Federal workers are being told to report for work Monday but to be prepared to go home if there's no agreement between Congress and the White House on how to pay them. The instructions to go to work as usual were contained in a memorandum from Budget Director Richard Darman to agency heads Friday. In the absence of legislation to keep the government operating beyond the start of the new fiscal year Monday, non-essential workers would be sent home within three hours if a government ``phase-down'' is launched, Darman's memo said. Federal workers complained earlier about the confusion surrounding what they should do. Before Darman's memo was released late in the afternoon, workers were being told to listen to the radio over the weekend. ``This is absolutely no way to run any kind of ship,'' said John Sturdivant, president of the 700,000-member American Federation of Government Employees. ``It's just ridiculous that we've always got to operate on the basis of crisis. People don't know whether they're supposed to go to work, whether they have a full-time job or what,'' Sturdivant said. About 1.1 million federal workers received notices a month ago that they might be furloughed up to 22 days if automatic Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction budget cuts kick in on Monday. The furloughs and the phase-down are two separate threats facing federal workers. Most of those furloughs probably won't start until later in the week if no budget accord is reached; The phase-down would occur Monday if Congress doesn't pass - or President Bush refused to sign - temporary legislation to keep the government in operation. If such legislation were signed but the Gramm-Rudman cuts took effect, the furloughs probably would not start until later in the week. Also Friday, the federation sued to exempt Social Security employees from the automatic budget cuts. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, contends those 60,000 workers should be excluded because their salaries are not paid out of general treasury funds. Instead, the suit notes, those workers are paid from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Program, which is exempt from the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction act that will trigger $85 billion if no budget agreement is reached.
