Get a Life: Government work is a perk

Work life benefits may not figure as much these days when simply having a job is more than good enough. That is increasingly true in parts of the country where unemployment is rising sharply. 

Today, working for the federal government is in itself a perk. The Office of Personnel Management once highlighted work life, including child care and elder care, health improvement and stress reduction. Now, you must search for it on the OPM Web site and in agency HR offices. 

When usually I hear plenty of beefs about working for government and about presumed inequities to the private sector, now it seems we are recognizing the many benefits of government work. Benefits have, after all, improved over time.
 
A retired U.S. government civil service employee, and now a contractor employee, wrote a comment on this blog recently: “Private-sector benefits don't begin to compare to the U.S. government, especially regarding time off. I went from an enlightened 21st century workplace back to the 19th century. “

A federal employee in St. Louis wrote: “Before working for the feds, I worked in small business. I'm truly grateful for actually being allowed to take vacation or sick leave.”

An employee stationed in Virginia Beach wrote: “Feds who feel that they are mistreated by a miserly government that does not give them enough paid time off should consider the alternatives. Life as a fed isn't all that bad.”

And if you need a sense of worth, with growing needs in this recession economy, working for government is a job with even greater importance.