At 01:52 PM 11/18/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Well, as one of those "well-paid" government employees, I can honestly
>say that I make $18,000 a year, and, at least at this base, there are NO
>bonuses, NO comp time, and NO annual adjusted increments.

Sounds like your position is frozen due to lack of funds which happens in
non-government positions as well.  Some SI departments are frozen and some
other aren't.

Entry level at the Smithsonian is a GS-5 around $20K/year or GS-7 around
$26K/year.  Benefits are excellent as the health plans esp. mail handler's
or Blue Cross are top notch (you actually have a choice between HMO and non
HMO, yay!), 12 federal holidays per year (and extra long ones when the
government goes on furlough), 4 hours/pay period starting holiday and sick
leave that goes up to 8 hours/pay period giving you ungodly amounts of
leave after several years, and most places at the SI are decent working
environments.  Maybe not as fast paced as some other non-federal museums
but you certainly get exposed to a lot more than in a small town museum.

Those with some experience and a master's can start out at GS-9s which are
around $30K/year.  All federal pay scales have grades which go up each year
for the first few years and then every other year as you get higher in the
grade.  All have either comp time or overtime pay.

This is again, if positions aren't frozen and DC jobs get paid a bit more
than the base scale for locality pay.

Deb


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