the private sector and had no idea that fed. employees were given a bonus. This is outrageous and needs to stopped immediately.

[Anonymous]

I'm a govt. lawyer and I'm underpaid compared to my private sector counterparts. I don't care though, you couldn't pay me enough money to take a firm job. Just not for me.

And for the pearl-clutching PP who can't believe federal employees get bonuses ... my bonus is usually $500 and it's merit based, so you have to hit a certain level just to qualify. I once got the second-tier $1100 bonus and I practically killed myself to get it. And those are BEFORE taxes numbers. So don't delude yourself into thinking we're getting rich off the backs of Joe Taxpayer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anecdotally, based on what I see in my agency, this is correct. Painters make 6 figures . . . these are people who roll pre-ordained colors onto walls.

Yeah, and Lebron James just throws balls into mounted hoops. Obstetricians just pull babies out of vaginas. School teachers just regurgitate what's already in the textbooks. Easy stuff huh? I bet aaaaannnyyyone could do thaaaat job.

Have you ever tried being a painter?.....exposing yourself to harmful chemicals, working around assholes such as yourself?

Your comparisons are ridiculous and, well, stupid. Painting walls with rollers in standard colors is hardly the same as delivering a baby or educating the youth of America. Messy? yes. Dangerous? Uh, no. These guys have all the protections one could ask for. They are unionized. They are well protected and coddled (they have big screen TV in their breakroom where they watch movies while on breaks, of which there are plenty as per their union contract). While I have zero problem with them making a decent living, making in excess of 6 figures is absurd.

You clearly know nothing about what the folks in my building do. I am intimately familiar with them given my work and I know their job and their working conditions are not difficult. So you keep rolling your eyes. You just look dumb.

Gasp!! They take breaks? OMG, did you tell them to go back to their cages? Hey smartie, you know what? being unionized doesn't automatically give you physical protection from occupational hazards of which there are many for a painter. You are either an angry individual because you feel a mere painter should not break 6 figures or you are an asshole as stated above. Or both.

[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.

t

I have always worked in the private sector and had no idea that fed. employees were given a bonus. This is outrageous and needs to stopped immediately.

. Don't worry. When I was at my firm my bonus was 20k or more. At the government my bonus was $500. Plus bonuses have been frozen at my agency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a govt. lawyer and I'm underpaid compared to my private sector counterparts. I don't care though, you couldn't pay me enough money to take a firm job. Just not for me.

And for the pearl-clutching PP who can't believe federal employees get bonuses ... my bonus is usually $500 and it's merit based, so you have to hit a certain level just to qualify. I once got the second-tier $1100 bonus and I practically killed myself to get it. And those are BEFORE taxes numbers. So don't delude yourself into thinking we're getting rich off the backs of Joe Taxpayer.

I'm a gov't employee too, although not a lawyer. I believe I am well-compensated, but my job doesn't require you to have a degree. Or at least it didn't when a lot of my current co-workers started. I do have a grad degree though.

Also, just so the pearl-clutcher knows, there are federal agencies where employees don't get bonuses at all. My agency is like the PP's- we used to get a bonus based on performance, but it's usually never more a couple of hundred dollars pre-tax.

[Anonymous]

Not at my agency. Most people top out as GS-15s and then move on to work with a private contractor affiliated with our field - and make abaout $220K per year on average.

Funny how federal workers are overpaid, but we are just fine spending taxpayer money to pay even more to have private companies do the exact same work.

[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.

t

I have always worked in the private sector and had no idea that fed. employees were given a bonus. This is outrageous and needs to stopped immediately.

Why? Shouldn't higher-performing employees be rewarded?

[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?

Then why are griping about how much he could make in private practice? Just as I said, he is one lazy govt. lawyer, he'd rather play than work. I do feel sorry for him though being married to a shrew like you.

I didn't gripe, I stated a fact. Are you one of those women always complaining because your DH doesn't pull his weight around the house? Since when is volunteering and raising children being "lazy"? Are you saying all SAHPs are lazy because they don't have paid work? And I'm a shrew because I rebut your insult (?)

[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.

Wrong. He has written offers to more than double his salary. Thanks for playing though.

[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.

Spoken like a true knowledgeable intellectual.