If you come from a long-line of federal civil servants, odds are the job- related problems that make you sweat also made your Dad and his Mother equally nervous in the service.

Since the Carter administration, politicians of both parties have seriously sought to “reform” civil service rules. Reforms include the way you are hired, paid, promoted and fired. The latter is currently in vogue thanks to the scandals (real or exaggerated) at the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Annual revelations of federal workers who don’t pay their taxes always provoke reform demands (as in fire the S.O.B.’s). Then there are cases of feds viewing porn on the job or buying outrageous goods. Here, the Congressional Research Service could identify agencies who have a handle on the situation and spread the word.

• If an agency has lots (or even any) workers who failed to file or who fudged on their taxes, ask them to check with the IRS about how it handles the situation with its workers. Bottom line: It is not a major problem at that agency.
• Everybody with an opinion on the subject agrees that there is something wrong with federal pay scales. According to one camp, feds are dramatically overcompensated (the Carter and Clinton administrations also pushed this point). The Clinton administration refused to follow the bipartisan Pay Act of 1990 until the value of federal perks (pensions, holidays, health care) were included in a “total compensation” comparison with the private sector. Which they never were. Critics say that feds are among the best paid people in the nation, Wall Street tycoons and spoiled movie stars not withstanding.
• A smaller group of people (many of them federal workers and think tank experts) agree that federal pay is totally out of whack. But not in the way John Q Bureaucrat Basher says it is. They say that feds — especially in the upper ranks and specialties — are grossly undercompensated compared to what they could get on the outside. In fact, many do that when they retire from government. They argue that Uncle Sam (with a few minor exceptions) doesn’t do retail. That the government has scientists, engineers and top experts in their fields whereas the private sector includes many more low-paying jobs. NASA is not Wal-Mart. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Costco have different missions. And very different job descriptions.

Whichever team you belong to, settle down for yet another year of proposed civil service reforms. It may be a rough ride at times but, if past is prologue, things this time next year will be very much the same as they are now. You’ll have less hair, and more gray.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Michael O’Connell

The average person eats eight spiders at night over a lifetime.

Source: Trivia of the Day

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