Federal employees that are considered “non-essential” by the government stay at home without pay during a partial government shutdown. A new piece of legislation was recently released that would require the federal government to explicitly name those federal employees that are considered ‘non-essential’.
The Essential Act of 2018 (H.R. 5091) was sponsored by Congressman Ted Budd and is largely meant to protect federal workers. According to the new legislation, the Office of Management and Budget has to receive a report from each federal agency including the job details of all “non-essential” employees. The report should include the salary and job description of furloughed employees during a government shutdown.
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It is unfair for government employees to be told to stay at home when the government shuts down its operations. In fact, the Congress is not supposed to shut down government operations arbitrarily as it amounts to irresponsibility. However, there is a need for some transparency in instances where such things end up happening.
The “Nonessential” Category
The “non-essential” tag that is given to employees that stay at home when there is a shut down has always faced criticism any time there has been a looming shutdown. Federal employees feel that the tag is demeaning, as it indicates that they are not even important to the government.
In fact, the term “shutdown” should not even be used as government operations still go on during such situations. The most appropriate tags to use in such situations include; “furloughed,” “excepted,” and “exempt.” However, only employees that who go home without pay during a shutdown can be referred to as “furloughed.”
No agency would continue to exist if all employees were to be furloughed and that why designations such as non-essential or essential employees should be used during a shutdown.
In fact, the terms “excepted” and “non-excepted” were introduced in 1995 to replace “essential,” and “non-essential,” but most people are reluctant to use the new terms. The previous terms are still being used today despite the fact that some federal employees are not comfortable with such terms. The Office of Personnel Management insists that federal employees that are subject to furlough are neither “excepted” nor “exempt.”
