An Office of Management and Budget FAQ document now states that only excepted employees forced to work without pay are guaranteed backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations.

By ERICH WAGNERand ERIC KATZ

Updated Oct. 7 at 10:20 a.m.

The Office of Management and Budget on Friday quietly revised a shutdown guidance document to remove references to a law passed in 2019 to guarantee that all federal workers are provided backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations.

Prior to Oct. 3, OMB’s Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations document highlighted the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act, the law enacted in 2019 as part of the deal to end the 35-day partial government shutdown during President Trump’s first term to ensure both furloughed and excepted federal workers receive backpay once government funding has been restored. Prior to the law’s passage, Congress had to OK furloughed workers’ backpay following each individual lapse in appropriations.

“All excepted employees are entitled to receive payment for their performance of excepted work during the period of the appropriations lapse when appropriations for such payments are enacted,” stated the document, which was updated Sept. 30 in advance of the current lapse. “The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-1) provides that upon enactment of appropriations to end a lapse, both furloughed and excepted employees will be paid retroactively as soon as possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”

But in the latest version of the document, the latter sentence, as well as references to OPM guidance on the topic, were removed. The excerpt’s removal is the only change between the two document versions, aside from the date of last revision.

Conversely, OPM’s shutdown guidance, last updated Sept. 28, still states that furloughed workers will be provided backpay at the conclusion of the lapse.

“After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods,” OPM wrote. “Retroactive pay will be provided on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”

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