U.S. Pays $400 Million in Bonuses to Federal Employees

biggovernment .com ^ | June 14, 2010 | Publius

[PROCON]

The Obama Administration handed out more than $400 million in awards to federal employees last year, up by more than $80 million from the prior year, according to new government data.

The biggest winners were air traffic controllers and top managers in Washington, a review of fiscal year 2009 salary reports from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management showed.

OPM’s data, obtained by the Asbury Park Press through a freedom of information request, account for 1.3 million employees, or about 65 percent of the federal civilian work force.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

“$400 million is a tiny amount.”

For Obama, this is “small change” you can believe in.

I don’t know. This was in 2009, might be from Bush-era legislation, and air traffic controllers should get bonuses if they do a good job. To really bust this open would require deep study.

Heading off for low-hanging fruit, which is everywhere.

[gogogodzilla]

Is that including military personnel? I ask because military members do not get bonuses at all.

[muawiyah]

Why would I provide union propaganda to you? I didn't belong to a union. In fact, I was prohibited membership in unions that bargained with the agency ~ ever hear of FLSA EXEMPT? Makes all the difference.

Now, whatever you want to believe the cold, hard facts are that what federal employees who retire finally draw out of their retirement system is fairly much equal to what they contributed out of their after tax salaries to that system.

You can believe Uncle Sam is making this contribution, and that contribution, and hey, look at those bucks over there, but even if they are "credited" to the FERS or CSRS systems, unless they are ever paid out they never really existed.

Then they die ~ and all the money they contributed to the system stays right there. Federal retirement money is NOT inheritable. You can't hand it down to your heirs. When you are gone it stays in the system to be used by other retirees at a later time.

In recent years USPS was charged about double for its retirement contribution needed to make OPMs books balance. The amount overcharged went up to $80 billion according to some estimates, but was, even as OPM admitted, well over $30 bilion.

Remembering that all the USPS funds were coming out of postage paid to send mail, or directly from employee after tax salaries, and none of it came from the taxpayers, you'd think Congress and OPM would have made an "adjustment" such that the employees had their excess contributions returned to them, or retiree payments were increased, or postage rates would be adjusted downward in appropriate categories to kind of "sop up" the excess.

No, Congress passed a law that handed that overcharge to OPM as "found money". It's being paid out to ordinary federal government retirees now, not kept for later use by postal retirees. Plus, Congress decided USPS should be punished for OPM's computational error by paying $5 billion per year IN ADVANCE for future postal retiree medical insurance.

This happens every time someone finds a mistake in the system that's in the favor of the employees ~ Congress simply keeps the money!

[muawiyah]

Do military personnel still get hazardous duty pay?

[gogogodzilla]

Yes, but are you actually going to say that it is a bonus?

You only get it if you are in a combat zone.

[stephenjohnbanker]

;-)

[muawiyah]

Hmm ~ way back when you got it for 2nd * 15th at Bad Kissingen (light Infantry on skies)

There's more than one way to make a billet nasty.

And are you suggesting we not pay combat troops a "bonus"?

[anniegetyourgun]

sarcasm, AL...sarcasm.

[Poundstone]

“Unless that’s a military pension, you’re a parasite.

And if I have anything to do with it, you’ll be destitute within a year, and I’m hoping you’ll have to sell your organs to repay the Americans you’ve sucked dry for these many years.”

For your information, I was in Afghanistan for most of last year — as a federal civilian employee. A VBIED blew up within 100 meters of my hooch, throwing me on the floor.

Also, I’m already an organ donor — donated a kidney years ago.

You may now crawl back into your corner!

[businessprofessor]

You are mistaken about the source of funds. An employer pays the total cost of compensation including salary, fringe benefits, and retirement. Government mandates may impose additional costs on the employer (such as payroll taxes) and reduce the take home salary of employees. The ultimate source of all contributions to retirement is the employer although your salary is restricted a little for a contribution.

You are also mistaken that the contributions (both employer and employee) are equal to the amount of deferred compensation provided by the FERS plan. I have just finished analyzing a plan very similar to FERS. The Florida Retirement System (FRS) provides the same benefit level (1%) with retirement beginning at age 55. FRS does not provide the early Social Security benefits. The FRS COLA (automatic 3%) is lower than the FERS COLA. My analysis indicates that the average surplus deferred compensation (value of retirement benefits beyond account balance (contributions compounded at a conservative interest rate) is more than $200,000. The surplus deferred compensation is much higher for professional and administrative employees with more opportunity to manipulate salary in their later years.

State retirement plans are funded while federal retirement plans are unfunded. There is no portfolio funding your benefits. Congress has already spent all money contributed to your retirement. Future taxpayers are entirely responsible. Any contributions made to your retirement are worthless for funding future benefits. The bookkeeping does not matter.

You are arguing for additional compensation. The USPS contributions are funded by consumers and taxpayers. Employees are not funding anything. You are trying to obtain additional compensation at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.

[The Comedian]

For your information, I was in Afghanistan for most of last year — as a federal civilian employee. A VBIED blew up within 100 meters of my hooch, throwing me on the floor.

Yeah?

Did you know John Kerry was in Viet Nam?

Did you know Jack Murtha was in the Marines?

What did you do that got you a federal pension?

You may now crawl back into your corner!

Nah, I think I'll stand here and hold the spotlight on you for a while.

So, what were you, an FCC pencil monitor?

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[WOBBLY BOB]

What happens when the money runs out?

See Greece.

[Flying Circus]

From conversations with family who are or were employees of the USPS, I’d say the biggest dangers to USPS workers is from other USPS workers. The place is full of drug dealers, drug users, lazy feather-bedded unionized degenerates ‘entitled’ to do or say what they please while at work and affirmative action hires drop who EEOC complaints in a heartbeat against any supervisor that actually expects them to do something productive. USPS is a pit that represents all the worst of government employment practices.

[muawiyah]

Amazingly even at the height of the shootings USPS had LESS THAN HALF the normal incidents of violence expected in workplaces in general.

Regarding dope, they get caught. Concerning supervisors who have problems with employees, that happens everywhere.

However, your relative should have stuck around a while to see what happens during the Obama Depression.

I suspect your relative wasn't always aware of the degree of surveillance going on in postal facilities. I was once interviewing an employee concerning an operation he was involved in and next thing you know a Postal Inspector popped out of a nearby break-out door and ARRESTED the guy I was talking to.

Whatever it was he was doing he was doing it while I was talking to him. Had no idea what it was.

[muawiyah]

Oh, yeah, and the speech thing? USPS is a government agency and it's simply not entitled to tell people what they can or cannot say.

I always thought that aspect of postal working conditions was great.

No doubt private sector employers are different in that regard ~ but they're just a bunch of fascist pigs eh!. .

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.(/s)

[dragnet2]

This site seems to be loaded with government employees.

[dragnet2]

GOVERNMENT UNIONS

[muawiyah]

The error in your analysis is your estimation of how many years the employees work for the government. With your typical federal employee becoming an employee at 35, he or she is going to have only 20 to 25 years in service when they retire.

Your 16 year old brother in law who got his state job already, will have 50 years in when he retires, with disability, at 66!

The difference is the type of jobs the federal government has ~ auditors, accountants, lawyers ~ and the type of jobs the state governments have ~ highway work crews, sign painters, lots and lots and lots of "board members".

A comparison of the systems, by themselves, doesn't give you the answer on aggregate payout to the retirees.

[muawiyah]

RETIREES ~

[businessprofessor]

I am not sure that your assumption about the federal workforce is correct. I have not seen data about the federal workforce but it is probably similar to the white collar workforce in Colorado. I have divided my analysis into 3 groups (admin, professional, and non professional). I have samples of university and K-12 workers in Colorado.

You are correct that benefits in most plans sharply increase after 25 years with 30 years as the sweet spot. However, I have done analysis for non long term employees with an average of 18 years of service. There is still substantial surplus deferred compensation for this group. Higher levels of surplus deferred compensation are earned by the more educated groups (admin and professional) so the federal workforce may receive higher levels of surplus deferred compensation if its education level is higher. I doubt that the federal workforce has a general higher level of education than the university and K-12 workforces in Colorado however.