GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
I searched and did not find a general Federal employee thread, so I made one - because after a long a miserable stretch of unemployment, I am starting work as a GS-9 (FPL GS-12) a week from today.
They strung it out until the last possible fucking minute. As a former Peace Corps volunteer I got non-competitive eligibility for a year. That year ended Oct. 7. I got the offer Oct. 5.
So I'm excited. Yay, job! Only problem is, I've never, um...well, this is embarrassing...been an adult. Like, at all. I've spent the last five days trying to wrap my head around the benefits paperwork, and know next to nothing about what life inside the bureaucracy is like. The one thing I have managed to understand - and good news it is - is that I can buy back the Peace Corps time and start with more than 3 years of creditable service already in the bag.
Anyone have any tips or hard-won experience to share? Health plan nightmares? Or just general shit talking about Federal employment? 10/10/2016 5:19:13 PM |
ncsuallday Sink the Flagship 9818 Posts user info edit post |
Your experience will differ wildly by agency and supervisor. Generally, it's about as easy as "adult work" gets and once you're non-probationary you're essentially unfirable. You should move up quickly in the D.C. Area. I was in RTP and jobs were limited and my division was dismal. I made 50% more going to State and and 100% happier, but again, experiences vary. 10/10/2016 5:42:31 PM |
UJustWait84 All American 25821 Posts user info edit post |
Just be honest and ask as many questions as you possibly can. Lots of people change careers or begin one for the first time, so it's to your benefit to become as informed as possible. 10/10/2016 6:30:30 PM |
Mindstorm All American 15858 Posts user info edit post |
Oh dear GrumpyGOP, I'm in the federal govt and I'm one of the most verbose dickweeds on here. So here's a wordy post addressing your general concerns.
A federal work environment can vary wildly as others have mentioned. I'm DoD, so there is a mixture of new blood with something to prove and salty old bastards who are going to die in their office chairs one day. I've changed between federal/private jobs multiple (TOO MANY) times and have decided I want to stick it out with the federal government since the benefits are awesome and it's easy for me to change jobs once I'm in the system.
Starting out:
For your first year or so at work, feel it out. Don't fret if some supervisor/senior coworker at work is a dick or doesn't like you (unless they're your direct supervisor). If they aren't your boss or your boss's boss (and so on) then they can't tell you what to do or make you do their work (unless your boss says otherwise). Keep cordial and don't let the inevitable encounters with psychotic, depressed, divorced people around you drag down your mood. In the federal government I've worked with more crazy people than I have in any other place (private employment or state government employment). If you're almost impossible to fire, there's not much to be done about it.
Learn as much as possible about how your department works and how you fit into the larger picture in the federal government. Keep up to date on your training and keep your ass at work on-time for at least that first year (sometimes shit happens and it's OK). Each week, don't work more or less hours than required, just stick to your 40 + lunch unless you are asked to work OT. If your schedule shifts in a given week, keep note of it somewhere (email, logbook, whatever) in case somebody brings it up at a review. Somebody may have a fancy XLS spreadsheet which can help you keep track of your earned leave AND serve as a work/hours log. Take any training opportunity your department offers and complete all training required by your department as soon as you're reasonably able to do it (checking a box is very important in the federal govt). Avoid taking random "available" online training courses that aren't required unless it's specifically relevant to what you do. If your job requires PPE and pays for professional certification, pursue that and take advantage of it. Reimbursement for safety boots/glasses and PE exams/licensure is nice.
As for the social environment in a federal job:
Try to find folks on your team who you mesh with really well, personality-wise. Sometimes you won't find anybody like this on your team, so it might take you a while to find folks you enjoy hanging out with outside of your immediate department.
For the other folks, keep it cordial even if they're insane and talk about "earthing" (walking barefoot on the beach to pull electrons into your body through your feet) or "feeling cell phone microwaves in their teeth" (a constant buzzing sound/vibration in their teeth) or "how exercise is good because it puts oxygen in your body" (while more or less stating that the oxygen is more important than the health benefits of fitness) or "how chem trails are poured on us all the time" (while denying that it is water vapor, even when it is pointed out that water is a major product of combustion) and how "[supervisor name] is an idiot and doesn't know anything about our field and i can't believe they made him supervisor of our field" ([supervisor name] is well-qualified to manage the department and carries on a dialogue with you about your work to make sure you're confident and able to defend your design decisions; this is interpreted as a threat by this coworker). This is probably more to do with me being in the DoD, but there are some crazy, salty people here who are completely insufferable. Don't give them more time than you have to and distance yourself from their views. It gets noticed if you're a person who constantly feeds into the cycle of caustic BS which drags down productivity.
Part of being a federal employee is playing the political game in the sense that you want people to respect you, you want to ensure your competence is not in question, and you want people to be able to ask you for help without allowing them to walk all over you and to basically get you to do their job for them. At entry level, this is expected more as a part of your training but keep an eye on it and make sure somebody isn't just abusing your trust. Do not talk shit about other people, don't gossip. You can reciprocate a concern if a bunch of people mention something but don't add fuel to the fire and don't spread rumors you've heard. If you hear ANYTHING that is supposed to be confidential between a supervisor and their employee, do not remember it, do not listen to it, don't participate in the conversation. That shit will get you in trouble quick.
Another part of being a federal employee is simply recognizing and accepting that sometimes your job will be extremely busy and sometimes it will be the most boring thing on the goddamn planet. Your duties will include stuff you find engaging and interesting as well as stuff that is busywork. Red tape is a real thing, and working with/around it may be part of your job duties. Don't sweat the stuff you don't like, just try to focus on what you do like. When you've got lots of boring work to do that you don't find rewarding, try to give yourself regular breaks and do something else for 5-10 minutes. This is particularly true if your job involves a seemingly endless queue of work. If you don't do this your job will drive you crazy and you will eventually be unhappy. You can work this into your schedule in a way that is tangentially relevant by checking out a website like govexec during your break (they've got regular news updates about federal issues). 10/10/2016 11:55:50 PM |
Mindstorm All American 15858 Posts user info edit post |
As for being an adult:
For your retirement benefits, your TSP is great. Put at least the minimum into it. If you want to save much more, consider getting an IRA and just getting all the "free" money you can with the TSP. Consider splitting your contributions between regular and ROTH contributions to hedge against both a future VAT and a future increase in the personal income tax rate (both are likely). Your FERS pension is also a great benefit, and you should consider sticking it out with the federal government just to get that additional "guaranteed" income. Your FERS pension is extremely expensive though compared to earlier-hires in the federal government (you pay a LOT into it), so plan your career to take advantage of it. Down the road you'll want to get into more senior-level positions so your "high three" average salary years boost your final pension amount.
For your health insurance benefits, everything offered by the federal government is great. The affordable care act fucking ruined private healthcare plans unless you've got an employer with a generous, self-funded plan. Your options as a federal employee are fantastic and you will probably never find another employer with as many options as uncle sam. For federal employee health plans, I have used blue cross blue shield (the standard plan), the SAMBA (standard) plan, and now I use the NALC (National Association of Letter Carriers) high-option plan. Blue Cross Blue Shield is pretty typical, but they're expensive for what you get, IMO. I found SAMBA to provide a good balance of cost and benefits. The NALC high coverage option is what I have now and it makes sense for me and my diabeeeetus. Don't just pick a high coverage plan unless you're sure you have health issues (particularly expensive ones). You sould also avoid high-deductible plans as your health insurance options are so cheap that saving $600/yr isn't worth the very real possibility of losing $3500 in a year due to a serious injury and rehabilitation. You'll be more likely to take advantage of your health insurance if you don't have a high-deductible plan, since you know your doctor's visit will be $20 and your labwork will probably be free.
The OPM website has a plan summary (a big PDF) for each available health insurance plan, and each summary sometimes has multiple coverage options described in one PDF. Get familiar with that layout and what each plan covers and does not cover. Think about your family health history, your health history, and make sure the benefits you need or will need are included in your plan and that you're getting a good price. I would focus on the deductible in network and out of network, the prescription benefits, whether the prescription plan has step therapy/a formulary (and whether your drugs are on the formulary/step therapy list), and if there are other cool benefits that make the plan worth the extra cost (e.g. my NALC plan has a 20% discount at CVS for any CVS branded item). The costs of each plan are in the back of the PDF file, and the first third or so (I think) of each PDF has the main information you want. Don't worry about reading every goddamn thing in it until you're pretty sure you want to go with a plan. Once you pick a plan, read that booklet in detail and see if there's any red flags you don't like (then see if your second choice doesn't have that, etc).
For your other insurance benefits, the federal options are good too. You've got vision + dental from several major plans (with high/standard coverage options), you've got multiple levels/types of life insurance, you have an option for long term care insurance (it used to be a good deal, but it's much more expensive now), and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. They have life insurance plans which require you to pass medical screening, but there is a "default" life insurance plan I recommend getting which is a multiplier of your salary which is very cheap and which does not require you to pass a medical screening at/below a certain multiplier (I maxxed out the multiplier w/o screening because nobody wants to insure a diabetic).
Regarding previous "horror" or "success" stories:
My second stint in federal employment: I went through the sequestration/furlough/shutdown bullshit and it scared me away for a couple years. I came back because I realized that, as an engineering professional, I had plenty of job security and just had to budget to account for a potentially ridiculous amount of shutdown days. Don't live paycheck to paycheck if you can, put $20k away over the next several years just to have as an emergency fund in an interest earning account. This can get you a car on the spot without a loan, pay for expensive medical stuff, float two mortgages for a few months and pay for a move, etc. I was living a little too paycheck-to-paycheck at the time and that's why the shutdown stuff scared the shit out of me (I could miss two paychecks, then I was concerned about making end's meet).
My first stint in federal employment: My first federal job was in an old, dangerous facility and I came in through a program which was designed to produce a lot of people who would memorize stuff in a binder about [thing] and become the expert in the entire organization for [thing]. The problem was, [thing] was a tiny boring bit of knowledge which isn't really a challenge to an ambitious engineer and I wanted out. I got out when a position opened up in facilities, which I gladly volunteered for (it was supposed to be the "undesirable" place to go, but it looked more "normal").
Unfortunately, as a result of having no safety training in the initial indoctrination program, I didn't play things too smart and nearly got myself killed after somebody on my team said "go do [thing which is my responsibility]" and provided zero input or feedback on what I was going out there for, why the item I was inspecting required me to do [thing which is my responsibility] and whether it was even safe for me to go do [thing] and whether it was safe to go to [thing] by myself. So yeah, after that I started trying to fix as many of their problems as possible inbetween having nightmares about walking on deck boards over the water and also trained any other new engineers on my team about every safety issue I could find and how to spot/avoid problems in that facility.
After this, other folks on the team were more than happy to load my naive self up with work without setting realistic deadlines, simply saying "do this". Many of these work items had deadlines which I had to determine based upon a senior command official's requirements and led to me losing my mind trying to keep up with/fix all of them (I fixed all of them at the expense of my happiness). I left after trying to fix all those problems, and as soon as I was set to leave lo and behold how all the super urgent deadlines people eased up and were like oh no stay we'll make things better blah blah sunshine and puppies. Anyway, don't let folks take advantage of you and if you do field work make sure you've got proper safety training. If you're not sure if something is safe, ask. Always do a safety brief (at least with yourself) prior to going into the field to make sure you haven't forgotten anything and to identify any potential issues with the work you're doing (e.g. do I need this PPE, do I need a life vest, can one person do this job, do I have to notify anybody that I'm going out here to do this).
While that first job was sort of a disaster, it gave me the contacts I needed to get back into the system (and to come back again for a third, final time now that I've decided this is where I'm going to stay). Also I made a minor name for myself and got a ton of experience which is more than most of my coworkers have with a decade of experience (real field work being more valuable than ten years of office work). It's nifty to have the ability to speak with confidence about how one of your customers does business given that you've worked for them and you know exactly how a facility is going to be used.
Goddamn it why do I serious post like this periodically. Whatever, if you read this I hope it helps you. 10/10/2016 11:56:13 PM |
Wraith All American 27257 Posts user info edit post |
I've been a federal civil servant for almost 10 years now and I gotta say, I love it. The benefits are incredible. I don't really get sick that much but my wife is constantly sick with all sorts of things (she has a suppressed immune system) so without this crazy health insurance we've got, we'd prob be bankrupt. The people I work with are extremely humble, even though they are probably the smartest people I've ever met in my entire life. Work is challenging and if it ever gets stagnant, my boss can easily find another task for me to work on. Hours are flexible if I need them to be. Job security is superb. The only real downside is the threat of furlough once a year, but fortunately I've only had to deal with that once (2013).
I should say though, this is probably largely due to my agency (NASA). I've got friends that work in DoD and it isn't nearly as laid back over there. On top of that, NASA consistently wins first place as happiest workplace in the federal government, so different agencies will have different experiences. Also, your happiness at work will depend a lot on your coworkers. If they all suck, it won't be an enjoyable experience. 10/11/2016 9:16:55 AM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
Man, thanks for that, Mindstorm. A lot to chew on.
The tiny bit I've seen of the team so far makes me feel good. Some of them aren't particularly interesting on the surface (and in fact one reminds me exactly in looks and inflection of the NPR broadcaster from Parks & Rec), but no red flags. And I tend to have a pretty active spidey sense for that sort of thing. There are definitely jobs I'm glad I didn't get over this period, because I could tell from the interview that the place was a shit salad. 10/11/2016 3:44:48 PM |
UNOME Veteran 126 Posts user info edit post |
I'd say the hardest lesson I've had to learn in 6+ years is that just being nice goes way fucking farther than actually being competent and heaven forbid have a strong opinion and deliver it in a way that apparently portrays me as an asshole.
I had both my GS-14 team lead and my GS-14 competency manager over and over tell me I was keeping a $20 million dollar investment from withering and making everyone involved look like idiots up until the point I cracked trying to keep it altogether and started venting to my team lead.
She let that slide and never gave me direct feedback that she didn't want to endure email vents and then the moment I tried to be her "attack dog" on one of our contractors and drew some heat on her she burned me with my competency manager. I was probably sort of fast tracked towards a 14 (maybe ~5 years?) assuming I actually kept the $20 million dollar invest from sinking and now I'd say it's at least 10 years away.
The politics of my area of the DoD really just fucking sucks. It's all about the funding and the empire building. People who are supposed to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars will basically lie to the money holders for years to keep their teams in tact and their work cushy. You get a GS-14 and really just stink at your job? Who cares? It's up to the poor competency dude to figure out how to pay for your position when time really does run out with the money holders and they pull the funding. But hey, that's his problem. Pay me bitch. Sure, you're probably now capped because you fucked up but did you really want a 15 position and have to deal with all THAT bullshit? Hell no.
The benefits are great. Work schedule is great. You might get lucky and the work will be dynamic but I wouldn't count on it. Build relationships and find out how to get really good at a niche you are in and after about 20 years retire and come back as a consultant or contractor.
I was working with some equipment last week that has a bad reputation and should have been canceled a long time ago and it had yet another bizarro failure that led to the damage of a $100k component for an aircraft. My fucking team lead tried to get me to by into saying it was "operator error" because we couldn't afford more bad publicity on this equipment we are in charge of. I asked him to send me that in an email and I'd think about it. He didn't say another fucking word.
[Edited on October 11, 2016 at 11:20 PM. Reason : .] 10/11/2016 11:18:10 PM |
Wraith All American 27257 Posts user info edit post |
Quote : | " Build relationships and find out how to get really good at a niche you are in and after about 20 years retire and come back as a consultant or contractor." |
I know so many older guys that retire from civil service as soon as they are eligible. They are IMMEDIATELY scooped up by a consulting firm or just open their own consulting business knowing good and well they'll go right back to their old position, doing the EXACT same thing but A) Getting all of their retirement savings/benefits B) Pension C) Full time salary at their new consulting firm (which is usually more than what their old salary was) and D) Social security. These guys make absolute $texas for about another 10 years or so then they really retire. Sometimes they'll even take an early retirement buyout deal and get like an extra ~$20k.10/12/2016 9:09:45 AM |
UNOME Veteran 126 Posts user info edit post |
I basically ruined a guys plan to do something similar. He had been on this project for probably 15 years and had built a reputation for being indispensable but in reality it was all bs. He had been eyeing retirement and was hoping for a VSIP/VERA opportunity to get some extra bang for his retirement buck and hope to come back as a contractor for another few years. Only...after me working on the project for a couple of years everyone started to realize he was full of shit and he had to take a basic retirement. Last I heard he was contracting but on something completely different and not enjoying it.
[Edited on October 13, 2016 at 9:13 PM. Reason : ^ saw your early retirement comment after my post] 10/13/2016 9:12:46 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
What's everyone doing with their TSPs lately? 12/9/2016 11:06:53 AM |
dweedle All American 77386 Posts user info edit post |
*raises hand as fed. employee*
I borrowed from my TSP last year to help put a down payment on my house, paying it back by about $200/month 12/9/2016 6:38:38 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
What funds is the rest of it in? 12/9/2016 9:43:51 PM |
dweedle All American 77386 Posts user info edit post |
I have it all allocated to the L2050 12/9/2016 9:46:00 PM |
Crede All American 7339 Posts user info edit post |
I was a federal employee from 2007-2013. Started off as GG-09 NTE 2 years and worked up to GS-12 NTE 2 years then took a permanent position at GS-09 before getting promoted to GS-11 to get close to my GS-12 salary.
The TSP and benefits, especially 6 hours AL and 4 hours SL after 5 years were nice.
I quit straight up in Nov 2013 and got a job in the private sector a few weeks later after eating a 5k paycut (but with a much, much nicer commute here in Chicago). My old boss was trying to get me back at a GS-13 NTE 2 years position and I interviewed recently for that position. I probably could have had it ($92k here in Chicago area) which would have been a little more than what I make now but decided to remove myself from consideration. The office was just so good old boy and old school.... and it would have at least doubled if not tripled my commute.
The work I was in was mostly interesting just the people and the culture was so, so bad compared to what I've experienced in the private sector where I just won an incentive trip to Mexico for 4 days in February.
PROS: $$, benefits, sometimes interesting work CONS: lots of unmotivated perm/career employees, lots of forms, in my case commute 12/15/2016 4:11:15 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
Yous guys filing for unemployment Monday? 1/20/2018 6:41:47 PM |
dweedle All American 77386 Posts user info edit post |
my agency is one of the ones that stays open 1/21/2018 12:51:21 PM |
SkiSalomon All American 4264 Posts user info edit post |
I'm in the part of mine that stays open, gotta love working for free (or at least til the shutdown is over and congress agrees to back pay us) 1/21/2018 5:30:52 PM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
My part of my agency closed. Have to go in for a couple of hours tomorrow to "ensure an orderly shutdown," which basically means emptying the trash and refrigerator. 1/21/2018 6:40:36 PM |
bmel l3md 11149 Posts user info edit post |
How are you liking your fancy adult job, Grumpy? 1/21/2018 7:44:25 PM |
SkiSalomon All American 4264 Posts user info edit post |
Gotta love getting word first thing on a Monday that scheduled overtime is not authorized during the shutdown when I'm in a job with mandatory overtime. Literally working for free. 1/22/2018 11:00:07 AM |
JP All American 16807 Posts user info edit post |
Still awaiting word if the conference I'm supposed to attend tomorrow is on. Guess I'll have a better idea after the vote at noon. 1/22/2018 11:12:01 AM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
^ Is there travel involved? All travel is supposed to be cancelled (in my dept at least). 1/22/2018 12:04:19 PM |
JP All American 16807 Posts user info edit post |
Yeah, though I'm not sure the % of federal employees that are expected to attend/present & if it is enough to cancel/postpone. 1/22/2018 12:22:59 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
That was some 'ol bullshit. Tons of work for 3-4 hours off? 1/22/2018 5:19:39 PM |
BEAVERCHEESE All American 1103 Posts user info edit post |
Shutdown didn't affect me one bit. Currently TAD. Anything with direct military support rarely gets furloughed. 1/22/2018 8:13:20 PM |
Nighthawk All American 19623 Posts user info edit post |
^I have loved all the meme photos going around on social media about how the Democrats can't get free immigration so they are making the troops work for free. I really want to explain that military funding is completely unaffected by a "government shutdown". Some of you guys are getting affected but our troops all of a sudden don't lose their jobs. 1/22/2018 8:53:16 PM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
Quote : | "All travel is supposed to be cancelled (in my dept at least)." |
My department saw a fair amount of travel "excepted" on various grounds. I'm sure others did as well, due to the NAFTA talks in Montreal.
Quote : | "How are you liking your fancy adult job, Grumpy?" |
Love it. My team is great. There are enough challenges to keep it interesting but not enough to make it stressful. Already got some travel in and more coming. I'm happier than I ever expected.1/22/2018 9:08:24 PM |
Wraith All American 27257 Posts user info edit post |
Shortest. Furlough. Ever.
1/23/2018 9:01:48 AM |
bmel l3md 11149 Posts user info edit post |
^^ That's great to hear. I know you were nervous having to adjust, but I also don't think you give yourself enough credit either. Glad it's working out. 1/24/2018 3:59:19 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
How is everyone enjoying the furlough?
What am I missing about this "poor federal workers'" narrative in the media? Isn't today the first missed paycheck for nearly all of them? Sounds like Coast Guard isn't on the standard federal paycheck schedule but most federal workers were paid 2 weeks ago right? 1/7/2019 12:30:20 PM |
ncsuallday Sink the Flagship 9818 Posts user info edit post |
well, according to Trump, most of the federal employees that are furloughed are Democrats anyway, so fuck 'em 1/7/2019 4:03:27 PM |
thegoodlife3 All American 39304 Posts user info edit post |
stress levels are high at our house. my GF isn’t allowed to go to her office at the EPA. 1/7/2019 4:07:23 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
^ If you're furloughed you're not allowed to work and can't use any government furnished equipment.
Is that what you mean or something else with your GF? 1/7/2019 4:35:09 PM |
thegoodlife3 All American 39304 Posts user info edit post |
yes, that’s what I mean
she’s been doing some work on her non-EPA computer, but has a bad case of cabin fever from not being allowed to go into the office 1/7/2019 4:55:04 PM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
It sounds to me like some of these people must get paid on a different schedule, but I don't know. Still, if they're living paycheck-to-paycheck, I get how the knowledge that you're [/i]going[/i] to miss an entire pay period is pretty stressful. If this had happened to me two years ago, when I was just starting after a year of unemployment and had no savings, I'd be tearing my hair out.
For the most part I've been enjoying myself. After Jeopardy! I didn't owe any money on anything and could start socking away money for a house, so I've got a pretty healthy war chest built up to ride this thing out. I'll be furious if they don't pay us back - I know they always have in the past, but if ever there was a president to say "Fuck you" to the Feds, it's this one. But I won't starve or get kicked out of my house any time soon.
There's a certain amount of boredom, though - my wife just started a 6 week TDY in Africa, so it's just me and the dog, and most of my friends aren't furloughed, so they're not free to bullshit around during the week. And I am irritated because I have two work trips coming up, one of which could represent an excellent opportunity to ingratiate myself with another agency and get more such trips down the line. If we go back to work this week I think they'd both still be manageable, but after that it starts to get difficult. 1/7/2019 5:10:09 PM |
dweedle All American 77386 Posts user info edit post |
both my wife and I are federal, although at different depts/agencies, but we're both fortunate to not be part of the furloughed bunch, at least yet 1/7/2019 5:54:32 PM |
NeuseRvrRat hello Mr. NSA! 35376 Posts user info edit post |
Quote : | "has a bad case of cabin fever from not being allowed to go into the office" |
the poor thing1/7/2019 7:37:58 PM |
thegoodlife3 All American 39304 Posts user info edit post |
fuck you 1/7/2019 8:04:20 PM |
NeuseRvrRat hello Mr. NSA! 35376 Posts user info edit post |
Ahaha 1/7/2019 8:20:37 PM |
Str8BacardiL ************ 41753 Posts user info edit post |
It is like the GOP said you think the govt was dysfunctional during Obama???? HOLD MY BEER. 1/7/2019 9:06:03 PM |
HockeyRoman All American 11811 Posts user info edit post |
I'll go ahead and expand this to include federal contractors. Our last day at the EPA was 12/31. We had an all-hands meeting and were given 4 hours to close down the labs and then had to GTFO. As contractors, we won't get the oft cited back pay. I used my accrued PTO for the birth of our first child in July and only built back up 48 hours which I need to save to pay for my insurance premiums. I guess those whom Trump supporters hoped he would hurt includes 6-month-olds? Oh yeah, they aren't fetuses anymore, so fuck 'em. 1/9/2019 6:32:56 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
Yeah contractors get the worst of this, and are never cited in the media. 1/11/2019 11:21:21 AM |
rjrumfel All American 23027 Posts user info edit post |
Hey TGL, what does your wife do at the EPA? Just curious. That can't be a happy place to work under the Trump era. 1/11/2019 1:48:15 PM |
BJCaudill21 Not an alcoholic 8015 Posts user info edit post |
Bring your govt ID and get a free meal at trophy brewing 1/12 1/11/2019 8:51:47 PM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
I've got a lot of friends at EPA, and it's just as bad as you'd think. They're hemorrhaging people, working with skeleton crews. Most of the ones I know are early enough in their careers that they don't have much choice but to stick it out.
^I got the free sammich at Oyamel today. It was...well, I'm not going to talk shit about a free sandwich, but let's just say it didn't exactly show off Jose Andres' talents. The Big Stick had a pretty solid deal, 18% off your bill with Fed ID. 1/12/2019 1:42:55 AM |
thegoodlife3 All American 39304 Posts user info edit post |
I don’t really want to go into what my gf does for the EPA right now, but here is her boss speaking to WRAL a few days ago:
https://www.wral.com/triangle-woman-shares-story-struggle-of-supporting-family-during-shutdown/18113779/
Quote : | "I've got a lot of friends at EPA, and it's just as bad as you'd think. They're hemorrhaging people, working with skeleton crews. Most of the ones I know are early enough in their careers that they don't have much choice but to stick it out." |
hits the nail on the head. skelton crews have been an absolute killer.1/12/2019 12:40:19 PM |
synapse play so hard 60938 Posts user info edit post |
I can't imagine many are not gonna "stick it out"
Delayed paychecks aren't the end of the world for most, but the experience will definitely sour some in a more long term sense. 1/12/2019 11:44:47 PM |
GrumpyGOP yovo yovo bonsoir 18191 Posts user info edit post |
I assume there's a typo there, but yeah, most will "stick it out." The benefits of being a Fed are not easily turned aside. A missed check or two is nothing next to the benefits and job security.
Shortly after I started, I went to a meeting with a "retirement planning" professional. When i told him I might leave if my wife got a good job overseas, he laughed in my face and told me I'd be a goddamn fool to opt out of the system before I was fully vested. Looking at it now, he was right. 1/13/2019 12:34:43 AM |
Ansonian Suspended 5959 Posts user info edit post |
^saw you on Jeopardy
setem up
[Edited on January 14, 2019 at 5:51 PM. Reason : .] 1/14/2019 5:50:46 PM |