With a number of agencies warning that they will have to furlough their employees in the coming weeks, it may be helpful to understand what this would mean to you as a federal employee.
OPM defines two types of furloughs on its web site:
- An administrative furlough is a planned event by an agency which is designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack of work, or any budget situation other than a lapse in appropriations. Furloughs that would potentially result from sequestration would generally be considered administrative furloughs.
- A shutdown furlough (also called an emergency furlough) occurs when there is a lapse in appropriations, and can occur at the beginning of a fiscal year, if no funds have been appropriated for that year, or upon expiration of a continuing resolution, if a new continuing resolution or appropriations law is not passed. In a shutdown furlough, an affected agency would have to shut down any activities funded by annual appropriations that are not excepted by law. Typically, an agency will have very little to no lead time to plan and implement a shutdown furlough.
OPM has these guides for the different types of furloughs:
- Guidance for Administrative Furloughs
- Supplemental Guidance for Administrative Furloughs
- Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs
