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02-03-2009, 01:38 AM #1
Interesting law - betcha didn't know!
Interested to hear what you all think about this....
In a nutshell, there are regulations in place within the federal government that prohibit any government worker from making more salary per year than a junior senator.
I think that ceiling at the moment is around $150,000.
So what this means is, if a government worker works enough overtime to where he/she is getting close to the cap, he or she will have to start forfeiting a portion of their paycheck to make sure they don't go above the cap for yearly earnings... yet still work the hours essentially underpaid or even UNPAID!
Personally, I think this might be the weakest thing I have ever heard.
Thoughts?
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02-03-2009, 12:35 PM #2
I wonder if anyone comes close. I would think that people that make the larger salaries at government jobs get salaries and don't earn overtime. I'm not sure what the average hourly rate is of a government worker, but I'd bet a nice guess at a maximum would be in the low $20's. If you made $20 an hour and got time and a half for OT you'd have to work 3613 overtime hours to hit a gross of $150,000 in a year. That's 69 hours a week OT. That would put you working 109 hours a week when there are only 168 hours in a week.
Even if a person made $40 an hour and $60 an hour for OT, they'd have to work an extra 21.4 hours a week to hit $150,000.
So as far as the regular government worker goes this really wouldn't affect them at all.
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02-03-2009, 12:58 PM #3
Government employees are usually discouraged from working a lot of overtime. I know I have to put in all kinds of request to be authorized overtime.
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02-03-2009, 02:39 PM #4
A GS-13 makes a base pay of nearly $130,000 a year. There are tons of opportunities to make OT, especially when you are TDY. I personally know a lot of co-workers that are forfeiting a large percentage of their checks at the end of each year because they are coming close to maxing out.
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02-03-2009, 02:46 PM #5
That is a little high for a GS-13. I am currently a GS-12 equivalent and yes when I go TDY I get overtime but they try and spread out our trips among all of the employees here so we don't go over the limit.
There has to be some sort of loopholes there though since I know some of the government guys who deployed with me made well over that figure last year.
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02-03-2009, 02:54 PM #6
Ok, but we're getting off topic here.
What I was getting at is why the law exists in the first place. It's a little vain to think that one's job is so important that nobody else in the field is allowed to make more than that person, even if they work harder, put in more hours, and are doing more important work.
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02-03-2009, 03:28 PM #7
I totally agree with you. Sorry to get off topic.
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02-03-2009, 07:34 PM #8
I agree. If someone works hard enough, works a lot of overtime, why are they getting unpaid for this work? It sounds asinine to me.
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02-03-2009, 08:11 PM #9
I agree that it's wrong that no one can make more than a junior Senator (I think that's the point you're making), but I have no problem with salary workers not getting paid for overtime. That happens all the time with salary positions in all industries. Once you reach a certain position level, you're no longer paid in any hourly way, you're completely salary and you get that amount whether you work 10 hours a week or 70. I would have to have a hefty salary to be really ok with that, but that's how it goes.
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02-03-2009, 08:16 PM #10
Sure, I understand that... but that's not what I am getting at.
Govt workers do get paid for overtime but due to this ridiculous law we are prohibited from earning more money than a junior senator so we have to give back some of our paycheck each pay period if we get too close to the cap.
That is flat-out retarded.
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Originally Posted by haybierman 
