Any other families planning for a furlough?

[smitch425]

They got paid for work they did not perform.

Wrong. They did the work by staying late and not getting overtime pay for doing so. Overtime pay has to be approved and it is often denied. That does not mean the work does not get done. That means you work 4 10 hour days and get paid for 4 8 hour days+the furlough money you were owed. It then equaled out.

People like to talk about how much extra time teachers put into their job without being compensated for it. It is looked on with sympathetic eyes and thoughts of "oh you poor dear". However, there are some government employees who are in the EXACT same situation and they are looked at with the view of "you do nothing all day and get paid the big bucks so quit whining and do your job". It is a huge double standard.

Are there government workers that slack and never work over their scheduled time? Absolutely. You will have that in ANY place of employment. I can assure you that there are many, many more that put in far more hours than they should, but they have to because the work has to be done. Defense work is not something you mess around with. Washington is too stupid to see that, and everyone will suffer because of it.

 

[KennesawNemo]

Wrong. They did the work by staying late and not getting overtime pay for doing so. Overtime pay has to be approved and it is often denied. That does not mean the work does not get done. That means you work 4 10 hour days and get paid for 4 8 hour days+the fulough money you were owed. It then equaled out.

People like to talk about how much extra time teachers put into their job without being compensated for it. It is looked on with sympathetic eyes and thoughts of "oh you poor dear". However, there are some government employees who are in the EXACT same situation and they are looked at with the view of "you do nothing all day and get paid the big bucks so quit whining and do your job". It is a huge double standard.

Are there government workers that slack and never work over their scheduled time? Absolutely. You will have that in ANY place of employment. I can assure you that there are many, many more that put in far more hours than they should, but they have to because the work has to be done. Defense work is not something you mess around with. Washington is too stupid to see that, and everyone will suffer because of it.

A lot of the companies I know don't pay OT any more. You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT, then you are not qualified for the job. I am not saying this is right, but it's quite common.

 

[smitch425]

A lot of the companies I know don't pay OT any more. You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT, then you are not qualified for the job. I am not saying this is right, but it's quite common.

I agree (except with the "not qualified to do the job" part because some people are currently doing the workload of 3 people for only one person's salary), but my argument was with the poster that said they did nothing to get their furlough money. They did the work that is covered by their annual salary and they were paid their annual salary in the end. They were not paid anything they were not working for, which is what the poster made it sound like.

 

[ilovemk76]

I agree (except with the "not qualified to do the job" part because some people are currently doing the workload of 3 people for only one person's salary), but my argument was with the poster that said they did nothing to get their furlough money. They did the work that is covered by their annual salary and they were paid their annual salary in the end. They were not paid anything they were not working for, which is what the poster made it sound like.

They worked 50 weeks and got paid for 52.

If it was manditory to make up the 80 hours then I would agree with you. Your Dh is salaries. That means he has a set job and he has to get it done. He gets flexibility in his job but that flexibility comes with a cost.

Most schededes just got pushed out to make up for the lost time. I can guarantee that a project that was to start on day 1 of the furlough and was due on day 1 of the first day furlough was not delivered onthe due date. They just pushed it out.

You seem so angry. If your DH is so overworked and now underpaid the. He can seek out other openings in the public sector. The problem is he will e in the same position there too and not have all the paid sick days, holidays, vacation days, pension and medical.

 

[smitch425]

They worked 50 weeks and got paid for 52.

If it was manditory to make up the 80 hours then I would agree with you. Your Dh is salaries. That means he has a set job and he has to get it done. He gets flexibility in his job but that flexibility comes with a cost.

Most schededes just got pushed out to make up for the lost time. I can guarantee that a project that was to start on day 1 of the furlough and was due on day 1 of the first day furlough was not delivered onthe due date. They just pushed it out.

You seem so angry. If your DH is so overworked and now underpaid the. He can seek out other openings in the public sector. The problem is he will e in the same position there too and not have all the paid sick days, holidays, vacation days, pension and medical.

I am not angry in the slightest. DH loves his job. You clearly know nothing about me. Please do not make assumptions.

 

[clutter]

A lot of the companies I know don't pay OT any more. You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT, then you are not qualified for the job. I am not saying this is right, but it's quite common.

Don't know where you work, but in the private sector (I've been in it for over 30 years), it's reversed. You get your job done no matter what. If you can, then you either aren't really completing it, or we need to give you more.

I don't know of many private sector companies that are willing to spend to increase staffing unless its past a critical point.

 

[disykat]

It always surprises me that opposing opinions are seen as "angry" by so many people.

 

[psimon]

Let's please keep this on the impact of the impending furlough on everyone rather than getting into deeper philosophical discussions.

If we don't, this topic will get closed on us! Us furlough sufferers need it to help spread the pain and insight!

Thanks..

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[smitch425]

It always surprises me that opposing opinions are seen as "angry" by so many people.

No kidding! And just because someone is doing the work of three people at the moment doesn't mean they want to look for a new job. DH didn't bust his butt to move ahead faster than anyone else in his position only to walk away when the going gets tough. He would rather do the work from home on his furlough days so he didn't have to stay late the other days, but they have been told that under no circumstances are they allowed to bring home their laptops or any work whatsoever. He is going to go stir crazy. He barely made it through President's Day without being bored out of his mind!

 

[smitch425]

Let's please keep this on the impact of the impending furlough on everyone rather than getting into deeper philosophical discussions.

If we don't, this topic will get closed on us! Us furlough sufferers need it to help spread the pain and insight!

Thanks..

---Paul in Southern NJ

Well said!

 

[worm761]

He is going to go stir crazy. He barely made it through President's Day without being bored out of his mind!

Oh my gosh, THIS! DH works with very sensitive materials so work doesn't ever leave his building so bringing it home is never an option. DH was really bad last weekend. On top of the 3 day weekend, I had out patient surgery on Tuesday so he was home taking care of me. 4 days in a row was just too much.

Personally, I started stock piling groceries a few months ago to help if we are furloughed.

 

[eliza61]

A lot of the companies I know don't pay OT any more. You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT, then you are not qualified for the job. I am not saying this is right, but it's quite common.

Whoo, totally disagree. I do know it's common but I think it's beyond sad. I am definitely qualified for my job and I have a contract. I don't ask for extra days off outside of my contract so why is it ok for a company to assume they can ask for extra work? If I get my work done, could I go and say hey I'm a super employee I think I'll take a few days off?

IMO, that mentality is "Ok, I'm getting shafted so everyone else should get cheated to"

A race to the bottom.

Now I'm salaried so I don't get time and 1/2 but I get year end bonuses depending on my hours and company profits. At the end of year contribution discussion I definitely let it be known if I work 50-60 hours (consistently) to get the company business.

Man, it's scary what we allow people to do to us in a bad economy.

My prayers out to all who have this uncertainity hanging over your heads.

 

[Swimalie]

Part of the venom is that people seem to think that government employees are grossly over paid for what they do and that they would make significantly less in the private sector. While that may be true for some, it is not true for most. I know that my DH's job equivalent in the private sector is worth more than double what he is being paid. But we have job security and he loves what he does.

I don't like the anti-Fed worker sentiment. The workers aren't the problem here. Even the furloughs aren't going to make a dent in the problem.

 

[eliza61]

I don't like the anti-Fed worker sentiment. The workers aren't the problem here. Even the furloughs aren't going to make a dent in the problem.

I don't like the "anti-worker" sentiment. We saw this with teachers and state employees.
People saw that they still had health care and pensions and the first thing is always
"well I don't have a pension anymore so why should you"? I really don't get this "misery loves company", "let's all get shafted together" mentality.

when my company starts making cuts, I don't want other people to experience cuts. I want my company to do right.
In NJ teachers had fully funded pension funds until the state politicians started playing fast and loose with the money to plug holes in other areas of the budget. Now that the moneys gone, instead of getting mad at the people who raided the fund and mismanaged it, they get pissed at the teachers. I just don't get it.

 

[KennesawNemo]

Whoo, totally disagree. I do know it's common but I think it's beyond sad. I am definitely qualified for my job and I have a contract. I don't ask for extra days off outside of my contract so why is it ok for a company to assume they can ask for extra work? If I get my work done, could I go and say hey I'm a super employee I think I'll take a few days off?

IMO, that mentality is "Ok, I'm getting shafted so everyone else should get cheated to"

A race to the bottom.

Now I'm salaried so I don't get time and 1/2 but I get year end bonuses depending on my hours and company profits. At the end of year contribution discussion I definitely let it be known if I work 50-60 hours (consistently) to get the company business.

Man, it's scary what we allow people to do to us in a bad economy.

My prayers out to all who have this uncertainity hanging over your heads.

As I said, I am not saying this is right. I don't support this at all. I've personally decide to walk away from any job that requires me working over time without pay. I can afford to do that, but unfortunately many can't.

I probably should put quotation mark around "You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT". It's the company's mentality, not mine. Sad, but true.

 

[worm761]

I probably should put quotation mark around "You are given an annual salary and you are supposed to get your job done no matter what. If you can't and need to work OT". It's the company's mentality, not mine. Sad, but true.

That is all part of being a salaried employee though. I ran a restaurant. My salary was based on a 50 hour work week. I promise, there were not many 50 hour work weeks and none that were less. Kind of a do what you have to do.

 

[Swimalie]

Now that the moneys gone, instead of getting mad at the people who raided the fund and mismanaged it, they get pissed at the teachers. I just don't get it.

I agree. The worker is not the problem and luckily, I think some are starting to see that. It falls on those making decisions.

 

[luv2mickey]

Wrong. They did the work by staying late and not getting overtime pay for doing so. Overtime pay has to be approved and it is often denied. That does not mean the work does not get done. That means you work 4 10 hour days and get paid for 4 8 hour days+the furlough money you were owed. It then equaled out.

People like to talk about how much extra time teachers put into their job without being compensated for it. It is looked on with sympathetic eyes and thoughts of "oh you poor dear". However, there are some government employees who are in the EXACT same situation and they are looked at with the view of "you do nothing all day and get paid the big bucks so quit whining and do your job". It is a huge double standard.

Are there government workers that slack and never work over their scheduled time? Absolutely. You will have that in ANY place of employment. I can assure you that there are many, many more that put in far more hours than they should, but they have to because the work has to be done. Defense work is not something you mess around with. Washington is too stupid to see that, and everyone will suffer because of it.

This is what salaried employees do, my husband works 50-55 hours week all the time, no overtime. Now if they are hourly, if you work they have to pay you.

 

[worm761]

This is what salaried employees do, my husband works 50-55 hours week all the time, no overtime. Now if they are hourly, if you work they have to pay you.

Government workers are contracted differently. They are salaried for only 40 hours a week. Anything above that has to be paid at over time. Over time must be pre approved and I have never actually seen it done. He is paid a different rate based on the time of day. So if he has to work in the evenings past I think 6 pm or if he has to work a midnight shift then he is paid at a higher hourly rate than his normal day time rate. And they are not supposed to work "off the clock" though it does sometimes happen. And like another poster, my DH is currently working the job of 3 people for the pay of one with no added incentives to do so.

 

[psimon]

Government workers are contracted differently. They are salaried for only 40 hours a week. Anything above that has to be paid at over time. Over time must be pre approved and I have never actually seen it done. He is paid a different rate based on the time of day. So if he has to work in the evenings past I think 6 pm or if he has to work a midnight shift then he is paid at a higher hourly rate than his normal day time rate. And they are not supposed to work "off the clock" though it does sometimes happen. And like another poster, my DH is currently working the job of 3 people for the pay of one with no added incentives to do so.

Here, if we do get approval for overtime, as a professional, our overtime rate is less than our regular hourly rate! On top of that, there is a ceiling as to how much we can make in total.... so we are not paid well to work overtime.

---Paul in Southern NJ