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Government Shutdown FAQs

  • Published
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Frequently Asked Questions: Government Shutdown

1. Will employees who are furloughed get paid?
A. Congress will determine whether furloughed employees receive pay for the furlough period.

2. Will employees receive a paycheck for hours worked prior to a lapse in appropriations?
A. Under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance issued in 1980 (below), employees will receive this paycheck. Although the payroll for the last pay period before the lapse will be processed potentially during a period of furlough, the minimum number of payroll staff necessary for this process will be excepted from furlough for the minimum time required to issue the checks, including checks for the last pay period before the lapse. This guidance can be found in OMB's August 28, 1980, Bulletin No. 80-14, Shutdown of Agency Operations Upon Failure by the Congress to Enact Appropriations, paragraph 3.b.(1) (Appropriations and funds). OMB has reviewed and concurs in this answer.

3. Does a shutdown furlough affect the accrual of annual leave and sick leave?
A. If an employee is furloughed (i.e., placed in nonpay status) for part of a biweekly pay period, the employee's leave accrual will generally not be affected for that pay period.

However, the accumulation of nonpay status hours during a leave year can affect the accrual of annual leave and sick leave over a period of time. (See 5 CFR 630.208 and Notes 1 and 2 below.) For example, when a full-time employee with an 80-hour biweekly tour of duty accumulates a total of 80 hours of nonpay status from the beginning of the leave year (either in one pay period, or over the course of several pay periods), the employee will not earn annual and sick leave in the pay period in which that 80-hour accumulation is reached. If the employee again accumulates 80 hours of nonpay status, he or she will again not earn leave in the pay period in which that new 80-hour total is reached. At the end of the leave year, any accumulation of nonpay status hours of less than 80 hours is zeroed out so that the accumulation of nonpay status hours for the next leave year starts at zero.

For part-time employees, the rule blocking accrual of leave based on the accumulation of nonpay status hours (5 CFR 630.208) does not apply. Instead, leave accrual for part-time employees is prorated based on hours in a pay status in each pay period; thus, time in nonpay status reduces leave accrual in each pay period containing such time (5 CFR 630.303 and
5 U.S.C. 6307).

Also, please see OPM's fact sheet on the Effect of Extended Leave Without Pay (LWOP) (or Other Nonpay Status) on Federal Benefits and Programs, which has a section entitled, "Accrual of annual and sick leave."

Note 1: The term "nonpay status" refers to period during which an employee is absent from his or her tour of duty established for leave usage purposes and receives no pay for such absence. Furlough is one type of nonpay status.

Note 2: The term "leave year" is defined as the period beginning on the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in a calendar year and ends on the day immediately before the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in the following calendar year. (For example, for employees on the standard biweekly payroll cycle, the 2013 leave year is January 13, 2013, through January 11, 2014.) (See fact sheet at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data- oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/leave-year-beginning-and-ending- dates/.)

Note 3: For full-time employees with an uncommon tour of duty under 5 CFR 630.210, the accumulation limit used in applying 5 CFR 630.208 is the number of hours in the uncommon tour of duty for a biweekly pay period.

4. Will an employee continue to be covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program during a shutdown furlough if the agency is unable to make its premium payments on time?
A. Yes, the employee's FEHB coverage will continue even if an agency does not make the premium payments on time. Since the employee will be in a non-pay status, the enrollee share of the FEHB premium will accumulate and be withheld from pay upon return to pay status.

5. May an employee not excepted from the furlough take previously approved paid time off (e.g., annual, sick, court, military leave, or leave for bone marrow/organ donor leave, or compensatory time off, including religious compensatory time off) during a shutdown furlough?
A. No. All paid time off during a shutdown furlough period must be canceled because the requirement to furlough supersedes leave and other paid time off rights. The Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341 et seq.) does not allow authorization of any expenditure or obligation before an appropriation is made, unless authorized by law. Paid time off creates a debt to the Government that is not authorized by the Act. Therefore, agencies are instructed that during
a shutdown furlough, all paid time off must be canceled.

6. May an excepted employee take previously approved paid time off or be granted new requests for paid time off during a shutdown furlough?
A. No. When an excepted employee is not working or not performing excepted activities in compliance with the Antideficiency Act, he or she cannot be in a pay status. Excepted employees must be either performing excepted activities or furloughed during any absence from work. The furlough must be documented by a furlough notice. If an excepted employee refuses to report for work after being ordered to do so, he or she will be considered to be absent without leave (AWOL) and will be subject to any consequences that may follow from being AWOL.

7. Are employees who are not excepted from the furlough allowed to take paid leave or other paid time off during periods when other employees are performing work necessary for an orderly suspension of agency operations?
A. No. All paid leave or other paid time off is cancelled during a period when a lapse in appropriations is in effect. There is no authority to obligate funds for paid time off during a lapse in appropriations. Employees who are not excepted from the furlough are allowed to perform minimal activities as necessary to execute an orderly suspension of agency operations related to non-excepted activities. Being on paid leave is not an activity necessary to execute an orderly suspension of agency operations. Agencies should determine on a case- by-case basis whether it is necessary to require employees who had been scheduled to take paid time off to report to duty to perform orderly suspension activities.

8. If an employee has properly scheduled "use-or-lose" annual leave before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year, but is unable to use some or all of the scheduled leave because of the furlough, does the furlough constitute an "exigency of the public business" that would permit an agency to restore the leave after the beginning of the new leave year?
A. Employees in this situation should make every effort to reschedule "use-or-lose" annual leave for use before the end of the current leave year. However, if this is not possible due to a lapse in appropriations, agency heads (or their designees) are encouraged to use their discretionary authority to restore any lost annual leave by determining that the employee was prevented from using his or her leave because of an exigency of the public business--namely, the need to furlough employees because of the lapse in appropriations.

9. If an employee has properly scheduled use of "restored annual leave" that is due to expire at the end of the leave year (because it is the end of the 2-year restoration period) but that leave is canceled and lost due to lapse of appropriations, may the employing agency restore that leave again?
A. Unfortunately, no--unless Congress enacts legislation providing otherwise. There is nothing in existing law or regulation that allows restored annual leave to be restored a second time. In fact, the Comptroller General has determined that unused restored annual leave may not be restored after expiration of the 2-year period. (See B-188993, December 12, 1977.)

10. Emergency Leave

According SAF/A1, civilian employees cannot take any paid leave (even emergency leave) while on shutdown furlough.

Emergency Leave for military personnel is considered an excepted activity (specifically in reference to overseas members needing transport back to CONUS). As such, appropriate documentation can be processed and used to obtain a plane ticket, if applicable. A statement similar to the following should be included on commitment/obligation documents :

"This commitment/obligation is being made in advance of available appropriation pursuant to a lawful exception to the Antideficiency Act (ADA). Mr/Ms. XXXXXXX, having been delegated authority from the Secretary of the Air Force to define excepted activities, has concluded that the activity supported by this obligation is excepted under the ADA pursuant to statutory authorizations, emergency circumstances, and/or Presidential constitutional authority. This decision was made consistent with policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense's Contingency Guidance for Continuation of Essential Operation in the Absence of Available Appropriations September 2013."