Reply to If Fed Gov't gets, furloughed/sequestered- what are chances they won't get back pay for days off?

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Reply to "If Fed Gov't gets, furloughed/sequestered- what are chances they won't get back pay for days off?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And the shutdown (after march 27 if not agreement) is what the Feds get paid back for then (or did historically)?  I'm not sure why it was called furlough in the previous years when it was actually a shutdown.  Looks like this time Feds are facing both- one which they would be paid back for missed days, the other not.[/quote]

Correct.  "Furlough" is just a word for temporary unpaid leave.  The specific reason for the leave isn't relevant to the word.

In a government shutdown, all but the most essential government functions cease.  Employees not needed for those functions are not allowed to work.  In the past, Federal employees have been paid retroactively for days when they could not work due to government was shut down.  In each case Congress had to vote to make this happen: backpay is not automatic and there is no guarantee it would happen after the March 27 shutdown (if in fact that shutdown occurs, which both parties say is unlikely).  Government shutdowns usually are due to the government running out of money because Congress can't agree on a budget, and the reasoning has been that employees who were prepared to work should not suffer because Congress couldn't vote in time.  But, the fact employees have received backpay in the past does not mean they would receive it this time.

By contrast, the sequester furloughs are one possible method by which the agency may choose to deal with the budget shortfall caused by the sequester.  There is no requirement to furlough and the agency is not shut down: instead, the agency chooses to save money by having fewer people work on a given day.  Different agencies have different places they can save money -- say, by not handing out grant money or not patrolling an area -- which is why you are seeing more furloughs at some agencies than at others.  Some agencies will have no furloughs because they can take the savings out of other areas.  As many have pointed out here, backpay for sequester furloughs is extremely unlikely, because the whole point of the sequester is to save money.  Congress effectively has already voted on a "budget" (to use the term loosely) and furloughs are just a consequence of that vote.

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