How's the partial federal government shutdown affecting you?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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.

You're barking up the wrong tree here...I didn't say anything about what you're talking about nor am I speaking towards that.

You said we have three in 2018 and then also said "There have been other occasions when parts of the govt has shutdown due to lack of funding". That's what the Feb 9th one was only it wasn't officially regarded as a shutdown but rather a funding gap. That would be 2 in 2018 so far.

People in the 80s I'm sure were upset too. People in the 90s were as well. I think you're going for a frequency thing here talking about the percentages in 2018 but in reality it's not completely abnormal what we're going through when one considers the past.

No shutdown or for that matter funding gap should be wanted but in the end with the way that our system is set up when specific things happen or er..rather don't happen a shutdown can occur. Heck for the last several years my state's Board of Education has advised "get the budget to X or none of your schools (well aside from private that don't receive state funding) will open come the school year. We've come darn near close too to not having the schools open up.

 

[luvsJack]

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).

I work for the state and have a yearly contract. I also live in an at will state. So although we have contracts, we can be fired on a whim (due to college policy, it won’t happen unless I do something very extreme but it could in theory). I have savings and we would be fine but it’s not like we expect to not work. We hardly sit around thinking we may not be working next week because we live in an at will state.

Dh used to work in construction. Dec, Jan and sometimes Feb equaled low pay due to lots of rain outs. We learned to be prepared and have the money set aside for that. But it came every single year. And even then, it took getting through that first year before we were truly prepared.

Knowing it is a possibility and being prepared for it in the first few months of employment are two very different things.

And, btw, they don’t hire people and say “oh there may be times you don’t get paid because . . .” Well I won’t quite finish that statement. I mean would you honestly take a job with the knowledge you may work for weeks with no pay? Or get furloughed and not be paid?

 

[bcla]

And, btw, they don’t hire people and say “oh there may be times you don’t get paid because . . .” Well I won’t quite finish that statement. I mean would you honestly take a job with the knowledge you may work for weeks with no pay? Or get furloughed and not be paid?

Been there once. It was weird too. In order to save on salary my company shifted to 20% furloughs. We had an option of how we wanted to take it - either one day off a week or entire weeks off. And yeah it stank because I'd never heard of it happening before in my industry.

The weird thing is that they suggested taking unemployment. I couldn't quite figure out how to do it, but apparently my state has an unemployment claim for "partial unemployment" for this kind of situation. And they were suggesting it even though a boatload of claims would raise their unemployment insurance costs.

 

[kdonnel]

Been there once. It was weird too. In order to save on salary my company shifted to 20% furloughs. We had an option of how we wanted to take it - either one day off a week or entire weeks off. And yeah it stank because I'd never heard of it happening before in my industry.

The weird thing is that they suggested taking unemployment. I couldn't quite figure out how to do it, but apparently my state has an unemployment claim for "partial unemployment" for this kind of situation. And they were suggesting it even though a boatload of claims would raise their unemployment insurance costs.

During the great recession after many rounds of layoffs my employer hit a point where they knew further layoffs would leave them with too few people to get the job done so we got a 5% across the board pay cut and 2 weeks furlough (In effect an almost 9% pay cut). I remember the people who worked out of the NJ office were able to get unemployment for those 2 weeks but not us in GA.

It was at that point I realized I should plan for the inevitable. I was not the only one.

My employer also closed the OH office around that same time period. There were two husband wife couples who worked in that office, both the husband and wife lost their jobs the same day. There was another husband/wife couple in the NJ office. They agreed to both start looking and who ever found a new job would take it. That way they would lesson the chances of both of them getting let go the same day. A year later the NJ office was closed and at least the husband who had left for a new job was not let go the same day as his wife.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Knowing it is a possibility and being prepared for it in the first few months of employment are two very different things.

Of course..but that's not what I was talking about. I said nothing about saving or abc.

Not having savings or enough money to cover you is literally a concern ALL people should have and attempt to be prepared for because being laid off, fired, your company going under or being sold or merged, your job being reliant on budgetary requirements to be fullfilled, your job reliant on consumer behaviors, etc. I say attempt because reality is oftentimes you are unable to effectively save enough to float them for a variety of reasons.

I know far more people in precarious situations on a day to day basis because they are at the mercy of xyz.

And, btw, they don’t hire people and say “oh there may be times you don’t get paid because . . .” Well I won’t quite finish that statement. I mean would you honestly take a job with the knowledge you may work for weeks with no pay? Or get furloughed and not be paid?

I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying. Does anyone want that? Heck to the no. But personally I don't like that I'm in an at-will state and can be fired for just about anything under the sun at the whim of whatever company I hired on to. Government jobs have risks and so do non-government jobs.

When I was at the insurance company I used to not get paid for time spent booting up the computer, time spent putting in my time sheet as an hourly employee. If you left at 5:08pm you were only paid as if you worked til 5:00pm. If you left at 5:15pm you were paid as if you work til 5:15pm. That was the way it was for years. It wasn't until a lawsuit brought forth by the Department of Labor when they went to being paid by the minute. People were ordered to be back paid spanning a time frame of 10 years; unfortunately I wasn't covered in the lawsuit due to the time frame in which I was hired, I only had that 15min time thing for about 2 months though but that was 2 months of additional pay I lost out on when not being paid by the minute and instead in 15min time slots.

On the flip side my husband until recently, as a salaried employee wasn't paid for his time beyond 40 hours. His company now pays salaried employees straight time for working 45hours or more in a given week. Hourly employees are different. But it's a con so to speak for being salaried. Before the company changed their policy you would work 60-70+ hours, especially easy when you're onsite of a powerplant, and only get paid as if you're working for 40 hours.

Yes I do realize it is a different animal to not get paid at all but working or not working and not getting paid. Just discussing pay cons to regular jobs out there.

 

[bcla]

During the great recession after many rounds of layoffs my employer hit a point where they knew further layoffs would leave them with too few people to get the job done so we got a 5% across the board pay cut and 2 weeks furlough (In effect an almost 9% pay cut). I remember the people who worked out of the NJ office were able to get unemployment for those 2 weeks but not us in GA.

I actually screwed it up. There was a special application for “partial unemployment” but it wasn’t explained all that well to me. Technically we were only paid for the days we came in (still technically salaried) but to help reduce withholding and get steady income, or pay was stretched out. Legally I wasn’t being paid for that week off. I filed the regular one, and they sent me back a regular unemployment claim form. I filled it out one week paid, the next week on full salary. Got nothing since there has to be a week, and then I was employed again. I think if I got paid via a low paying part time job during a long furlough, I’d get an unemployment payment.

 

[MillauFr]

Once congress starts hearing from all of the people that aren't getting their tax refund checks the government will be reopened quickly.

 

[Colleen27]

Most likely, the only impact I'll feel is if cleanup and repairs are still underway at the national parks when we head out west in June or if the passport office is still impacted by late summer when I plan to get my youngest her passport. But I feel for the border patrol agents around here. They're still expected to be working, but they're not getting paid... and I know they don't make a whole lot of money to begin with, so that's going to be tough.

 

[Planogirl]

In my industry, the Federal Trade Commission is an important entity at times and it's closed right now. The FTC has even shut down its website so people going there with fraud issues or problems with companies won't find help.

I also had a type of review coming up this month to see about my social security disability status. Of course that won't happen.

 

[Dentam]

The affect that the shutdown is already having on our national parks is very upsetting. Not to mention people who are going without pay right now. It affects all of us whether people can see it or not.

 

[Hikergirl]

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.

If they work for the government, or their livelihood would be effected by a shutdown then yes they should. It's called being prepared and it is an individual's responsibility to do what they can to weather the storm. It may not be as easy for some as others but to say "people shouldn't" is ridiculous. Shutdown's are a possibility, just like being laid off from a private sector job is.

 

[luvsJack]

The affect that the shutdown is already having on our national parks is very upsetting. Not to mention people who are going without pay right now. It affects all of us whether people can see it or not.

It really does and if it continues it will start affecting us all a lot more.

Many areas, depend on government employees for their local economy. Where Dd works (she works for a contract company at a fed site) is one of the largest employers in their area. There are a lot of people either not working or not getting paid while at work. Even those that may get helped out by their credit unions are not going to be spending much money, if any, beyond necessities. It’s going to eventually have a bad affect on the whole area.

It was the same way in some areas when the oil field was all but shut down a few years ago. People thought “oh it’s not a problem. Anyone working in the oilfield makes that big money, they should be fine” Well they lived but they quit buying cars and furniture, stopped going out to eat and shopping for non necessary items. And it hit whole areas pretty hard.

 

[luvsJack]

If they work for the government, or their livelihood would be effected by a shutdown then yes they should. It's called being prepared and it is an individual's responsibility to do what they can to weather the storm. It may not be as easy for some as others but to say "people shouldn't" is ridiculous. Shutdown's are a possibility, just like being laid off from a private sector job is.

Everyone should have savings to fall back on in an emergency. Regardless of what that emergency might be that could keep one from working. And in a perfect world, everyone would. But we live in a far from perfect world. We live in reality. A reality where not everyone makes enough or has enough extra pay to have that kind of savings. A reality where some of these people have already gone through an emergency that used the savings they had.

People are being told to barter for their rent. So what exactly is that landlord supposed to do in his/rental property is his/her only income? Now we have two people who have lost income. Dominos falling.

 

[Hikergirl]

Everyone should have savings to fall back on in an emergency. Regardless of what that emergency might be that could keep one from working. And in a perfect world, everyone would. But we live in a far from perfect world. We live in reality. A reality where not everyone makes enough or has enough extra pay to have that kind of savings. A reality where some of these people have already gone through an emergency that used the savings they had.

People are being told to barter for their rent. So what exactly is that landlord supposed to do in his/rental property is his/her only income? Now we have two people who have lost income. Dominos falling.

The pp said people "shouldn't have to do......", and in a perfect world that is true, but like you said we don't live in a perfect world. The reality is that gov't shutdowns are always a possibility, whether or not they happen frequently or not. People should prepare as best they can because there is always a chance it could happen to them.

 

[mnrose]

In the perfect world, where people are prepared for every contingency and emergency, we also wouldn't have government shutdowns.

 

[kdonnel]

In the perfect world, where people are prepared for every contingency and emergency, we also wouldn't have government shutdowns.

So since we can't prepare for some problems, we shouldn't prepare for any?

Ice storms are an infrequent problem where I live. Maybe only once every 5 or so years. But I still make sure to have a few days worth of food, water, and gas for the generator on hand at all times.

If I lived in an area with earthquakes I would keep an earthquake kit in my cars.

A little preparation (personal responsibility) goes a long way in a disaster (shutdown).

 

[luvsJack]

The pp said people "shouldn't have to do......", and in a perfect world that is true, but like you said we don't live in a perfect world. The reality is that gov't shutdowns are always a possibility, whether or not they happen frequently or not. People should prepare as best they can because there is always a chance it could happen to them.

Again, there will always be people who simply do not have the funds to prepare.

Single mom makes $15 an hour. So 600 per week before taxes, insurance, retirement, whatever. She will bring home about 450 per week. Rent is 600. That’s over a week’s pay. Even if that rent includes utilities, she still has to put gas in her car, buy clothes, pay child care and food for her and her child. Maybe even diapers and formula. How is she supposed to prepare for the possibility for a shut down? Just not a reality for her.

Dd is furloughed. She is one of the lucky ones. She is filling in at another job that will allow her to be off from there if her furloughed job calls her in for a day. Plus she is able to do food delivery part time to make up her pay. And sil makes enough to see them through. They don’t depend on her pay. But she is only one of several from her office that that is that lucky. The others are struggling.



I do agree with you that it’s not realistic to say they “shouldn’t have to” but it’s not really realistic to say they all can and should either.

 

[Hikergirl]

I do agree with you that it’s not realistic to say they “shouldn’t have to” but it’s not really realistic to say they all can and should either.

I never said they "can" prepare, I said they should prepare the best they can.

 

[Turn the Page]

So far we are unaffected. However, in the next few weeks we will be if the shutdown doesn't end.

DH and I are heading to Nashville in a few weeks so we are getting worried we will have problems with TSA. Also, we always get a tax refund each year and I don't know what will happen with that if the government it still shutdown by the time we file our tax return. I would think the department in charge of accepting money would still be running but I'm not so sure about the department that issues refunds.

 

[Christine]

Let's face it, there are a wide range of people and circumstances in this world that I think it's not realistic to think 100% can be prepared for this. I know several people affected by the shutdown. One is a career civil servant at the end of his career. His wife works. All kids are done with college. They've been in their home over 20 years. They have had a few years now to put themselves in a great financial position so they are fine.

Another person I know just got out of college with a master's degree. Some student loans. Just rented a room in a group house in DC to take his contractor job with the State Department. He's been there ONE month. No savings and will have rent and utilities due to cover his share. He's not sure what he's going to do and his roomies are considering helping him to cover, although he won't get back pay as a contractor. I'm just not sure what he could have done to prepare.

I know several younger folks in the government (we are not furloughed but I know they would be in trouble shortly if we were). High rent/mortgages, entry level government, yada, yada, yada. It wouldn't take long to drain some of their reserves.