Any Federal Employees Out There

January 21, 2018, 09:48 PM

xwesler

quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
quote:
Originally posted by xwesler:
My weekend battle assembly was cancelled because of it. They waited til the very last second to notify us, I was about an hour into my 5 hour drive. Could've been worse though.

In 2013 we still attended and were paid weeks later when the shutdown ended. They probably didn't want to deal with that headache again and cancelled it all together.

Battle Assembly??

Is that what they call “drill weekend” now?

For going on 7 years now, IIRC. I think the good taxpayers felt that "drill weekend" made it sound like their hard-earned dollars were being wasted on us, while "battle assembly" makes it sound like we're being more productive.

January 21, 2018, 09:58 PM

frayedends

I've got a friend that is DHS. He said if it were to go 4 weeks he'd miss a mortgage payment. It sucks to see how this type of thing affects real folks. He has to go to work. He doesn't get any vacation. Yeah, he'll get pay for what he works once the shutdown is over. But that doesn't help pay the bills when they are due.

In any case I now have a couple grand in an emergency fund and told him he is welcome to it if it comes to that.

January 21, 2018, 10:04 PM

pingman274

quote:
Originally posted by frayedends:
I've got a friend that is DHS. He said if it were to go 4 weeks he'd miss a mortgage payment. It sucks to see how this type of thing affects real folks. He has to go to work. He doesn't get any vacation. Yeah, he'll get pay for what he works once the shutdown is over. But that doesn't help pay the bills when they are due.

In any case I now have a couple grand in an emergency fund and told him he is welcome to it if it comes to that.

My son works at the USMS but is actually employed through a contractor. This is his first real job, he has had it for 7 months, and now he is out, of course. He lives frugally, best you can in the DC area and has worked hard to save but will be in trouble if this goes more than a month.

January 21, 2018, 10:11 PM

DMF

quote:
Originally posted by frayedends:
He doesn't get any vacation.

Not just vacation. "Essential" employees are not allowed to take any type of leave, including sick leave, during a shutdown. Any essential employee who does not come to work, for any reason (even sick leave that would normally qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)), is in "AWOL" status, and can be disciplined, including termination.

Had a family vacation planned for this week? You're out the money for those flights and hotels. Your kid is scheduled for surgery this week? Too bad. Hopefully your spouse can handle it alone. Spouse needs home care after a rough round of chemo? Tough, I hope you have other relatives who can help, or can afford to hire a nurse. All those are real world examples people I know dealt with on previous shutdowns.

It does suck for those who are living paycheck to paycheck, but most creditors make allowances for the shutdown, knowing they will paid when it's all done. So they might delay a house or car payment, but still have to buy groceries, buy gas for the car, etc. However, the inability to take care of your family, like any other normal person, sure is horrible for many.

___________________________________________
"He was never hindered by any dogma, except the Constitution." - Ty Ross speaking of his grandfather General Barry Goldwater

"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want." - William Tecumseh Sherman

January 21, 2018, 10:14 PM

wrightd

As a former contractor (employee of contracting companies) with the Military, govt. shutdowns were generally a pita. But for Civil Service employees, it was basically a vacation, since they went home on what would normally be a workday, but get paid later for the days they weren't allowed to come to work. And during the downturn, us contractors would work to keep things going, but we would only work if our employers were willing to provide our labor "at risk" - that is, the contracting employer is paying his people without being paid by the govt., with the expectation that their clients would eventually pay them for the days the govt. employees stayed home. The whole thing is always without exception a political clusterfuck, and left military leaders and our SES management clients stuck working around the shit they were delt from the hill. It's truly one of the stupidest things the US govt. is really good at these days - fucking up really big things on a predictable and regular basis. But ultimately it's the fault of stupid voters voting for stupid candidates.

January 22, 2018, 10:23 AM

gearhounds

Yup. Uniformed LEO, so essential. I'm not allowed to do anything but respond to emergencies; I can't even do routine patrol.

January 22, 2018, 10:53 AM

chellim1

quote:
"Essential" employees are not allowed to take any type of leave, including sick leave, during a shutdown. Any essential employee who does not come to work, for any reason (even sick leave that would normally qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)), is in "AWOL" status, and can be disciplined, including termination.

What if they get... sick?
There's a flu epidemic going around. If they come in they will spread it to everyone else.

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor

January 22, 2018, 10:59 AM

Phantom229

quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
"Essential" employees are not allowed to take any type of leave, including sick leave, during a shutdown. Any essential employee who does not come to work, for any reason (even sick leave that would normally qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)), is in "AWOL" status, and can be disciplined, including termination.

What if they get... sick?
There's a flu epidemic going around. If they come in they will spread it to everyone else.

Right now I am literally sick. I have to go to work tomorrow.

Situation awareness is defined as a continuous extraction of environmental information, integration of this information with previous knowledge to form a coherent mental picture in directing further perception and anticipating future events. Simply put, situational awareness mean knowing what is going on around you.

January 22, 2018, 11:14 AM

RHINOWSO

All the more reason to have 1-2 months of expenses available for emergencies.

January 22, 2018, 12:14 PM

Skull Leader

quote:
Originally posted by Phantom229:
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
"Essential" employees are not allowed to take any type of leave, including sick leave, during a shutdown. Any essential employee who does not come to work, for any reason (even sick leave that would normally qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)), is in "AWOL" status, and can be disciplined, including termination.

What if they get... sick?
There's a flu epidemic going around. If they come in they will spread it to everyone else.
Right now I am literally sick. I have to go to work tomorrow.

There is a lot of bad information being put out there about this. We all heard it last shutdown. If you missed work for ANY reason you would be furloughed for the duration.

This time around they are telling us that we would only be furloughed for the day/days we missed.

The reason being, how can you be essential one day and then not the next?

See F 2A.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-dat...utdown-furloughs.pdf