During a government shutdown, an affected federal agency has to shut down any activities funded by annual appropriations that are not excepted by law, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The agency calls the result a shutdown furlough, which occurs when there is a lapse in annual appropriations.
When a shutdown starts
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says a shutdown furlough 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. It also says an agency will typically have very little to no lead time to plan and implement one.
The current funding deadline is covered in Will the government shut down on December 11?.
What happens to federal employees
OPM's Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs, dated January 2026, defines a furlough as the placing of an employee in a temporary nonduty, nonpay status because of lack of work or funds, or other nondisciplinary reasons. The guidance sorts employees into three groups.
| Group | Who is in it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Furloughed | Employees whose work is funded through annual appropriations but is not designated as excepted work | Barred from working, other than minimal activities needed for an orderly suspension of agency operations |
| Excepted | Employees whose work is funded through annual appropriations and who perform tasks that, by law, are allowed to continue | Not furloughed, and they keep working |
| Exempt | Employees who are not affected by the lapse, including those whose functions are not funded by annually appropriated funds | Generally stay under the normal pay, leave and other civil service rules |
The guidance says excepted work may include emergency work involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. Agency legal counsel, working with senior agency managers, determine which employees handle excepted functions, and each agency decides the method and timing of telling employees.
An employee may be required to do excepted work during part of a lapse and be furloughed for the rest of it, the guidance says.
Pay during and after a shutdown
The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, Public Law 116-1, was approved on January 16, 2019, and applies to any lapse in appropriations that begins on or after December 22, 2018. It says each employee furloughed as a result of a covered lapse "shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations," and each excepted employee who is required to work shall be paid for that work. The payment is at the employee's standard rate of pay, at the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.
OPM's guidance says excepted employees will be paid after Congress passes and the President signs a new appropriation or continuing resolution. The parties that hold each chamber are listed in Which party controls Congress?.
Other rules for furloughed employees
The same OPM guidance answers several questions employees ask.
- A furloughed employee may not volunteer to do the job without pay. Unless otherwise authorized by law, an agency may not accept the voluntary services of an employee.
- All paid leave and other paid time off is canceled during a lapse for employees who are not excepted from the furlough.
- Health coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program continues even if an agency does not make its premium payments on time.
- Furloughed employees may be eligible for unemployment compensation. The guidance adds that retroactive pay provided later may result in overpayments under state law.
- An individual on furlough remains an employee of the federal government, so ethics standards and rules on outside employment continue to apply.
This page states what the law and OPM's guidance say. It does not predict whether or when a shutdown will occur.