Your guide to pay and benefits during a shutdown

As of Friday afternoon, lawmakers and the White House had less than 12 hours to reach an agreement and pass a short-term measure to fund the government and avert a shutdown beginning at midnight Friday.

On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after House Speaker Mike Johnson released a continuing resolution to maintain agencies’ current funding levels through March 14, provide $100 billion in disaster relief, offer $10 billion in economic assistance to farmers and a myriad of other policy provisions, President-elect Trump and Elon Musk excoriated the deal and demanded some provisions be removed and an extension of the debt ceiling—which is not expected to be breached until next summer—added.

On Thursday, a vote on a plan reflecting the president-elect’s requests failed in the House. House Republicans on Friday reportedly were planning to take a series of votes on separate components of the measure. It remains unclear if the new tack will be more successful.

Here’s what federal workers can expect in terms of pay and benefits if the government shutters, based on guidance from the Office of Personnel Management last updated in 2021 after a number of changes were signed into law following the 35-day partial government shutdown that began in late 2018.

Salaries: Furloughed federal workers and employees who have been deemed essential and forced to work during a lapse in appropriations will not be paid during a shutdown. But thanks to a 2019 law signed as part of the measure to end the 35-day shutdown, they all will automatically be granted back pay to cover the shutdown once funding is restored. In previous appropriations lapses, Congress had to approve back pay for furloughed federal workers following each shutdown, but that process has since been automated.

Similarly, employees who worked overtime during the shutdown will be granted premium pay, although not until after agencies reopen.

OPM provided additional guidance to agencies ahead of Friday’s funding deadline to try to minimize the impact on federal workers’ paychecks. Paychecks associated with the Dec. 1-Dec. 14 pay period will go out as planned between Dec. 20 and 26. OPM also instructed agencies to submit employee timekeeping data to federal payroll providers for the Dec. 15 to Dec. 28 pay period as part of their shutdown preparations, with the caveat that the second week should be unpaid in the event of a lapse in appropriations this weekend.

Bonuses: Agencies may award performance bonuses during a shutdown, but those awards won’t be paid until after funding is restored.

Unemployment: Federal employees who are furloughed are eligible for unemployment compensations in some states, but in many cases, they must return the money once they receive back pay after the government reopens.

Health care: Furloughed federal workers will maintain their coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program during a lapse in appropriations. Premiums will accrue over the course of a shutdown, and then are deducted from a federal employee’s first paycheck after a lapse in appropriations has ended.

In another tweak made after the 2018-2019 shutdown, Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program enrollees will also maintain their coverage, with premiums automatically being deducted from their first post-shutdown paycheck. And feds can now make changes to their insurance plans due to significant life events during a shutdown. OPM regulations issued in 2020 clarified that agency HR employees, who were previously furloughed during shutdowns, are deemed essential for the purposes of handling FEHBP enrollments.

Retirement benefits: Feds in the Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System will still receive their scheduled annuity payments during a shutdown. Contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan will be halted until the government reopens, though the agency that administers the program, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, will remain on the job, as they are funded through employee contributions, not congressional appropriations.

Leave: Federal workers cannot substitute leave for unpaid furloughs when the government is shuttered. Previously scheduled leave that occurs during a lapse in appropriations will be cancelled, though OPM has emphasized that does not mean excepted employees cannot request time off during a lapse in appropriations.

Agencies may excuse excepted employees from duty and place them in furlough status for the time that they are out. Excepted employees who had already been scheduled for paid leave may be deemed off-duty for those periods.