PSC Asks Congress to End Partial Shutdown, Offer Back Pay to Contract Employees

The Professional Services Council has called on Congress to end a partial government shutdown by advancing full-year appropriations for remaining federal departments and agencies.

PSC President and CEO David Berteau sent a letter dated Friday to House and Senate leaders expressing concern about the impact of funding lapse on some agencies, U.S. citizens and contract employees.

“Hundreds of thousands of workers support the government through contracts, delivering services to citizens, maintaining and modernizing thousands of information and data systems, and operating across the health, law enforcement, training, and infrastructure industries throughout America,” Berteau wrote.

“As the shutdown drags on, more and more of these workers are losing their work and their pay.”

He said contract workers are not provided with back pay in compensation for their layoffs during a shutdown compared with their government civilian counterparts.

“PSC urges Congress to provide the same redress for government contractors as it does for federal civilian employees,” Berteau added.