# A Federal pay outrage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-federal-pay-outrage/562299 "2010-11-29T17:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-federal-pay-outrage/562299/41 "2010-12-01T17:11:27Z")
> [@elninost0rm](#): > > After 15 years in the PA state gov’t (different from federal, I know), you’re looking at ~29 days a year. This is annual/personal. This doesn’t include sick and holiday. I know my father (works for SSA) averages about the same. He has worked 38 years, but I’m sure he hit the top tier a long time ago. I don’t know about Federal, but I work for a municipality and while the leave is moderately generous compared to private sector the rules are EXTREMELY strict. If I am one minute late, they dock me that minute. I cannot EVER take a sick day on a monday or a friday without producing a doctor’s note stating that I was seen by a medical professional on that day. If I take more than 1-2 midweek sick days without producing medical documentation in any 6 month period, I can be subject to discipline. Sick leave cannot ever be used to extend a holiday weekend (nor can you get paid out for it if you leave your job with a positive sick leave balance). There is definitely no “mental health days” (calling in well) nor is there any flexibility for your manager to waive any of the requirements above without going through formal ADA/FMLA procedures. My husband works for a large Corp and gets almost the same leave benefits except his don’t come with lots of finicky restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-federal-pay-outrage/562299/42 "2010-12-01T17:50:02Z")
Most of the rules that you cite, Hello Again, don’t apply in federal agencies that I know of. There’s usually a fair amount of flexibility in the time you come in and leave, and you can work extra some days and less other days and have the number of hours balance out. In all my years I’ve only a couple of times had to worry about bringing a doctor’s note because I was sick several days in a row. In general they take your word for it. Your municipal government is clearly much stricter than federal agencies. Furthermore, I suspect that there are a lot of private companies that are stricter about these things than your husband’s company is. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-federal-pay-outrage/562299/43 "2010-12-03T20:07:15Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I used to work for a local municipality and the benefits were sweet. If I managed to make it 30 years, I’d have a pension that would pay me 75% of my highest three years’ salary (averaged), plus greatly subsidized health care for both me and my spouse. > > I left it because I couldn’t see myself dealing with the public for the next 27 years. State and local governments are an entirely different animal. The focus here has been on federal employees. the ones I know are all at the top of the pay scale and they are all underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts but they are frequently happy to make the tradeoff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-federal-pay-outrage/562299.md?page=2)