1



FURLOUGH

Questions & Answers

January 2019

GENERAL

• Q. What is a FURLOUGH?

A. An emergency closure (resulting in the furlough of employees) caused by a lapse in

appropriations or other unforeseeable circumstances.

FURLOUGHS CAUSED BY LAPSED APPROPRIATIONS (SHUTDOWN)

• Q. Would all employees be furloughed if a government shutdown occurred?

A. No. The governing laws allow for certain categories of employees to continue working;

generally, these employees are either directly or indirectly involved in the “protection of

A. There are employees specifically designated as those involved in “orderly shutdown”

activities – they would be responsible for making the arrangements to shutdown non-

emergency operations. Their duties might include: securing facilities, powering down

equipment, leaving appropriate voicemail messages, etc. After their duties were completed,

employees involved in orderly shutdown would either go into a furlough status (if

2



• Q. For furloughs necessitated by lapsed appropriations (shutdown), is an agency

required to provide 30 calendar days’ advance written notice and an opportunity to

A. No. OPM’s regulations provide for emergency furlough without the necessity for

• Q. In the event of lapsed appropriations, can an employee be furloughed without

furlough?

A. If an employee separates during lapse of appropriations, the lump-sum annual leave

payment would be delayed until enactment of an appropriation that would allow the

obligation of funds for this purpose. In the event of a lapse of appropriations, agencies are

excepted activities. As explained above this includes the processing of personnel payroll for

the periods prior to the lapse in appropriations. A minimum number of payroll staff

• Q. If I have an existing balance on my travel card and have not received

reimbursement due to the lapse in appropriations or have travelled during the lapse for an

to pay?

A. No. DOC continues to work with J.P. Morgan Chase (JPMC), the DOC travel card

interest charges) are applied to your account due to the lapse in appropriations. DOC will

identify to JPMC all DOC travel card holders who, on the 21st of Dec 2018, had a balance

on their account and all travel card holders who use their cards during the lapse for

If you receive a notice that your account has become past due, you should contact the DOC

travel management division in order for DOC to ensure the account is not suspended, that

late fees and penalties are not applied, and that the delinquency is not reported to credit

3



bureaus. Please do not contact JPMC directly as the request must come from DOC. Card

holders can reach the DOC Travel Management Division (TMD) via email OFM-

personal expenses as long as I make the required payments when I have an income again?

A. No. Government credit cards are for official purposes only. The rules surrounding

card use remain in effect, and misuse may result in disciplinary action, up to and including

removal.

Officer Representative (COR), or Program Manager (PM), and cannot complete my

certification requirements due to the lapse in appropriations. How can I maintain my

• Q. What procedures apply to probationers, employees under temporary limited

appointments in the competitive service, employees who are non-preference eligible

employees in the excepted service with less than 2 years of continuous service, and similar

categories of employees?

A. There are no mandated procedures; however, agencies should ensure that all

followed. More specific information regarding applicable negotiated agreements or

internal personnel procedures can be obtained from your servicing human resources

• Q. Would employees who are detailed or assigned outside the agency during part,

or the entire period, of furlough be subject to furlough?

4



returning to their home agency and potentially being furloughed depending upon the

agency’s determination as to whether the employee performs a function that is excepted

from furlough. Where managerial discretion exists, your organization will make its

Federal employees assigned to non-Federal organizations, who are on leave without pay

from their Federal positions (or who have separated from Federal service with re-

furlough will be expressed in terms of the number of hours of the required furlough, rather

than in terms of the number of days or specific dates or times. If a furlough is expressed in

terms of the number of days, for a full-time employee under a flexible work schedule, the

length of a furlough day is the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work in order

to fulfill the basic work requirement during the biweekly pay period, divided by the

For an employee on a compressed work schedule, a furlough is scheduled for the days and

work schedule. The length of a furlough day under a compressed work schedule is the

be proportionately equivalent to furlough days scheduled for full-time employees.

• Q. What about employees who work on a seasonal or intermittent basis?

A. Seasonal employees are recalled to duty at identified periods of the year in accordance

with pre-established conditions. Intermittent employees are non-full-time employees

without a regularly scheduled tour of duty. Neither group would be called for work during

the period in which furloughs are scheduled.

5



EMPLOYMENT DURING FURLOUGH

• Q. May employees take other jobs while on furlough?

A. Yes. However, the Executive Branch standards of ethical conduct, which include rules

on outside employment, continue to apply to employees on furloughs. Additionally, there

are statutes which prohibit certain outside activities. Agencies also may have varying

supplemental rules regarding the requirement for prior approval of outside employment,

• Q. What happens to employees’ benefits (e.g., retirement, health benefits, life

insurance, leave) if they received temporary appointment in another agency while

furloughed?

A. The leave, retirement, health benefits, and life insurance all should be handled as if the

• Q. May an employee volunteer to do his or her job on a non-pay basis during a

furlough period?

A. No. The statute that permits employees to take compensatory time off for religious

observances does not authorize an agency to accept the voluntary services of any individual

on a furlough day. Periods of time worked in exchange for taking time off for religious

observances must be scheduled on non-furlough days.

SERVICE CREDIT FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

• Q. Is furlough or leave without pay (LWOP) a break in service?

creditable service.

6



- For COMPLETION OF PROBATION, a total of 22 workdays in a non-pay status is

creditable service.

by the amount of non-pay status. However, agencies may require such extensions in order

an employee who had substantial time in a non-pay status earlier in the year if the furlough

causes him or her to have a total of more than six months’ time in a non-pay status during

- For HEALTH BENEFITS, the government contribution to the health benefits enrollment

elect between continuing their coverage and agreeing to pay the premium or incur a debt;

or terminating the health benefits enrollment.

If an employee chooses to continue the health benefits enrollment, payment of the

contract; and

• the employee may re-enroll upon returning to work, without having to wait for an

open season, or other enrollment event.

- For LIFE INSURANCE, coverage continues for 12 consecutive months in a non-pay

broken by a return to duty for periods of less than four consecutive months.

7



advancement to step 2, three weeks for advancement to step 3, and four weeks for

advancement to steps 4 and 5.

- For ANNUAL AND SICK LEAVE, when an employee accumulates 80 hours of non-pay

status, his or her annual and sick leave credit is reduced by an amount equal to the amount

of leave the employee earns during that pay period. When computing annual leave accrual

rates, creditable service is limited to a total of 6 months per calendar year in a non-pay

status.

towards the computation of an employee’s severance pay, no more than 6 months of non-

employees who are performing military duty or being paid workers’ compensation counts

as a continuation of Federal employment for all purposes upon the employee’s return to

duty.

employees to be in a non-pay status for more than 6 months during the calendar year.

• Q. Are the retirement rules concerning the effect of a furlough the same for

Retirement System?

pay. If the employee’s pay is insufficient to cover the FEHB premium, he or she must elect

8



terminate the enrollment.

Federal Employees Group Life Insurance coverage continues, and contributions made by

the employee and the employee’s agency continue if the employee’s salary in each pay

period is sufficient to cover deductions. If the employee’s salary is insufficient to cover his

to the employee or the employee’s agency.

continuous coverage necessary for continuing health insurance into retirement. However,

required 5 years of continuous coverage.

• Q. What affect does a shutdown furlough have on my TSP account?

A. See http://www.tsp.govfor latest information on impact of furlough on your TSP

A. Employees may be furloughed for periods of time that include holidays.

• Q. If employees are furloughed on the last workday before a holiday or the first

workday after a holiday (but not on both days), will they be paid for the holiday?

A. Yes. The general rule is that employees are entitled to pay for a holiday so long as they

are in a pay status on either the workday preceding a holiday or the workday following a

holiday. Employees are paid for the holiday based on the presumption that, but for the

holiday, the employee would have worked.

workday after the holiday, the employee is not entitled to pay for the holiday because there

9



is no longer a presumption that, but for the holiday, the employee would have worked on

that day.

REQUESTS FOR LEAVE DURING FURLOUGH

• Q. If employees request annual, sick, court, military leave, or leave for bone

marrow or organ donation after receiving a notice proposing specific days of furlough, can

subsequently designated as a furlough day, that leave is automatically canceled because the

necessity to furlough supersedes leave rights.

• Q. If an employee properly schedules “use-or-lose” annual leave before the start of

the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year, but is unable to use some

or all of the scheduled leave because of a furlough, does the furlough constitute an

“exigency of the public business” that permits an agency to restore the leave after the

beginning of the new leave year?

Employees in this situation should make every effort to reschedule “use-or-lose” annual

(FMLA) during furlough days, do the furlough days’ count towards the 12-week

entitlement to FMLA leave?

towards the 12-week entitlement to FMLA leave.

since there is no work or funds involved. However, if the employees may potentially return