[freeflight]

Officially yes, but I can imagine there being some bureaucratic delay until it's in full effect/everybody got the news. Not a lot of time between midnight Friday and Saturday.

In German radio news, the US correspondent explained that the weekend should still be fine, with full effects of the shutdown beginning around Monday with the new week.

[mikeash]

That’s oversimplified. Some agencies continue to operate for a bit because they have enough money stashed to do so. For example, the Smithsonian stayed open over the weekend and is apparently open today as well. The EPA will stay open for another week because they apparently have a nice chunk of cash somewhere. The postal service will operate indefinitely because they earn their own money.

For everybody else, a shutdown means you stop working right away. For most people that means the first day they’re affected is Monday because most of them have the weekend off, but people who would work on the weekend have already been affected. There’s no room for a bureaucratic delay or people failing to get the news. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for non-essential people to work during the shutdown unless their job is somehow still funded. Anyone who went to bed early on Friday and went to work on Saturday without checking the news would be told to go home.

[thaumasiotes]

> For everybody else, a shutdown means you stop working right away.

This is not correct; for many a shutdown means you keep working entirely as normal on the understanding that when things are resolved, you'll get paid retroactively.

[mikeash]

You’re right, I forgot to mention that people deemed “essential” in any agency keep on working anyway.

[fhood]

Thank god for usps.

[ateesdalejr]

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor government shutdown stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

[dragonwriter]

The bureaucratic prep for a potential shutdown (including identification of essential personnel and functions that are exempt) usually happens in advance; if you missed the memo and you aren't exempt, the whole “not being allowed to work” thing will catch you up on the key relevant bits for you right quick.

> In German radio news, the US correspondent explained that the weekend should still be fine, with full effects of the shutdown beginning around Monday with the new week

That's just a way of saying most (but not all) non-essential functions run on a normal workweek, so are effectively mostly “shutdown” on the weekend anyway.

[dx034]

But that was because few people work on the weekend anyway. Anyone affected working on the weekend knew that they wouldn't get paid.

[freeflight]

> Anyone affected working on the weekend knew that they wouldn't get paid.

They knew that, for certain, only after Friday midnight. It's not that far-fetched to assume that most people working that Saturday would already be asleep during that time and just showed up at their work on Saturday like it's business as usual.

[SiempreViernes]

Gotta be a weird person not to check the outcome on the news before going to work since they've been plenty forewarned.

I guess someone living close by, that woke up late and doesn't have radio, tv, or internet available for a quick check could plausibly skip over calling someone to find out before jogging over.

[freeflight]

Weird persons exist, just like persons who don't include checking news during their breakfast routine, then there's also a subset of weird people who might just like doing their job and don't mind working that one Saturday without pay.

[rlanday]

It’s not legal for non-essential federal workers to choose to work for free:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/10/01/federal_worke...

[gojomo]

That looks to be a recent interpretation of an 1884 law that could be reversed by the current administration, if it wanted to make shutdowns smoother, as easily as it was adopted in the 1970s.

(And, if there were a general consensus/expectation within an agency/administration, it could be a 'dead letter' law even without explicit re-interpretation. OK, so you "break the law" by answering an email, sending an official tweet, or staffing a booth during the shutdown. Which of your fellow federal employees is going to prosecute you once the shutdown ends?)

[the_watcher]

They may exist, but they'd figure it out pretty quickly when they can't get into the office or access any job-related systems (which is what happens during a shutdown).

[the_watcher]

> with full effects of the shutdown beginning around Monday with the new week.

That's just because most government services are always off on the weekend, not because of a delay. The news was distributed widely and broadly near instantly.