The large number of employees and the relatively large number of days involved in the DoD furlough has raised new questions regarding qualifying for unemployment compensation. Eligibility would depend on state policies that vary widely; most have a waiting period of one week of unemployment. Thus, employees typically would have to be off more than five days straight to just to qualify for time beyond those five days. Agency policies on scheduling furloughs vary widely; bunching days may not be an option even for many employees who face more than five days. For example, DoD policy is that furloughs “typically will be executed in increments of approximately 16 hours per pay period to mitigate the impact on the mission and employees”—although exceptions are possible. One Navy local in the Philadelphia area apparently has arranged with management that employees can group days so that they can apply for the benefits. Many states reduce or cut off unemployment benefits if an individual works part of the week, meaning that as a practical matter, employees might have to take two straight weeks of furlough to qualify. However, most agencies that have started furloughs, including EPA, HUD and IRS, are spreading them out and/or are imposing fewer than 10 days. Issues also could arise regarding whether the time off work is truly involuntary, if an employee would be taking the days off consecutively by choice in order to try to qualify for benefits. Labor Department information on the issue is at http://www.dol.gov/sequestration/ui-federalemployees.htm
