4 ms·

I decided to take the advice of my lawyers who specialized in the topic of government projects. Based on the budget someone could have easily gone to prison and

I decided to take the advice of my lawyers who specialized in the topic of government projects. Based on the budget someone could have easily gone to prison and it probably would have been me because it looked like I was billing 80-hours a week when it was just one of many projects and so I was actually billing ~20/wk. The $1M threshold wasn't an anecdote - at the time it really was the limit in project size for prison time.

zulux 4mo ago
You would have been fine: Your pay stubs reflected the correct time and your correct payment.
- comrade1234 4mo ago
  I was salary.
  - zulux 4mo ago
    Shit. That does make it hard. I suspect you made the right move to protect yourself from drama.
  - carlosjobim 4mo ago
    Then why would you bill fraudulent hours if it didn't increase your pay?
tasty_freeze 4mo ago
Ages ago, my girlfriend at the time worked for a company that routinely got SIBR (small business innovation research) grants. Such grants made up part of her total workload. The crazy thing was that if she worked for 10 hours on SBIR stuff, then worked 40 hours on her normal work stuff (so overtime), the SBIR billing would get scaled down to 8 hours (that is, 25% of 40 hours). There would be no way to bill 80 hours. The other thing that seemed somewhat crazy is that it was also common to have multiple SBIR contracts going on at the same time. If they bought a $10K tool for SBIR grant #1 and SBIR grant #2 needed it two, they'd have to buy a second one. So the tool would be out, then when switching between work on the grants, the tool would go into a locked cabinet, then the second copy of the tool would get unlocked from a different cabinet. I understand that firewalling like that prevents a company from "borrowing" expensive equipment for their own work, but it lead to waste like I just described.
- noisy_boy 4mo ago
  Why not float a company to buy the tool and then let that company charge money to lease the tool to the using companies for the specific non-overlapping period instead of borrowing? Leasing can't be prohibited too?
  - voakbasda 4mo ago
    There can be complicated tax implications. And standing up a new company has a fair bit of overhead.
dummydummy1234 4mo ago
Wait, did you get paid overtime when he modified your time sheet? I guess it may not be normal but I got straight time overtime when I worked for a contractor. Made those weeks I really did do 80 hrs nice. But if they have any system involved the fact you did not get paid for the time would be a big red flag.
idiotsecant 4mo ago
If you were salary and not benefitting from it, there's literally no chance you would have gone to jail. This was the equivalent of panicking about running a yellow light in terms of overreaction. The only thing you had to do was write an email, cc your personal email, and tell your boss you think the punches are messed up and that they reflect more than you worked. Your boss would tell you not to worry about it and you're done.
- N_Lens 4mo ago
  Your faith in the criminal justice system amuses me.
  - bigstrat2003 4mo ago
    Abuses happen. But they are the exception, not the rule. There's no need to be so cynical and mocking about it.
    - N_Lens 4mo ago
      If a child rapist can become president with the support of the highest court in the country, and repeatedly abuse his position to indict his political enemies while enriching himself, truly all is well in the land of the free.
      - parineum 4mo ago
        Do you believe there is evidence that Donald Trump raped a child?
    - voakbasda 4mo ago
      I think you are flatly wrong. For example, our current system is abusive by coercing something like 90% of defendants into unfair plea deals instead of allowing them fair trials. Fair and speedy trials are a fundamental right, and that’s just one of many example of how the government has been systematically abusing its citizenry. That you think abuse is exceptional is mind-blowing when compared to my lived experience.

zulux 4mo ago

You would have been fine: Your pay stubs reflected the correct time and your correct payment.

comrade1234 4mo ago
I was salary.
- zulux 4mo ago
  Shit. That does make it hard. I suspect you made the right move to protect yourself from drama.
- carlosjobim 4mo ago
  Then why would you bill fraudulent hours if it didn't increase your pay?

tasty_freeze 4mo ago

Ages ago, my girlfriend at the time worked for a company that routinely got SIBR (small business innovation research) grants. Such grants made up part of her total workload. The crazy thing was that if she worked for 10 hours on SBIR stuff, then worked 40 hours on her normal work stuff (so overtime), the SBIR billing would get scaled down to 8 hours (that is, 25% of 40 hours). There would be no way to bill 80 hours. The other thing that seemed somewhat crazy is that it was also common to have multiple SBIR contracts going on at the same time. If they bought a $10K tool for SBIR grant #1 and SBIR grant #2 needed it two, they'd have to buy a second one. So the tool would be out, then when switching between work on the grants, the tool would go into a locked cabinet, then the second copy of the tool would get unlocked from a different cabinet. I understand that firewalling like that prevents a company from "borrowing" expensive equipment for their own work, but it lead to waste like I just described.

noisy_boy 4mo ago
Why not float a company to buy the tool and then let that company charge money to lease the tool to the using companies for the specific non-overlapping period instead of borrowing? Leasing can't be prohibited too?
- voakbasda 4mo ago
  There can be complicated tax implications. And standing up a new company has a fair bit of overhead.

dummydummy1234 4mo ago

Wait, did you get paid overtime when he modified your time sheet? I guess it may not be normal but I got straight time overtime when I worked for a contractor. Made those weeks I really did do 80 hrs nice. But if they have any system involved the fact you did not get paid for the time would be a big red flag.

idiotsecant 4mo ago

If you were salary and not benefitting from it, there's literally no chance you would have gone to jail. This was the equivalent of panicking about running a yellow light in terms of overreaction. The only thing you had to do was write an email, cc your personal email, and tell your boss you think the punches are messed up and that they reflect more than you worked. Your boss would tell you not to worry about it and you're done.

N_Lens 4mo ago
Your faith in the criminal justice system amuses me.
- bigstrat2003 4mo ago
  Abuses happen. But they are the exception, not the rule. There's no need to be so cynical and mocking about it.
  - N_Lens 4mo ago
    If a child rapist can become president with the support of the highest court in the country, and repeatedly abuse his position to indict his political enemies while enriching himself, truly all is well in the land of the free.
    - parineum 4mo ago
      Do you believe there is evidence that Donald Trump raped a child?
  - voakbasda 4mo ago
    I think you are flatly wrong. For example, our current system is abusive by coercing something like 90% of defendants into unfair plea deals instead of allowing them fair trials. Fair and speedy trials are a fundamental right, and that’s just one of many example of how the government has been systematically abusing its citizenry. That you think abuse is exceptional is mind-blowing when compared to my lived experience.