The Washington Post – Everything you need to know about a government shutdown

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) human resources guidance for agencies and employees on furloughs. There are two types of furloughs:

• An administrative furlough is a planned event by an agency which is designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack of work, or any budget situation other than a lapse in appropriations. Furloughs that would potentially result from sequestration would generally be considered administrative furloughs.
• A shutdown furlough (also called an emergency furlough) occurs when there is a lapse in appropriations, and 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. In a shutdown furlough, an affected agency would have to shut down any activities funded by annual appropriations that are not excepted by law. Typically, an agency will have very little to no lead time to plan and implement a shutdown furlough.

Funding Lapse Information Page: The following links are provided as a reference to assist Federal Employees affected by the shutdown to provide answers and resources.

• Guidance for Shutdown and Furloughs (PDF file)
• OMB – Agency Contingency Plans
• Sample Letters for Creditors and Mortgage Companies (Word file) [71 KB]
• OMB Guidance Regarding Shutdown Impact on Employee Pay (PDF file)