Reply to OMB trying to change guidance to no back pay

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "OMB trying to change guidance to no back pay "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If they don't back pay us, what happens with our back health insurance premiums that would normally be deducted once pay starts again? What if they RIF as threatened and there is no next paycheck? Are they going to give us debt letters? I can go without a couple paychecks, but going into debt while they make me stay home and possibly fire me is going to keep me up at night. [/quote]

Relax, the sky isn’t falling.[/quote]

This is really unhelpful. I work in an agency that was in the news for planning RIFs before the shutdown, in a central office rumored to be targeted. Financial planning for job loss is important. [/quote]

+1  It's easy to say that when it doesn't affect you.  No one would take it well if their job suddenly disappeared one day and they were told to wait indefinitely until management got their act together to decide to reinstate the job and paycheck.  Federal workers aren't making huge salaries--a lot of people don't have savings to withstand the loss of a paycheck for several weeks (like the TSA workers mentioned upthread who are required to work and now going to soup kitchens).[/quote]

Let's not exaggerate. Some people in the private sector have jobs that are subject to whatever hours their manager is willing to give them. Similarly, some companies will furlough employees, either following regular, seasonal patterns or in response to exceptional financial situations. But the latter is truly exceptional and almost always limited to a week or two (sometimes with an option to use paid leave).

But, of course, this has an impact on hiring and retention, particularly when they happen frequently or for extended periods. The argument for the lower compensation in professional government positions has typically been tied to stability. That justification doesn't work anymore.[/quote]

Let's not misunderstand what the situation is, which you what you are doing.  In the private sector, employees can furlough but they can not require people to come in and work without pay which is what the federal government can do.  And essential employees can't even apply for unemployment insurance.  If a furloughed federal employee opts to take a job during this furlough period, they need prior approval from their agency's ethics office, unlike a private sector employee, and good luck getting a timely response when everyone is furloughed.  [/quote]

The post I was responding to said:

"No one would take it well if their job suddenly disappeared one day and they were told to wait indefinitely until management got their act together to decide to reinstate the job and paycheck."

The fact is, yes, a lot of people do have jobs like that. No one likes it, but it isn't unique to furloughed feds. That doesn't make it OK, but some people come across out-of-touch when they make these comments.[/quote]

Really? name one.

When I was in the private sector I had my pay temporarily reduced during the financial crisis. Of course I accepted that because I understood the firm was in a tough place. A federal employee furlough is a totally different scenario. And not that you asked but I also would accept a rational RIF done legally and compassionately as just something unfortunate that happened to me … but of course that what never what DOGE was about.

So yeah until you point to a private sector boss literally stating his intent was to “torture” his staff, you may kindly take a seat. The only thing that comes close is Elon’s sadism at Twitter! [/quote]

Really? Almost any hourly service industry job, for one.

This is what I meant by some people sounding out-of-touch.[/quote]

You’re comparing hourly service workers, of which I was one, to full time salaried positions? Fed jobs That in the majority of cases require at minimum a Bachelors degree and likely even a masters (mine does).
Try again. [/quote]

You're completely missing my point. I'm a fed too, with a graduate degree in a STEM field in a highly in-demand field. I'm also a manager now, even before the current mess it has been very challenging to recruit and retain staff. You don't need to convince me what's going on isn't OK on multiple levels. I completely agree.

I also grew up relatively poor in a blue collar environment. Perhaps the messages from you and the other pp would come across differently in person, but I found the tone pretty off-putting and I think a lot of other people would, too.

I read, perhaps incorrectly, a tone suggesting that feds aren't just being treated unfairly, but that they're being treated uniquely unfairly. And while I think there's arguably some truth to that, I think it is unnecessary and inappropriate to dismiss the unfair treatment that other people face that have similar impacts. Bad things happening to others doesn't make it OK, nor does it diminish the significance of your own experiences. But suggesting it doesn't happen to others is going to be very off-putting to them.[/quote]

You showed up on a thread about feds on a message board geared at people in the DMV and you are now lecturing them for how they're talking about their very current, very bad problems. Talk about off-putting. [/quote]

You don't think other people are reading this thread? Or that people make similar statements other places?[/quote]

No, I don’t actually think Joe Mechanic is reading this thread and thinking Feds are complaining without merit. I think that some people who derive some kind of comfort from trying to control how other people express themselves are reading this thread, however. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics