Legislation Passes to Provide Federal Workers With Back Pay

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. The legislation, cosponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, will make sure federal employees who are required to work during the government shutdown are given full back pay once the shutdown has ended.

“Our federal workers shouldn’t suffer because the President and Republicans in Congress don’t know how to govern,” said Sen. Schatz. “These workers keep our country running, and they deserve the pay they have earned. I hope we can quickly get this through the House and to the President so that the men and women who serve our country get fully compensated.”

Federal spending for key government agencies expired on Dec. 21, forcing government workers in those agencies to go without pay. The partial government shutdown, now in its third week, hurts more than 800,000 federal workers in all 50 states.​

Earlier this week, Senator Schatz introduced the Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, new legislation that would protect federal workers and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown.