A group of 48 lawmakers in the House sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee pushing for back pay for federal contractors from the recent partial government shutdown.
The letter went to Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) on the Committee. It said that future government funding legislation should provide back pay to federal contractors from the shutdown.
“Employees of federal contractors and their families should not be penalized for a government shutdown that they did nothing to cause,” read the letter. It said that providing the back pay ensures parity with federal employees who received back pay for the shutdown.
Legislation was also recently introduced in Congress to give back pay to federal contractors.
The Fairness for Federal Contractors Act would give back pay to contractors who were furloughed or laid off, not working, experienced a reduction of hours, or experienced a reduction in compensation as a result of the lapse in appropriations.
Another bill would provide back pay to low-wage federal contractors such as janitors and food service workers.
As of the time of this writing, neither bill has advanced further which is likely a contributing factor for the House lawmakers in sending the letter.
A copy of their letter is included below.
House Letter Re: Contractor Back Pay by FedSmith Inc. on Scribd
