![]()
While federal employees will receive back pay when the government reopens, many are struggling financially today and need more immediate relief. NTEU is commending a lawmaker who recognizes the devastating impact of the shutdown on federal employees and their families.
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is asking Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to make sure furloughed federal workers, and those working without pay, can receive unemployment insurance benefits. In a letter sent yesterday, Neal asked Acosta to issue guidance, similar to the 2013 shutdown, so that state workforce agencies can start helping federal employees as soon as possible.
States should be allowed to waive certain requirements, including that federal employees must actively search for another job while collecting unemployment benefits, he wrote.