Agencies close-lipped on personnel policy planning for shutdown
Some employees would continue to work during a hiatus, but officials aren’t yet revealing details.
In preparing for a potential government shutdown, federal agencies are reluctant to discuss which employees still will be working in critical jobs.
Agencies are required through Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11 to develop strategies for a government hiatus, and include information such as the time it will take to stop operations and the number of essential employees they plan to retain.
According to OMB, employees who can continue to work during a government shutdown are those involved in national security and the protection of life and property, including law enforcement officers, disaster assistance personnel, air traffic controllers and transportation safety workers, coastal and border patrol, and those in public health and medical functions. The U.S. Postal Service also will continue without interruption. It's "business as usual," USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said. "We don't get taxpayer support."
John Palguta, vice president of policy at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, said hundreds of thousands of the government's 2.1 million civilian workers could be considered essential personnel. Approximately 800,000 federal employees did not work during the 1995 shutdown, which he estimates would be a good ballpark figure this time around. Though it depends on each agency's operations, a lot of employees at the Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments likely would be exempt from furloughs, he said.
Agency officials have been unwilling to identify specific personnel policies that would be in place during a shutdown, saying only that they are required to have contingency plans.
"We will do everything we have to do to continue to support the deployed troops," a Defense spokeswoman said. "The department must also continue many other operations necessary for the safety of human life and protection of property. These types of activities will be exempt from cessation. All other activities would need to be shut down in an orderly and deliberate fashion."
Agencies likely don't want to make employees panic, said Palguta, adding that Obama administration officials still are hoping to resolve the issue before a shutdown occurs. But high-level planning already is under way short of sending furlough letters to employees, he said.
"I have to believe someone in most agencies has pulled out the guidance and is taking a look at what are the procedures, what notice do we send out," said Palguta. "In some agencies, they're already going down and figuring out who to keep on the rolls and who do we furlough."
OMB, the Justice Department and the Office of Personnel Management are supposed to provide agencies with guidance. Agencies are required to provide employees with 30-days' advance written notice of foreseeable furloughs to save money, but according to OPM, they are not required to provide written notice of an emergency shutdown due to lapsed appropriations.
Furlough notices also will have to be updated to account for employees who telework. The government by law cannot accept voluntary services when appropriations have lapsed, meaning nonessential personnel cannot work for free. Those who do work could be prosecuted and subject to suspension or termination, according to Palguta. The age of telework presents a particular challenge for agencies, which would have to define a new set of rules to prohibit employees from conducting business from their homes, he said.
"There's a strong work ethic among most federal employees, and I'm sure some of them will want to continue," said Palguta. "In some cases, agencies may actually have to deny access to agency records because [employees] may not telework if they're not otherwise declared essential."