Reply to Federal job vs contractor job in mid-40s

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a federal contractor and have been so at my agency for 27 years now.  My wife is a civil servant at another agency.  While it is true that I make about 10-20% more than I would if I were a fed, I see quite a lot of benefits from the fed side that are beneficial, especially since you are a single parent.

My wife gets a lot more flexibility and much higher leave.  For example, my wife gets 26 days of annual leave per year plus 5 days of sick leave (this is the highest level after 15 years of service).  As a contractor, I have worked for 7 contracts/jobs and 7 employers (not always overlapping) over my 27 years.  That usually means my leave accrual and balance change from job to job.  I have had as little as 15 days of PTO and as much as 25 days.  But I only had 25 days for about 4 years when I returned for my second stint at the same contractor and had over 10 years experience with them.  Additionally my wife has the option every year for her annual bonus for her great reviews, to take the bonus in annual leave or cash.  Some years, especially when she had health issues or when the kids were little, she took the bonus in annual leave and that gave her an additional 5 days of annual leave that year.  Another benefit is that even if my wife retires, as long as we are covered by her health insurance for the last 5 years of her career, all of us are guaranteed health insurance for life (for the kids, until age 26) under the same plan that we currently have.  Even if she pre-deceases me, I can pay the premiums and I am assured of continuing with the same health insurance I currently have.  If I leave my job for any reason, including retiring myself, I lose my health insurance.  Once she retires, she is guaranteed health insurance.  Also the federal government is far more lenient about taking leave than most private employers.  I've been at employers where it is frowned upon to take leave at certain times and you can hurt your career options by taking leave at certain times or for certain amounts.  As a contractor, your contract is often task-based and if you can't meet deadlines due to taking leave, then it hurts not only you, but the contract and perhaps the semiannual or triannual bonus, you can't take leave until the contract metrics are completed.  This doesn't happen with civil servants.  While I have a lot more flexibility than at a lot of private sector employers, I don't have as much flexibility as the civil servants where I work or at my wife's agency.  Also, we can both flex our hours to some extent.  I have to work 80 hours during a two week pay period, but I can work just about any 80 hours as long as I don't miss commitments (like meetings or deadlines).  My wife has the same with the exception that she has to declare by Friday what her schedule for the following week is.  But that flexibility has been very helpful in dealing with the many days off from school and vacations and illnesses.  All of this flexibility is very helpful when you have children, especially if your children are young enough that they can't be home by themselves.

I've known several single parent civil servants and the benefits and flexibility have been very important and useful to them.  If I were in your shoes, I would apply and try for the position, but only you know enough of the specifics of your life to tell for sure what is the best option for you.[/quote]

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