Be Ready Thursday, Furloughed Workers Are Told

Federal agencies began offering guidance Wednesday to furloughed employees about returning to work, hours before the House voted on a deal to end the government shutdown. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Interior told workers to show up Thursday if the measure is approved, the New York Times reports. The White House said President Trump planned to sign it. "Please monitor the news closely and be prepared to return to work if Congress passes the appropriations bill this evening," an email to employees sent during the afternoon said. About 650,000 workers have been furloughed and another 600,000 forced to keep working without pay, per the Washington Post. Here's a sampling of what they'll be walking back into:

• Timed out: First, they might have to reset their passwords. A Housing and Urban Development employee pointed out that many of the agency's systems time out for users after 30 days.
• Surprises await: Many employees won't know what work is waiting for them because they're mostly not allowed to log in during shutdowns.
• Back pay: The money should show up quickly. "Both the law that established the right of back pay and the new CR instruct the agencies to provide back pay as soon as they possibly can," Jacqueline Simon of the American Federation of Government Employees told the Hill, "rather than require people to wait till their next regularly scheduled pay day." After past shutdowns, back pay was issued with a couple of days, Simon said.

• No exceptions: After the White House floated not making all furloughed workers good, the Senate included wording to make clear that back pay can't be withheld. Trump said he would adhere to that, per ABC News.
• Waiting: Capitol Police officers, TSA workers, and air traffic controllers were among the federal employees forced to work without pay during the shutdown because they were considered essential.