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20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

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Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#111
post #15

I think the main issue for anyone wanting to take the offer is simply: this was never authorized by congress, so the money to pay people to September is questionable if it exists at best. Meanwhile, there's a government funding deadline on March 14, 2025. So there's a very real chance at this deal offering something closer to ~1 month of pay before it suddenly gets dropped due to budget negotiations. It would be an i…

If the gov will not be funded and you don't believe the gov will honor it's severance agreement why would you believe the employment contract will be honored after March 14?

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#112
post #15

I think the main issue for anyone wanting to take the offer is simply: this was never authorized by congress, so the money to pay people to September is questionable if it exists at best. Meanwhile, there's a government funding deadline on March 14, 2025. So there's a very real chance at this deal offering something closer to ~1 month of pay before it suddenly gets dropped due to budget negotiations. It would be an i…

If the gov will not be funded and you don't believe the gov will honor it's severance agreement why would you believe the employment contract will be honored after March 14?

There’s many examples of government shutdowns where workers received back pay even when they didn’t work those hours.

So future administrations are likely to retroactively approve payments if it becomes a political issue. Honestly taking the buyout without an act of congress backing it is likely the more risky here unless you where already planning to leave which is likely why most people took it.

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#114
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing looks bad to them, so it doesn't matter. Looking bad isn't a deterrent any more.

I don't think that's ever really been a problem for Trump. Everyone I talk to who supports him expects him to be a hail-mary grenade thrown into DC—a big middle finger to the powers that be. They feel completely disenfranchised and want a shake-up. Amazingly, so far, it hasn't hurt his approval numbers.

> Amazingly, so far, it hasn't hurt his approval numbers.

He started with (I think) the lowest approval numbers in modern records so to an extent it was probably priced in from the outset.

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#115
post #2

Doubt it... You'd be a fool to think you'd actually get the money

Of course, if they decide to not pay you it won't matter if you took this or tried to keep your job. So you may get a head start and turn your time to searching for a new job now. If they do end up following through with the buyout payments in the end, that is an added bonus.

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#116
post #9

20k represents 1%. The target is 5-10%. The messaging is 100-200k federal layoff is coming.

Since the turover rate per year is 6%, implemented hiring freeze would yield theese results.

Which is exactly what Canadian government has been doing for a while now after the service ballooned during the pandemic, e.g.: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadaPublicServants/comments/1g9qy...

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#117
post #2

Doubt it... You'd be a fool to think you'd actually get the money

Is this where we're at now? Thinking that the new administration will just openly refuse to pay people's salaries as part of a formal deal?

Do you know who the President and his crony is? Have you seen Musk and Trump lie, repeatedly, about paying invoices and stiffing people? Have you seen Musk not pay his Twitter employees after he took over? Do you have a memory problem?

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

》 So there's a very real chance at this deal offering something closer to ~1 month of pay before it suddenly gets dropped due to budget negotiations. I do not see your arguments US has worker protections, even if US government goes bancrupt, it has to pay its obligations. And if government refuses to pay, no worker, even if employed, is getting anything!

And you think that an offer accepted by sending an email with "Resign" in the subject line is subject to these protections? You think DOGE is even authorized to make said offers? Why, because Elon and Trump said so? Also your last line is just bizarre. The US government can very much selectively pay some parties but not others during a shutdown. That's kind of the definition of a shutdown.... Plus this administration…

The requirements for making a contract are minimal. If your friend says "I bet you a hundred dollars that you can't run over there and back in less than a minute" and you say nothing in response but start running, you've entered into a binding contract. Your other points still stand, but an email that makes an offer and makes it clear that you accept by responding "Resign" and a response to that email that says "Resign" is definitely sufficient to be subject to contract law.

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#119
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also suspect that there really isn't nearly as much "waste" here as Musk is alleging, so we are going to be forced to re-hire people, while still paying a ton of workers for 8 months of no work. This doesn't seem "efficient" to me, but "efficient" is a word that doesn't actually mean anything without context, which they don't provide.

Re-hire people for what? They don’t want a functioning government

OK. What do they want?

Seriously, what do you claim they want?

A fascist dictatorship? You still need a functioning government for that. (It doesn't function for the people, but it still requires a large number of competent employees.)

Anarchy? Mad Max? Everybody dies, so no government employees are needed?

Takeover by Canada, Mexico, China, or Russia, so it becomes their problem?

Or do you just claim that they're so stupid that they haven't thought past "Hur, let's, like, destroy the government, man"?

Seriously, what do you actually claim that they actually want?

Re: 20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says

#120

My personal and probably not unique prediction is that these people will be let go and not be paid - same thing he did with twitter.

There are some pretty significant differences between Twitter employees and federal government employees, starting with the fact that a lot of latter group are part of a powerful union.
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