OPM has posted guidance regarding unemployment claims related to furloughs, stating that while furloughed employees could qualify for benefits under the laws of their states, those laws typically impose waiting periods.
Those waiting periods could push the start of benefits beyond the end of the current partial government shutdown, depending on when an individual would apply, how long the processing would take, how long the waiting period would be, and when the shutdown ends.
Further, the guidance stresses that those who receive unemployment benefits must repay them if they later receive back pay for their unpaid period. Back pay has been granted to furloughed employees in all the shutdowns going back several decades, and the Senate already has approved it for the current shutdown, with similar legislation already before the House.
States have authority to collect unemployment payments in that situation, including ordering garnishment of wages if the employee does not repay them voluntarily, it says, adding that most states allow for scheduled repayments.
