Government Employee Fair Treatment Act

The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (G.E.F.T.A.) is a United States federal law which requires retroactive pay and leave accrual for federal employees affected by the furlough as a result of the 2018–19 federal government shutdown and any future lapses in appropriations.[1] The Act is an amendment to the Anti-Deficiency Act, which governs federal procedures during a lapse in annual appropriations.[1]

Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019
Long titleAn Act To provide for the compensation of Federal and other government employees affected by lapses in appropriations.
Enacted bythe 116th United States Congress
EffectiveJanuary 16, 2019
Citations
Public lawPub.L. 116–1 (text) (pdf)
Statutes at Large133 Stat. 3
Codification
Titles amended31
U.S.C. sections amended31 U.S.C. § 1341
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as S. 24 by Ben Cardin (D–MD) on January 3, 2019
  • Passed the Senate on January 10, 2019 (92–8)
  • Passed the House of Representatives on January 11, 2019 (411–7)
  • Signed into law by President Donald Trump on January 16, 2019

Background
A US government federal employee demonstrates for compensation during the 2018–19 government shutdown.

When a United States federal government shutdown occurs, affected federal employees are considered either "excepted" or "non-excepted". In addition, other federal employees not affected by the shutdown are considered exempt for various reasons (such as not being funded by annual appropriations) and receive regular pay and benefits.[2] Excepted federal employees must continue to work, generally because their work is considered essential to preservation of life or property. These employees work without receiving pay, and were not permitted to use paid leave, until their agencies are funded, but were already guaranteed their back pay.[3] Prior to 2019, non-excepted employees were furloughed without guarantee of pay unless Congressional action provided compensation for lost wages and accrued leave.[4]

In past shutdowns, retroactive pay and leave has always been provided for furloughed employees through legislation, even though it was not guaranteed. Typically, the legislative package ending the shutdown included this language; for example, in the January 2018 shutdown, retroactive pay and leave was part of the continuing resolution which funded the government again.[5]

Legislative history

Prior to the start of the US federal government shutdown in December 2018, both the House and Senate had seen bills proposed that would provide back pay for federal employees. However, these were not adopted before the 115th Congress ended its session, and so new versions were required to be reintroduced in 2019.[6]

The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 was proposed during the shutdown's third week, and was signed into law within two weeks after that after overwhelming, bipartisan support in Congress. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Ben Cardin as S. 24 on January 3, 2019 with 30 cosponsors.[7] On January 10, 2019, it was passed by the Senate unanimously, in a voice vote.[8] The next day, the House of Representatives held debate on the bill, and then passed the Senate bill without amendment in a roll call vote.[9]

The House vote was 411–7, with 16 non-votes. The small amount of opposition nevertheless received media attention because it was a break from previous back pay votes, such as during the 2013 shutdown, which were unanimous.[10] The 7 opponents of the bill in the House were all fiscal conservatives associated with the House Freedom Caucus, several of whom, such as Representatives Justin Amash and Andy Biggs, argued that the bill's provisions should be limited only to the ongoing shutdown, so as not to incentivize future shutdowns.[11]

On January 16, the bill was signed into law by President Trump, who had already indicated support for it before the Senate vote occurred.[12][13][14]

Provisions

The most significant change introduced by the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act was that it applies to "any lapse in appropriations that begins on or after December 22, 2018". This means that in addition to the 2018–19 shutdown, the Act ends the uncertainty employees would have faced about back pay in any future shutdowns.[15]

The Act requires that furloughed employees receive retroactive wages for the length of a shutdown at the standard rate of pay. It also requires that excepted employees working without pay receive retroactive pay for work performed. In addition, the Act grants excepted employees permission to use their paid leave, and to receive standard compensation for leave taken.[13]

It is further specified that this back pay is to be received at the earliest possible date after the end of a shutdown, so that employees would not need to wait until a scheduled pay day.[15]

The provisions of the law cover affected District of Columbia employees, in addition to federal government employees. While D.C. government employees were not furloughed during the 2018–19 shutdown, they had been affected before in past shutdowns.[16]

Implementation

After being signed into law, the Act went into force immediately, applying to the shutdown that began in December 2018, as well as all future shutdowns. On January 23, 2019, the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees US federal human resources policy, issued Compensation Policy Memorandum 2019-04, a memorandum to federal agencies containing details for implementation of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act.[1][17]

In discussing the Act's passage, many commenters noted that it provides relief only to government employees.[16] The many contract workers—especially low-wage, hourly workers—facing financial hardship during a shutdown have traditionally never been awarded compensation for lost wages. Past efforts by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton during the 2013 and January 2018 federal shutdowns to pass retroactive pay legislation have not succeeded.[15] In 2019, Norton introduced legislation in the House again which would affect federal contractors, and a similar bill was introduced by Senate Democrats. In contrast to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, these efforts have not received widespread Republican support or presidential approval, and have not advanced in Congress.[18]

References
  1. "Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 | CHCOC". chcoc.gov. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  2. "Pay, Benefit Considerations for Shutdown Furloughs". FEDweek. December 19, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  3. "Shutdown Will Cancel Some Federal Employees' Planned Vacations". FedSmith.com. December 27, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  4. "420,000 employees will go without pay during government shutdown". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  5. "Congress makes sure feds get paid for shutdown". Defense News. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  6. "Now in a new Congress, lawmakers reintroduce back pay legislation for feds during shutdown". Federal News Network. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  7. Cardin, Benjamin L. (January 16, 2019). "Actions - S.24 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019". www.congress.gov. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  8. Smith, Ian (January 10, 2019). "Senate Passes Bill to Pay Federal Employees After Shutdown". FedSmith.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  9. Eric Yoder, Congress approves back pay — eventually — for furloughed federal employees, Washington Post (January 11, 2018).
  10. Homan, Timothy R. (January 11, 2019). "The 7 Republicans who voted against back pay for furloughed workers". TheHill. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  11. "Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar vote against back pay for federal workers in shutdown". azcentral. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  12. "Bill Announcement". The White House. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  13. "It's Official: Furloughed Feds Will Receive Back Pay Once the Shutdown Ends". Government Executive. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  14. Vazquez, Maegan (January 16, 2019). "Trump signs law ensuring shutdown pay for government workers". CNN.
  15. "Furloughed Feds Poised to Receive Back Pay After House Sends Measure to Trump". Government Executive. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  16. "Trump signs bill ensuring federal employees get paid after government shutdown". Federal News Network. January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  17. Yoder, Eric (January 24, 2019). "Back pay for furloughed federal employees to include add-ons". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  18. "Senators introduce back pay legislation for low-wage federal contractors during shutdown". Federal News Network. January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
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