<p>LANL employees are technically employees of University of California Board of Governors who manage the labs under contract to DOE. SNL employees are employees of Lockheed Martin who manage the lab under contract to the DOE. It is not clear if employees will receive back pay since the employment situation is complex.</p>
<p>(Yes, one of the perks of working for LANL is your kids can go to any UC for instate prices. It’s not an uncommon practice locally for scientists, engineers or even support staff to transfer to LANL in time for their kids to start college.)</p>
<p>And not all LANL employees are well paid since employees include people like lab techs, administrative assistants, janatorial staff and many other support positions.</p>
<p>Probably more like being home sick when there’s a raging epidemic so all of your other coworkers are also at home and are unable to do any work.</p>
<p>Best anology that I’ve seen so far. I’ll agree with much like being quarantined after exposure to a deadly disease and not only are you and all your coworkers trapped at home unable to do any work, but you’re also dealing with the stress of wondering if you are going to survive your exposure and if there is going to be a treatment available before it becomes fatal.</p>
<p>I’m an accountant for a fairly large government contractor. Last Friday the CEO gave the direction to all staff charging indirect that we could only charge 24 hours this week. The rest of the hours would have to be charged to vacation or leave without pay. Yesterday we received direction that the 24 hours a week will continue until the shutdown ends. The group I work with already has more that 1,000 direct workers off because of the shutdown of the government agencies they support. </p>
<p>There will be no back pay for the contractor employees not working. This is a big burden on some. As a long time employee I am fortunate to have a lot of vacation on the books. Plus I already had scheduled time off for a few days over the next two weeks so the 24 per week is fine for me.</p>
<p>Unless you’re one of the many contractors (or people whose businesses are dependent upon these contractors) who don’t stand a great chance at getting that backpay.</p>
<p>And even if the NIH researchers get back pay, it will not bring the ruined experiments back from the dead. For scientists, their paycheck is not always the ultimate goal.</p>
<p>Uh oh. I live in California. I’m not going to buy chicken for a while; there’s a multiple drug-resistant salmonella outbreak in chicken, centered in my state, and the CDC can’t monitor it because the people that usually monitor it are not “essential.”</p>
<p>Nothing is certain. But, the House has already passed it Unanimously, and the President said he would sign it. I doubt the Senate would not pass the bill once the shutdown is over. No way would the Senate Democrats be willing to take the heat for not passing that bill. The only opposition to bloating expenditures is on the Republican side.</p>
<p>Also, 83% of federal workers are still on the job and will be paid. So, paying 17% of the workforce is chump change.</p>
<p>My college soph called tonight and said she has been “furloughed” from her babysitting job. The father of the children is a federal employee and is presently not working.</p>
<p>I didn’t think we’d be affected at first. But now they’re talking about holding up checks for retired and disabled military (DH is Army retired). And I, a state worker, stand a good chance of being furloughed if this thing goes past October 31. I’ve been laid off three times since college, the last time for 18 months from July 2010 to January 2012. I thought working for the state was as safe as it got - more fool me.</p>
<p>DH works for a large company that supplies materials to the gov’t. Unless the shutdown ends by Friday, DH will be furloughed without pay (no chance of back-pay) and no benefits. We had a considerable rainy-day fund at the beginning of the year, but a string of medical emergencies has taken a big chunk of it (even though we have decent insurance). I assume we’ll have to pay COBRA for insurance, but DH’s office is only now releasing furlough details & much is unknown. I work part-time, so we’ll have some income, but it’s going to be tough if this goes on for long. DH will try to collect unemployment, but we’re unsure of the rules & I’m going to look into it this week.</p>
<p>Once DH was advised of the situation over a week ago, we stopped all non-essential spending immediately. DH works at one of the area’s largest employers, and most everyone will be furloughed without pay, so there will be a significant economic impact here. </p>
<p>DH & I have no debt aside from our mortgage, and our kids will not go hungry, but I’m still extremely concerned about our situation, espc w/the cost of COBRA (as I understand it, anyway). My heart goes out to those who are losing pay and/or benefits and have less of a safety net than we do. My DH works with many people who fall into that category, and they are really scared.</p>
<p>Furloughed federal employees may get back pay, but furloughed contractors won’t. This hasn’t been mentioned for a few pages, so I thought I should bring it up. </p>
<p>GoAskDad’s husband is actually in more trouble than he would be if he were a federal employee.</p>