We dodged one this time, but I’ve been there before.
Furlough. This is a period of time in which a worker keeps the job but may not report to work. This is what will happen to Federal workers when the government shuts down.
It happened to me and my wife (a double whammy) in the late nineties. I worked at FEMA's National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I managed a project to develop training courses. I had hired a contract development firm (Remtec) via the procurement process to do so. We would assemble a team of subject matter experts (current and retired firefighters) to work on the project. The first "deliverable" in the contract was a three day meeting on campus with two representatives from Remtec. Midway into the afternoon, we were interrupted from our work with the information that the Government was officially shutting down and that all workers must stop working immediately and leave the workplace. Duh?
I couldn't believe it. But this was coming from the Superintendent of the Fire Academy (a Presidential appointment) so it was real. We had to stop the work and go home. My colleague, Doug Cook, and I were flabbergasted. The Remtec principle contact, Bob Baxter, joined us in this bewilderment. He and his coworker had driven up from Norfolk, Virginia, and checked into a hotel in Gettysburg for this meeting. They didn't like having to leave without getting the work done. Neither did Doug and I. As I said before, duh! What to do?
I'm not sure of the exact turn of events that happened next, but I believe I gave Bob my home phone and I exchanged numbers with Doug. Remember when we had home phones, those big plastic things that usually hung from our kitchen walls? Bob would try to get the use of a meeting room in the hotel, at no charge, and if successful, he would initiate a flurry of calls and we would meet the next day in Gettysburg to proceed with our work. I agreed to drive ninety minutes first thing in the morning to work without pay to try to get the first stage of the contract going and keep the whole project on schedule. Doug lived in Gettysburg, so it would be okay with him.
The next day we met as planned and got started. I don't recall if it was this day or did we meet for a second one, but at any event, we stopped for lunch and went to a restaurant next to the hotel. At one point, I just happened to look up toward the main door and see a tall man with a shock of white hair making an entrance. It was the Superintendent. Of all the joints in all the world!
Doug and I froze for a moment and our eyes locked on the boss. He had spotted us. I don't recall if he ever said anything to me or Doug. What the heck, we were just having lunch. We were never reprimanded and we completed our project on time at no additional cost to the taxpayers. Doug has passed away since then and Bob and I are both retired, but I'm sure we all agree that by being bad boys and working during a furlough was the right thing to do, as long as we were not on Federal property.
My personal Substack
Furloughs?
Furloughs?
Furloughs?
We dodged one this time, but I’ve been there before. Furlough. This is a period of time in which a worker keeps the job but may not report to work. This is what will happen to Federal workers when the government shuts down. It happened to me and my wife (a double whammy) in the late nineties. I worked at FEMA's National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I managed a project to develop training courses. I had hired a contract development firm (Remtec) via the procurement process to do so. We would assemble a team of subject matter experts (current and retired firefighters) to work on the project. The first "deliverable" in the contract was a three day meeting on campus with two representatives from Remtec. Midway into the afternoon, we were interrupted from our work with the information that the Government was officially shutting down and that all workers must stop working immediately and leave the workplace. Duh? I couldn't believe it. But this was coming from the Superintendent of the Fire Academy (a Presidential appointment) so it was real. We had to stop the work and go home. My colleague, Doug Cook, and I were flabbergasted. The Remtec principle contact, Bob Baxter, joined us in this bewilderment. He and his coworker had driven up from Norfolk, Virginia, and checked into a hotel in Gettysburg for this meeting. They didn't like having to leave without getting the work done. Neither did Doug and I. As I said before, duh! What to do? I'm not sure of the exact turn of events that happened next, but I believe I gave Bob my home phone and I exchanged numbers with Doug. Remember when we had home phones, those big plastic things that usually hung from our kitchen walls? Bob would try to get the use of a meeting room in the hotel, at no charge, and if successful, he would initiate a flurry of calls and we would meet the next day in Gettysburg to proceed with our work. I agreed to drive ninety minutes first thing in the morning to work without pay to try to get the first stage of the contract going and keep the whole project on schedule. Doug lived in Gettysburg, so it would be okay with him. The next day we met as planned and got started. I don't recall if it was this day or did we meet for a second one, but at any event, we stopped for lunch and went to a restaurant next to the hotel. At one point, I just happened to look up toward the main door and see a tall man with a shock of white hair making an entrance. It was the Superintendent. Of all the joints in all the world! Doug and I froze for a moment and our eyes locked on the boss. He had spotted us. I don't recall if he ever said anything to me or Doug. What the heck, we were just having lunch. We were never reprimanded and we completed our project on time at no additional cost to the taxpayers. Doug has passed away since then and Bob and I are both retired, but I'm sure we all agree that by being bad boys and working during a furlough was the right thing to do, as long as we were not on Federal property. My personal Substack