Today was a very interesting day. It was the first day our team had been together in a week. The DC FedGov closures have really rattled people. As contractors and consultants, we are not Government employees. We play by different rules. Depending on your contract, if the FedGov is closed, you may not get paid.
For those working under a corporate umbrella, where paid time off is offered as a benefit, this has left a lot of people very unhappy. Without an opportunity to work from home, some were asked to take paid time off or leave without pay. Either way, it hurts.
I can see both sides of the coin and empathize with both. From a contract holder perspective, if they compensated each of their employees the 4 days the Federal offices were closed, it could do irreparable harm to the bottom line.
From the contractor and consultant side, there are feelings of desperation and abandonment. I heard story after story about vacations being canceled or accepting a day without pay because they felt there was no other choice. 32 hours of the rainy day fund just left their accounts and there isn't a damned thing anyone can do about it. The lack of control has put many on tilt.
Listening to people speak their minds, some had real rancorous opinions of the situation. I'd like to think there is a happy ending in all this and it will all work out in the end. Unfortunately, there is snow in the forecast next week.
Image courtesy of ournameisblog.blogspot.com