Even with shutdown deal, federal workers probably won’t see back pay until next week

By Lisa Rein and Eric Yoder January 25 at 6:21 PM

While Congress and President Trump on Friday agreed to reopen dozens of federal government agencies that have been shuttered for 35 days, the 800,000 employees who haven’t been paid in more than a month probably will have to wait well into next week to receive their pay.

Although employees are on track to go back to work when Trump signs legislation that would restart the government for the next three weeks, its massive timecard and payroll processing systems will take several days to lumber back to life. Employees will have to file timecards, agencies will have to approve them, and the Treasury Department will have to disburse billions of dollars in what is known as an “off-cycle” payroll.

It probably will be next Thursday, Friday or even Saturday before employees are paid, according to former federal personnel and payroll officials and senior agency officials. The delay could cause continued financial hardship for thousands of employees who have been struggling with zero cash flow during the partial government shutdown.

That the agreement came on a Friday makes payments to employees more complex, as human resources offices are not typically staffed, and employees who do return to work on Monday likely will face huge backlogs of work.

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