Timeline for Are there any assumptions on how long the US government shutdown is bearable for the unpaid employees?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 11, 2019 at 18:04 | comment | added | doneal24 | Back pay may be awarded to direct federal employees but this is not guaranteed. Federal contractors are unlikely to see any back pay; they never have in the past. Businesses that depend on government spending or on government employee spending. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 22:02 | comment | added | RWW | I'm down voting becuase your answer is missing citations and is in some cases flat out wrong. Unemployment payouts are better than 0, but are nowhere close to a normal paycheck for paying bills. I disagree that most institutions "will ease up on the furloughed employees". Also, today is not the 1st day of missed paychecks. That was the 1st of the month (except for the Coast Guard, whose uniformed service members got paid, but not the civilians supporting them). Additionally, while the government does use a 2 week pay period, not everybody is on the same week. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 19:15 | comment | added | Turysaz | @hszmv To me it looks like your answer describes well how it should be theoretically, while the comments and the downvoting of your answer indicate that in reality it may be worse for the employees. My question however is mainly about the reality for the employees affected by the shutdown (essential or not). I therefore removed the accepted flag for now, so others will not expect this question to be closed and will share their knowledge or experiences. Please don't feel offended by this. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 19:03 | comment | added | Geobits | (cont) Do you have any sources that say otherwise? | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 19:03 | comment | added | Geobits | The first few links Google gave me seem to contradict that: HuffPost: "...those who are continuing to work without pay don’t qualify since they are still employed." AJC: "...essential employees who are required by law to stay on the job without pay during the shutdown won’t qualify for unemployment benefits..." ISJ: "Essential workers, who work full-time (40 hours per week), are not eligible for unemployment benefits." | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 18:54 | comment | added | hszmv | @Geobits: For the purposes of most umemployment laws, they do count as employed (It's a weird area, but the laws that cover this go by status as a government worker during the shut down... they don't ask if you are essential or not... just if you are federal employee during a shut down.). So they are included in this answer. There could be cases where a particular state does it differently, but I'm not aware of this distinction. I can say, as a DC area resident, I know a ton of federal workers and none of them are all that concerned when this happens. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 18:42 | comment | added | Geobits | From what I can tell, the main thrust of the question is not about furloughed workers, but those 'essential' employees that are working without pay. That's judging from the bits about backpay, debt, etc. And as far as I can tell, while furloughed workers are able to receive unemployment benefits in many states, those that are still working without pay (which seemed like the main thrust of this question imo) are not, since they are technically still employed. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 18:32 | comment | added | Azor Ahai -him- | @hszmv That's what I said in my comment. I have not seen a single news article or Internet comment that suggests anyone is thinking of this as an "unexpected vacation" over an unnecessary financial stressor. Perhaps you could cite something that says that, including the lowest paid employees like TSA, not just the more highly paid civil servants. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 18:21 | comment | added | hszmv | @AzorAhai: Often federal employees don't apply right away because few shut downs go to the third week (the historical record is 21 days) and the paperwork is quite bureaucratic and time consuming. Other employees do have a nest egg that they feel they don't need it. You will hear about the ones that worried all the time because both sides will use them as reasons to end the shut down by agreeing to their terms. Most federal employees view this as an unexpected vacation than anything else. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 17:52 | vote | accept | Turysaz | ||
| Jan 10, 2019 at 18:56 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2019 at 17:29 | comment | added | Azor Ahai -him- | I think you're minimizing the effects here a little bit. I've heard far more about people whose mortgages, car notes, landlords, utilities, Internet providers, grocery stores, etc. aren't letting up. Unemployment benefits can take a long time to come in, and DC's is jammed right now, and many people probably didn't apply right away, perhaps expecting a few days of shutdown, not 3 weeks to a month. Two-federal employee households are doubly worse off. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 14:56 | vote | accept | Turysaz | ||
| Jan 10, 2019 at 17:52 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2019 at 14:35 | history | answered | hszmv | CC BY-SA 4.0 |