Federal Managers Association

In the News

• OPM removes language on back pay for furloughed feds from shutdown guidance - February 2, 2026

• By Jory Heckman and Drew Friedman, Federal News Network

  With a partial government shutdown underway, the Office of Personnel Management has updated its shutdown guidance to remove references to the guarantee of back pay for furloughed federal employees once a funding lapse ends.
  
  OPM’s previous shutdown guidance from September 2025 stated that furloughed employees will get paid once a lapse in appropriations ends, at the earliest date possible. The September guidance also referenced the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA), a law meant to ensure retroactive compensation for both excepted and furloughed federal employees during government shutdowns.
  
  After President Donald Trump signed GEFTA into law in 2019 during his first term, both OPM and the Office of Management and Budget affirmed that excepted and furloughed employees would be given back pay as soon as possible, once any current or future shutdown ends.

  To read the full article, click here.

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