How's the partial federal government shutdown affecting you?

[wvjules]

There is no guarantee that they will receive back pay. It is likely, yes, but legislation for back pay hasn't been voted on yet. In the meantime, I'm sure bartering for bills is going to go over well.

And yes, I consider working without getting paid as working for no pay.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There is no guarantee that they will receive back pay. It is likely, yes, but legislation for back pay hasn't been voted on yet. In the meantime, I'm sure bartering for bills is going to go over well.

And yes, I consider working without getting paid as working for no pay.

Working without being paid should be known by all government employees since furloughs and shutdowns happen all the time.

 

[luvsJack]

Working without being paid should be known by all government employees since furloughs and shutdowns happen all the time.

The government never hires anyone new? I mean you realize this affects anyone who just got hired too? Or just got in the Coast Guard? Hard to save up that quick.

 

[wvjules]

Working without being paid should be known by all government employees since furloughs and shutdowns happen all the time.

I don't get your point?

 

[Searc]

That might work if you have savings to fall back on. That is not a reality for everyone. So what are they supposed to do? And what's the incentive for continuing to show up if they aren't sure when they are going to get paid? What if they need to take on a second job to make ends meet for the time being and it interferes with their regular job?

That's why TSA screeners are calling out of work. They need to work somewhere they'll get paid, to pay bills!

 

[Christine]

That might work if you have savings to fall back on. That is not a reality for everyone. So what are they supposed to do? And what's the incentive for continuing to show up if they aren't sure when they are going to get paid? What if they need to take on a second job to make ends meet for the time being and it interferes with their regular job?

The government job must take precedence. When you are forced to work during a shutdown, you can only stay home if you are legitimately sick. You can take a second job but you cannot skip time at the government job if you happen to get a shift at your second job. You can lie and say you are sick and hope you don't get caught. If you do get caught, it is grounds for immediate termination.

 

[Christine]

That's why TSA screeners are calling out of work. They need to work somewhere they'll get paid, to pay bills!

Hopefully they are being smart about this and not jeopardizing their government job.

 

[skyblue17]

The government job must take precedence. When you are forced to work during a shutdown, you can only stay home if you are legitimately sick. You can take a second job but you cannot skip time at the government job if you happen to get a shift at your second job. You can lie and say you are sick and hope you don't get caught. If you do get caught, it is grounds for immediate termination.

Interesting. Who is actually enforcing this during a shutdown? What is going to happen to the "hundreds" of TSA agents calling in sick, and if they all get terminated, who replaces them during a shutdown?

 

[Southernmiss]

The government job must take precedence. When you are forced to work during a shutdown, you can only stay home if you are legitimately sick. You can take a second job but you cannot skip time at the government job if you happen to get a shift at your second job. You can lie and say you are sick and hope you don't get caught. If you do get caught, it is grounds for immediate termination.

I get what you're saying. I'm extremely loyal and faithful and fortunately have never not had some savings.

But getting paid is pretty dang important to many pay day to pay day people who need to feed their family.

It's easy for us to sit comfortably and say what some should have or do. But I've not walked in their shoes.

 

[Christine]

Interesting. Who is actually enforcing this during a shutdown? What is going to happen to the "hundreds" of TSA agents calling in sick, and if they all get terminated, who replaces them during a shutdown?

It's hard to know who is enforcing it. Probably no one. But if it comes to light somehow or they get reported, then they really risk losing their jobs. During one of the past shutdowns that didn't happen, I was supposed to be working and I was given some big warning about this and all the lengths I had to go to if I got sick or something. It was a big deal, at least in my agency. If I was essential and called in sick, they had to immediately recall someone to take my place, paperwork had to all be amended, etc. Then all in reverse when I was better.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The government never hires anyone new? I mean you realize this affects anyone who just got hired too? Or just got in the Coast Guard? Hard to save up that quick.

Probably the same as people understanding the stipulations set forth in their employment offers.

It's like someone understanding they are in an at-will state or their employment offer is contingent upon xyz.

If you're stating instead that it sucks for those who were just hired yeah totally agree on that. But the PP seem to be more saying that it's something you should know should you take a government job--that in case of xyz this is what can/will happen (could be wrong that that's what they meant).

 

[Christine]

I get what you're saying. I'm extremely loyal and faithful and fortunately have never not had some savings.

But getting paid is pretty dang important to many pay day to pay day people who need to feed their family.

It's easy for us to sit comfortably and say what some should have or do. But I've not walked in their shoes.

Oh I agree. I think we all have seen survey after survey showing most Americans have enough savings to miss maybe one pay period. Government workers are no exception. One thing I do know was offered to me was that if you belonged to some of the various government credit unions, they often would offer interest free "advances" on missed paychecks during a time of non-pay. I never belonged to the credit union so my bank was not offering this but it is a perk of some credit unions closely associated with government agencies.

 

[LSUmiss]

But are they? If they are going to get back pay it isn't working for no pay, it is just working now for a payment in the future. I wouldn't be thrilled if I wasn't going to be paid for a month or two for work I was doing today but I also wouldn't consider it working for no pay. I'd just have to use savings until then and top it back off.

Not everyone has that luxury. And, there is no guarantee they’ll be back paid. Most likely they will, but it’s not done until it is. And, I would be really angry having to work & not knowing when I would get paid for that work. At least if you’re furloughed you get to stay home.

 

[LSUmiss]

Not sure if we are allowed to link out here, but I just read that hundreds of TSA screeners are beginning to call in sick at major airports as the shutdown continues. I'm not sure how that kind of situation gets remedied without the government re-opening. They currently aren't going to be getting a paycheck, but I don't THINK they can be fired either (I would assume that type of HR processing would be considered non-essential), nor can anyone else be hired and trained. And if this continues, major airports would likely slow to a standstill and anyone travelling within the US could be affected.

I am not sure how long it could possibly go on if air travel basically halts, especially since I'd imagine the airlines would get involved. Perhaps anyone deemed essential enough to work should be paid during a shutdown like this, maybe focus on that first and get to the rest after that's settled.

Good for them.

 

[daisy2013]

Working without being paid should be known by all government employees since furloughs and shutdowns happen all the time.

They don’t happen all the time well until 2018 when there have been three.
There were three in the 1980s - one lasting one day and the other two an afternoon
Three in the 1990s including a 21 day one
One in 2013 lasting 17 days.
So almost a third of all govt shutdowns happened within the past year.
There have been other occasions when parts of the govt has shutdown due to lack of funding - the FTC at one point for an afternoon. The time congress forgot to pass the budget bill and went to parties that night so didn’t vote until the next day. But I wouldn’t counts those on a list.

 

[daisy2013]

Not everyone has that luxury. And, there is no guarantee they’ll be back paid. Most likely they will, but it’s not done until it is. And, I would be really angry having to work & not knowing when I would get paid for that work. At least if you’re furloughed you get to stay home.

Several friends in govt say they are not counting on backpay. This one just feels different is what they are saying.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

It saddens me when people don't understand how it affects the government workers whether they are working and not getting paid or furloughed. Someone said earlier that you should know if you are taking a government job that this could happen. How many of us can actually take a hit for a few months? How many of us will turn down a job just because we may not get paid sometimes? We need a job to pay bills. We take it. When we were a young family a month would have put us under. Some people have huge monthly medical bills and we were one of them. We didn't have the luxury of saving like some. I think we as Americans need some compassion for the people who are without income and have no knowledge when they will earn a paycheck. Politics aside, it is a shame what is happening to the Federal employees.

 

[kdonnel]

You can have compassion and still not be effected.

I have yet to notice anything is shutdown.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They don’t happen all the time well until 2018 when there have been three.
There were three in the 1980s - one lasting one day and the other two an afternoon
Three in the 1990s including a 21 day one
One in 2013 lasting 17 days.
So almost a third of all govt shutdowns happened within the past year.
There have been other occasions when parts of the govt has shutdown due to lack of funding - the FTC at one point for an afternoon. The time congress forgot to pass the budget bill and went to parties that night so didn’t vote until the next day. But I wouldn’t counts those on a list.

Though that goes to show it happens in the past. This isn't the only one to happen. Each one has its own reasons and its own impacts and its own ripple effects, etc. And it will happen in the future.

For 2018:
Feb 9 2018 was a 9hr budgetary lapse but was not considered a shut down. No one was furloughed and no government services were impacted. It was considered a funding lapse.

 

[daisy2013]

Though that goes to show it happens in the past. This isn't the only one to happen. Each one has its own reasons and its own impacts and its own ripple effects, etc. And it will happen in the future. It is something that a government worker is/should be aware of. Job security and its meaning to someone can be relative but it is still considered more protected to be a government worker for a variety of reasons too including benefits.

For 2018:
Feb 9 2018 was a 9hr budgetary lapse but was not considered a shut down. No one was furloughed and no government services were impacted. It was considered a funding lapse.

Fine than take the two afternoons out of the 1980s because they were even shorter “funding lapses”. And you have five time the govt was shut down. 2 this past year. That’s what 40% in the past year.
Yes “things happen”. But this is not a normal occurance and people should not have to plan extra careful to make sure they have money to weather a govt shutdown that lasts several weeks or even a year or more if you listen to the news today. People have died in national parks due to the shutdown. Whether they should have been there or not - there is a human toll. Workers are being told to barter with landlords for rent.