Get Frequently Asked Questions For Money-saving Furloughs. Opm Has Prepared Human Resources Guidance

A furlough is the placing of an employee in a temporary nonduty, nonpay status because of lack of work or funds, or other nondisciplinary reasons. There are two main types of federal government furloughs — a “shutdown” or “emergency” furlough and a “save money” furlough.

Will employees who are furloughed get paid? A. Yes. After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods.

Employees not required to work are “furloughed,” that is, placed in a non-pay, non- duty status, until the shut-down ends. Will “excepted” employees get paid? Employees designated “excepted” who continue to work during the shut-down will almost certainly be paid for this period.

Do furloughed federal employees get backpay? The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, signed into law in 2019, guarantees that furloughed government employees receive backpay once a shutdown ends. However, federal contractors impacted are not guaranteed backpay.

Aim to save more and spend less. If your employer gives you advance notice about a furlough, start preparing for it by restricting your budget and putting any leftover income into a designated savings or short-term investment account so you can draw on that money during your furlough.

Employees are “exempt” from furlough if they are not affected by a lapse in appropriations. This includes employees who are not funded by annually appropriated funds. Employees performing those functions will generally continue to be governed by the normal pay, leave, and other civil service rules.

An agency may excuse an excepted employee from duty and place the employee in furlough status for approved periods. An agency may allow an excepted employee to be off duty during periods when the employee was previously scheduled to be on paid leave. That off-duty time may be accommodated by workplace arrangements.

On one hand, furloughed employees may continue to have health benefits and a chance to return to their job at a later date. On the other hand, employees who are laid off get a head start on finding a new job, which may be better than a protracted furlough that results in a layoff anyway.