A. 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.
A. In the event that funds are not available through an appropriations law or continuing resolution, a "shutdown" furlough occurs. A shutdown furlough is necessary when an agency no longer has the necessary funds to operate and must shut down those activities which are not excepted pursuant to the Antideficiency Act.
A. In the context of shutdown furloughs, the term "excepted" is used to refer to employees who are funded through annual appropriations who are nonetheless excepted from the furlough because they are performing work that, by law, may continue to be performed during a lapse in appropriations. Excepted employees include employees who are performing emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property or performing certain other types of excepted work. Agency legal counsels, working with senior agency managers, are determining which employees are designated to be handling "excepted" and "non-excepted" functions. See http://www.opm.gov/furlough/OMBGuidance/index.asp for copies of DOJ issuances, which provide guidance on the application of these criteria.
A. Not necessarily. "Emergency employees" are those employees who must report for work in emergency situations - e.g., severe weather conditions, air pollution, power failures, interruption of public transportation, and other situations in which significant numbers of employees are prevented from reporting for work or which require agencies to close all or part of their activities. Emergency employees are not automatically deemed excepted employees for purposes of shutdown furloughs. Each agency must determine which employees are excepted employees based on the law.
A. 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.
A. Employees who are funded through annual appropriations but are not designated as excepted are barred from working during a shutdown, except to perform minimal activities as necessary to execute an orderly suspension of agency operations related to non-excepted activities. These employees will be furloughed.
A. Each agency will determine the method and timing of notifying employees of whether they have been designated as an excepted employee.
A. No. Unless otherwise authorized by law, an agency may not accept the voluntary services of an employee. (See 31 U.S.C. 1342.).
A. Employees who are neither excepted nor exempt and are scheduled for training during a shutdown furlough must be placed in a furlough status and ordered not to attend the scheduled training.
A. While on furlough, an individual remains an employee of the Federal Government. Therefore, executive branch-wide standards of ethical conduct and rules regarding outside employment continue to apply when an individual is furloughed (specifically, the executive branch-wide standards of ethical conduct (the standards), at 5 CFR part 2635). In addition, there are specific statutes which prohibit certain outside activities, and agency-specific supplemental rules that require prior approval of, and sometimes prohibit, outside employment. Therefore, before engaging in outside employment, employees should review these regulations and then consult their agency ethics official to learn if there are any agency-specific supplemental rules governing the employee.
A. Retirement, health benefits, and life insurance are handled as if the employee had actually transferred to the new agency. Leave balances are transferred as if the employee had actually transferred. (See Comptroller General opinion B-167975, September 1, 1970.)
A. Employees are furloughed based on the number of hours they are scheduled to work on the days for which there is a shutdown furlough. Each agency that has an AWS program should have a policy specifying how flexible and compressed work schedules must be established and when they may be changed. Normally, such schedules are established in advance of the pay period involved. Under such a policy, an AWS non-workday scheduled to occur during a shutdown furlough should not be changed after the pay period begins.
A. The specific authority for furloughing personnel who are working under mobility agreements pursuant to the IPA, either inside the Federal Government or with other organizations, will depend upon the nature of individual agreements, the status of the appointments, and/or the funding arrangements for the assignments. As a general rule, the following principles are applicable in determining whether to furlough personnel on IPA mobility assignments:
A. Agencies will incur obligations to pay for services performed by excepted employees during a lapse in appropriations, and those employees will be paid when Congress passes and the President signs a new appropriation or continuing resolution.
A. Congress will determine whether furloughed employees receive pay for the furlough period.
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) [98 KB]. OMB has reviewed and concurs in this answer.
A. Agencies will follow the guidance on the order of precedence for applying deductions from the pay of its civilian employees when gross pay is insufficient to cover all authorized deductions found at http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=1477.
A. Yes. Excepted employees who meet the conditions for overtime pay, Sunday premium pay, night pay, availability pay and other premium payments will be entitled to payment in accordance with applicable rules, subject to any relevant payment limitations. Premium pay may be earned but cannot be paid until Congress passes and the President signs a new appropriation or continuing resolution.
A.Yes. Neither law nor regulation requires agencies to pay performance awards granted under 5 U.S.C. Chapters 43 and 45 and 5 CFR 451.104(a)(3). If agency performance management policies and practices require the payment of performance awards, agencies may delay payment until after the furlough when funds are available.
A. No. The applicable law (5 U.S.C. 5384) and regulation (5 CFR 534.405) do not specify when an SES performance award must be paid to a career appointee, nor do they provide a basis to pay awards when no appropriated funds are available for that purpose. Therefore, if a shutdown furlough intervenes, an agency may defer payment of SES performance awards until after the furlough, when funds are available.
A. It depends on how long the shutdown furlough lasts. Within-grade and step increases for General Schedule (GS) and Federal Wage System employees are awarded on the basis of length of service and individual performance. Such increases may not be denied or delayed solely because of lack of funds. However, extended periods of nonpay status (e.g., because of a furlough for lack of funds) may affect the timing of such increases. For example, a GS employee in steps 1, 2, or 3 of the grade who is furloughed an aggregate of more than 2 workweeks during the waiting period would have his or her within-grade increase delayed by at least a full pay period. (See 5 CFR 531.406(b).)
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.
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.
A. An employee who is not "excepted" may not work during the furlough period, even to accrue religious compensatory time. However, an excepted employee may work additional hours for religious purposes if the employee is performing excepted activities, though the employee may not use those hours until after the lapse in appropriations is over.
A. It depends. If the employee is not expected to work during the furlough period (e.g., a 1-year period of leave without pay to accompany a military spouse overseas), then agencies are not required to provide the employee with a furlough notice. If, however, the employee is scheduled to return from unpaid leave to Federal service during the furlough period, the employee should be provided with a furlough notice (effective on the date of scheduled return), unless the employee is expected to be at work performing an excepted activity.
A. It depends. If the employee is not expected to work during the furlough period (e.g., an employee who has just given birth and has requested 12 weeks of unpaid leave (leave without pay (LWOP)) under the FMLA), the agency is not required to provide the employee with a furlough notice. If, however, the employee is scheduled to return from LWOP to Federal service during the furlough period, the employee should be provided with a furlough notice (effective on the date of scheduled return), unless the employee is expected to be at work performing an excepted activity. An employee on LWOP under FMLA during a shutdown furlough may not later substitute paid time off for the days of LWOP.
A. No.
A. Yes. An employee must be placed in furlough status during any paid time off scheduled to be taken during a lapse in appropriations. If an employee is scheduled to take paid time off under FMLA during a shutdown furlough (either continuously or intermittently), the paid time off must be canceled and the employee must be furloughed for any period during which paid time off was scheduled. Thus, any days of scheduled paid time off are documented as furlough days. Any previously scheduled days of unpaid leave under FMLA will continue to be documented as LWOP. No days associated with a shutdown furlough period will be counted against an employee's 12-week FMLA leave entitlement.
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.
A. Yes. With agency approval, excepted employees may earn compensatory time off and/or credit hours subject to requirements found in 5 U.S.C. 5543 and 6120-6133; 5 CFR 550.114, 551.531, and part 610, subpart D; or other applicable authority. Each agency is responsible for approving the number of hours an excepted employee can work related to the performance of excepted activities. Employees will not be permitted to use earned compensatory time off or credit hours during the shutdown period.
A. No. An employee (including excepted employees) who does not work on a holiday will not receive pay for a holiday that occurs during a shutdown furlough.
A. Yes. Each agency is responsible for determining which excepted activities must be performed on a holiday in order to carry out functions related to such excepted activities. If an excepted employee refuses to report for work on a holiday after being ordered to do so, he or she can be considered absent without leave (AWOL) and will be subject to any consequences that may follow from being AWOL.
A. The Federal Government will be obligated to pay an excepted employee who performs work on a holiday according to the normal rules governing pay for work on a holiday. For example, under 5 U.S.C. 5546(b), a covered employee would receive his or her rate of basic pay, plus holiday premium pay at a rate equal to the employee's rate of basic pay. In addition, if such an employee performs officially ordered or approved overtime work on a holiday (i.e., work in excess of his or her basic non-overtime work requirement for that day), the employee would receive overtime pay (or compensatory time off) for that work. Of course, an employee cannot receive payment for working on a holiday until an appropriations act or a continuing resolution is enacted.
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.
A. Unlike other types of non-pay status, employees in a non-pay status due to a lapse of appropriations (shutdown furlough) will not have the opportunity to terminate or cancel FEHB coverage. The employee will remain covered; the enrollee share of the FEHB premium will accumulate and be withheld from pay upon return to pay status.
A. New enrollments or changes in enrollment due to a Qualifying Life Event do not take effect until the employee has been back in pay status for any part of the prior pay period.
A. Coverage continues for 12 consecutive months in a nonpay status without cost to the employee or to the agency. Neither the employee nor the agency incurs a debt during this period of nonpay.
A. Payroll deductions will cease for any employee that does not receive pay. The employee remains enrolled in FSAFEDS, but eligible health care claims incurred during a non-pay status will not be reimbursed until the employee returns to a pay status and allotments are successfully restarted. The remaining allotments are recalculated over the remaining pay periods to match the participant's election amount.
Eligible dependent care expenses incurred during a non-pay status may be reimbursed up to whatever balance is in the employee's dependent care account - as long as the expense incurred during the non-pay status allows the employee (or spouse if married) to work, look for work or attend school full-time.
A. Payroll deductions will cease for any employee that does not receive pay. Coverage will continue so long as premiums are paid. If Long Term Care Partners does not receive payment for three consecutive pay periods, they will begin to direct bill the enrollee. The enrollee should pay premiums directly billed to him/her on a timely basis to ensure continuation of coverage.
A. Payroll deductions will cease for any employee that does not receive pay. BENEFEDS will generate a bill to enrollees for premiums when no payment is received for two consecutive pay periods. The enrollee should pay premiums directly billed to him/her on a timely basis to ensure continuation of coverage.
A. Agencies and employees should refer to the TSP website or contact their agency representative for information. Agency representatives may contact the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board at (202) 942-1450 for additional information.
A. It is possible that furloughed employees may become eligible for unemployment compensation. State unemployment compensation requirements differ. Some States require a 1-week waiting period before an individual qualifies for payments. In general, the law of the State in which an employee's last official duty station in Federal civilian service was located will be the State law that determines eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. (See the Department of Labor website "Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees" at http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/unemcomp.asp.) Agencies or employees should submit questions to the appropriate State (or District of Columbia) office. The Department of Labor’s website provides links to individual State offices at http://www.servicelocator.org/OWSLinks.asp.
A. Agencies and employees should refer to the TSP website or contact their agency representative for information. Agency representatives may contact the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board at (202) 942-1450 for additional information.
A. Some agency employee assistance programs (EAP) include financial consultation services. In addition, employees may want to contact their financial institution, credit union or learn about their options through the Thrift Savings Plan (www.tsp.gov).
A. EAP services can be helpful in providing confidential counseling and coaching with experienced, licensed counselors - including legal and financial consultation. Federal employees are advised to contact their agency's EAP office to determine whether services will be available in the event of a lapse in appropriations. Many Federal agency EAPs are serviced by Federal Occupational Health (FOH), a division of HHS. Employees who know their agency uses FOH as a provider may contact their toll free EAP phone number (800) 222-0364 (TTY 888- 262-7848) to find out how to access EAP services during a lapse in appropriations.
A. No, both mean the employee is in a nonpay, nonduty status for those days/hours. However, extended furlough or LWOP may affect the calculation of creditable service for certain purposes.
A. The effects of a nonpay status (which includes furlough, leave without pay, absence without leave, and suspension) on Federal employee benefits and programs vary based on current law and regulation. For additional information, see OPM's fact sheet on the "Effect of Extended Leave Without Pay (or Other Nonpay Status) on Federal Benefits and Programs" at http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/LWOP_eff.asp.
A. No. As with other types of paid leave, paid military leave must be canceled for days covered by the furlough.
For employees on active military duty, their status as Absent-Uniformed Service (formerly Leave Without Pay-Uniformed Service (LWOP-US)) is unchanged by periods of intermittent annual or military leave, per the guidance in Q&A 9 of the Frequently Asked Questions on Military Leave, at http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/MILQA.asp.
A. No. The reservist differential payments are intended to make up the difference between the employee's customary civil service compensation and his or her military pay, and they are made from the funds of the employing agency appropriated for the payment of employees' salaries. Since funds are not available for employees' salaries during a furlough, no funds may be obligated towards any type of payment for reservist differential. However, if subsequent legislation is passed reimbursing employees their civilian pay for the period of the furlough, it will be necessary for the agency to calculate any reservist differential payments that may be owed.
A. No. The furlough has no impact on an employee's General Schedule or Federal Wage System WGI waiting period if the employee is in an Absent-Uniformed Service status. An absence for the purpose of engaging in military service is creditable service in the computation of waiting periods for successive WGIs when the employee returns to a pay status through the exercise of a restoration right provided by law, Executive order, or regulation. See 5 CFR 531.406(c)(1)(i) and 5 CFR 532.417(c)(4).
A. Generally there will be no effect on the high-3 average pay unless the furlough causes the employee to be in a nonpay status for more than 6 months during the calendar year.
A. Yes.
A. For employees who, on or before the requested retirement date, submitted some notice of their desire to retire, agencies should, when the lapse in appropriations ends, make the retirement effective as of the date requested. The retirement request may be informal (such as a letter requesting retirement), and can be either mailed or personally submitted to the agency. Any additional required paper work, such as the formal retirement application form, may be completed when the agency reopens. No time spent by the retiree in such actions after the effective date of the retirement may be considered as duty time, since the individual would no longer be an employee of the agency.
A. Yes, Federal retirees under the CSRS and FERS retirement systems will still receive their scheduled annuity payments on the first business day of the month.
A. OPM's Retirement Services is available to assist you with your retirement account. As always, you can make many of these changes online through Services Online or by calling Retirement Services at 1-888-767-6738. Due to the volume of calls, we recommend that you first use the online services site to make immediate updates and changes.
A. You can report the death and apply for benefits by accessing opm.gov/retire or calling us at 1-888-767-6738. You must still apply, as you normally would, for survivor benefits after the death of an annuitant.
If the family member was a Federal employee at the time of death, survivors must contact the agency for which the deceased worked. If the employing agency is closed, you may need to wait until after a government furlough to begin the process.
A. If your agency or payroll center submitted your retirement application to OPM, you will begin receiving interim annuity payments while OPM retirement specialists process your application. Because OPM Retirement Services is funded by the Trust Fund it manages, OPM Retirement Services employees will still be working normal operating hours during a government furlough.
If your agency or payroll center has not yet submitted your retirement application or the application is incomplete, you will likely experience some delay as OPM must wait on other agencies to submit all of the information needed to process your retirement. Some of these agencies may not be operating during a government furlough.
A. Disability, reconsideration, and appeals employees at OPM will continue working on your case. If the application requires additional information from other agencies, expect delays during a government furlough.
A. Yes, OPM employees will continue working to process court ordered benefits. If the application requires additional information from other agencies, expect delays during a government furlough.
A. In the event of a shutdown furlough, any payments incurred by the agency for an employee's lump-sum payment will be delayed until funds are available.
A. Funds for severance pay are obligated on a day-to-day basis as the recipient accrues continuing entitlement to severance pay by not being reemployed by the Government of the United States. (Severance pay is suspended or terminated when the individual is reemployed by the Federal Government.) Severance pay is paid at the same pay period intervals as if the recipient were still employed. Any severance payment (on a payroll payday) is linked to the corresponding pay period during which the recipient accrued continuing entitlement to severance pay. If the recipient is reemployed by the Federal Government during a pay period, he or she is entitled to a prorated severance payment covering the days in the period prior to reemployment (e.g., 2/5 of one week's pay if the recipient was reemployed on the third workday of the pay period).
Thus, in the case of a shutdown furlough, accrued but unpaid severance pay represents an obligation to be paid from funds available before the lapse in appropriations occurred. Just as payroll checks for work performed prior to a lapse in appropriations can be processed as part of the orderly suspension of nonexcepted activities, severance pay checks covering days before the lapse may also be processed.
No funds may be authorized for severance payments for days during the lapse until an appropriation is enacted.
Additional information on severance pay (including eligibility criteria and payment formulas) can be found at http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/severance_pay.asp.
A. The Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs which administers the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) advises that, in the event of a Government shutdown, an employee who is disabled due to his or her injury is to be maintained in COP status during the shutdown unless the agency does not have monies available to pay the salary of that employee. If the agency does not have monies to pay salary during the shutdown but the agency's budget is subsequently restored in such a way as to allow for retroactive payment of salary during the shutdown period, the employee should receive COP for any period of disability that occurs within the shutdown. In the event an agency is legally unable to pay COP to an employee because of a lapse in appropriations, the employee may file a claim for regular FECA wage loss compensation for that period.
A. No. Workers compensation is paid to employees only if they are injured while performing their duties. Employees on furlough or LWOP are not in a duty status for this purpose. An employee who is receiving workers' compensation payments will continue to receive workers' compensation payments during a furlough and will continue to be charged LWOP.
A. No. When the furlough begins, agencies should not prepare an SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" (or a List Form of Notice for a group of employees who are to be furloughed on the same day or days each pay period). Further guidance regarding documentation will be communicated to agencies at the conclusion of the furlough.
A. Yes. While an employee must ultimately receive a written notice of decision to furlough, it is not required that such written notice be given prior to effecting the emergency furlough or in person. Advance written notice (including through email) is preferable, but when prior written notice is not feasible, then any reasonable notice (e.g., telephonic, oral, personal email, or by mail promptly after the furlough) is permissible.
A. The notice must specify the reason for the furlough and state that the usual 30 calendar days advance notice was not possible due to the emergency requiring curtailment of agency operations. If some employees in a competitive level will not be furloughed because they are performing one of the excepted activities defined by OMB standards, OPM recommends a statement such as the following:
"If employees are being retained in your competitive level, they are required for orderly suspension of agency operations, or they are performing one of the excepted activities defined by law."
For members of the Senior Executive Service (SES), the written notice should provide the reason for the furlough; the expected duration of the furlough and the effective dates; the basis for selecting the appointee when some but not all SES appointees in a given organizational unit are being furloughed; the location where the appointee may inspect the regulations and records pertinent to the action; if the notice period is less than 30 calendar days, the reason for the shortened period, and, for a probationer, the effect (if any) on the duration of the probationary period.
All notices must include a statement of applicable appeal and grievance rights. If a copy of the MSPB appeal form is not attached to the decision notice, the notice should include information on how to obtain a copy of the form or how to electronically file an appeal with the MSPB.
See http://www.opm.gov/furlough/Samplenotice for a sample notice to employees. This sample can be used for SES and non-SES employees.
A. Considering the uncertain and changing circumstances surrounding a shutdown furlough, agencies should make efforts to ensure that employees are provided with up-to-date and accurate information. If time permits before a furlough starts, this may be done through effective union-management communication, employee briefings, periodic bulletins, and newsletters. Once a furlough begins, agencies can also consider using 800 numbers and e-mails to home e-mail accounts.
A. The length of a shutdown furlough does not affect the procedures that are used.
For most employees, shutdown furloughs lasting 30 calendar days or less (22 workdays) are covered by OPM regulations under 5 CFR part 752, adverse action procedures. Shutdown furloughs lasting 30 calendar days or less (22 workdays) for career appointees in the Senior Executive Service (except reemployed annuitants) are covered under 5 CFR part 359, subpart H. Noncareer, limited term, and limited emergency appointees and reemployed annuitants holding career appointments are not covered by 5 CFR part 359, subpart H, and they may be furloughed under agency designated procedures, which should include certain minimum features, e.g., whenever possible, a written notice at least 1 day before the furlough which states the reason for, duration of, and effective dates of the furlough.
Shutdown furloughs lasting more than 30 calendar days (22 workdays) are also covered by OPM regulations under 5 CFR part 752, adverse action procedures, 5 CFR part 359, subpart H, or agency designated procedures, as applicable. When the shutdown furlough goes beyond 30 days, agencies should treat it as a second shutdown furlough and issue another adverse action or furlough notice.
NOTE: RIF furlough regulations and SES competitive furlough requirements are not applicable to emergency shutdown furloughs because the ultimate duration of an emergency shutdown furlough is unknown at the outset and is dependent entirely on Congressional action, rather than agency action. The RIF furlough regulations and SES competitive furlough requirements, on the other hand, contemplate planned, foreseeable, money-saving furloughs that, at the outset, are planned to exceed 30 days.
A. There are no mandatory procedures; however, agencies should ensure that all administrative procedures required by negotiated agreements or internal personnel policies are followed, subject to any exceptions to those procedures that would apply in the event of a shutdown furlough.
A. The Antideficiency Act applies to administrative law judges (ALJs). Accordingly, they should be furloughed unless they are performing functions that are not funded by annual appropriations or meet one of the Antideficiency Act's exceptions. The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has adopted procedures for implementing furloughs for ALJs, which are described in 5 CFR 1201.137-141. Those procedures, however, do not specifically address the unique issues raised by an emergency furlough necessitated by a Government shutdown. Accordingly, agencies should consult their legal counsel about how to implement a furlough of ALJs.
A. By law, individuals do not become Federal employees until they report for work and are sworn in. Agencies should consider delaying the enter-on-duty date for new employees who are scheduled during a shutdown furlough.
A. Employees who are notified to return home should do so as soon as practicable. When an employee returns promptly, the travel expenses that the employee incurs in the return are properly-incurred obligations of the agency (as part of the agency's orderly-shutdown activities), and the agency will reimburse these travel costs after appropriations are enacted and are available for that purpose. If, however, an employee elects not to return promptly and, as a result of this decision, the employee incurs additional travel expenses, those additional travel expenses are not obligations of the agency, and will not be reimbursed (instead, the employee is personally liable for the additional travel expenses); while the employee will be personally liable for the additional travel expenses, the agency will continue to incur the obligation for those travel costs that would have been incurred if the employee had returned promptly, and the agency will reimburse such "prompt return" travel costs after appropriations are enacted and are available for that purpose. Finally, in the case of those employees who are notified by their agency that they are to remain on travel, because the continuation of their travel is in direct support of an excepted agency activity, their travel expenses are properly-incurred obligations of the agency (as part of the agency carrying out an excepted activity), and the agency will reimburse the travel costs after appropriations are enacted and are available for that purpose.
A. Agencies should consider delaying the enter-on-duty date for employees who are scheduled to transfer to a new agency during a shutdown furlough. Such employees would remain on the rolls of their former agency until the new transfer effective date.
A. Please consult the MSPB website for additional information on the processing of appeals during any lapse of appropriations.
A. Employees should follow their agency procedures, including any applicable collective bargaining agreements, which may include monitoring OPM’s website (www.opm.gov) and media outlets for notification that a continuing resolution or appropriation has been signed by the President.
A. If a shutdown were to occur, guidance concerning when furloughed employees should come back to work at the conclusion of the shutdown would have to be tailored to the specific situation. In the absence of such guidance, agencies should apply a rule of reason in requiring employees to return to work as soon as possible, taking into account the disruption in the lives and routines of furloughed employees that a shutdown causes.
A. The decision whether to furlough employees and which activities are excepted from a furlough are management rights that are not subject to bargaining. See 5 U.S.C. §7106(a). However, when an agency determines that a shutdown furlough is necessary, agencies have a duty to notify their exclusive representatives and, upon request, bargain over any negotiable impact and implementation proposals the union may submit, unless the matter of furloughs is already "covered by" a collective bargaining agreement.
In the event of unforeseeable circumstances, such as sudden emergencies requiring immediate curtailment of activities due to a Government shutdown, whatever bargaining that can occur prior to taking action should occur to the extent possible before furlough actions are necessary. However, if agreement isn't reached in the time allowed, the agency should tell the union what actions it will take and offer to continue bargaining on a post implementation basis.
A. The law requires an agency to bargain during the term of a collective bargaining agreement on negotiable union-initiated proposals concerning matters that are not expressly contained in, or otherwise covered by, the collective bargaining agreement, unless the union has waived its right to bargain about the subject matter involved. Accordingly, there may be a bargaining obligation if a union makes negotiable proposals in advance of a shutdown that address procedures and appropriate arrangements for affected employees. Agencies should evaluate the circumstances of their situation to determine whether there is a duty to bargain on union proposals concerning furlough procedures.
A. An agency is required to provide data that is normally maintained, reasonably available and necessary to perform the representational duties of a union. A union requesting information must establish a particularized need for the information by articulating, with specificity, why it needs the requested information, including the uses to which the union will put the information and the connection between those uses and the union's representational responsibilities under the statute. The union must establish that the requested information is required in order for the union to adequately represent its members. An agency denying a request for information must assert and establish any countervailing anti-disclosure interests. An agency may not satisfy its burden by making conclusory or bare assertions; its burden extends beyond simply saying "no." With this in mind, agencies will have to evaluate the circumstances of their situation to determine whether they should provide the requested information.
A. Unless they are exempted employees, union officials cannot work on official time during a shutdown. Furloughed employees are prohibited from working on official time, because official time is a paid status, and agencies may not incur financial obligations during a lapse in appropriations. Official time is not permitted for excepted employees because they are only permitted to work on activities that are authorized under the Antideficiency Act. Official time is used for Union representational activities, which do not fall within any of the Anti-Deficiency Act’s exceptions.
A. Generally, access to facilities during a furlough may be restricted based on funding, security or other issues. Depending on agency operations, a particular facility, or portions of a facility, may be fully or partially operational.
Access to a union office during a period of furlough should not be prevented solely on the basis that a union official seeking access is not in a duty status. Access for representational purposes would be subject to each facility's requirements at the time, including provisions in collective bargaining agreements. If furloughed union officials are allowed access, it would be solely for the purpose of performing voluntary representational functions (i.e., they could not be working on official time or in any other way incurring obligations that would require subsequent agency payment).
This page can be found on the web at the following url: http://www.opm.gov/furlough/faq/index.asp