This is illegal...

State Department calling employees back to work during the shutdown

By NAHAL TOOSI

State Department employees are being called back to work and told they will be paid for at least one pay period, despite the ongoing government shutdown.

In an urgent message sent to Civil and Foreign Service officers on Thursday, Bill Todd, the deputy undersecretary for management, told staffers that the department is “taking steps to make additional funds available to pay employee salaries.”

“By taking these steps, the department expects to be able to resume most personnel operations and fund most salaries beginning with Pay Period 2,” Todd’s notice states. “As a result, all State Department direct-hire employees and State Department locally employed staff are expected to report to work on their first work day in Pay Period 2. For most employees, that will be January 22. For some overseas posts, where Sunday is the first day of the work week, that will be January 20.”

Employees will be paid for the upcoming pay period, receiving paychecks on Feb. 14, the notice says. Afterward, the department “will review balances and available legal authorities to try to cover future pay periods.”

But employees will not be paid for work performed so far under the ongoing government shutdown until after appropriations bills are passed into law, the notice adds.

The department justified the decision by stating, “As a national security agency, it is imperative that the Department of State carries out its mission. We are best positioned to do so with fully staffed embassies, consulates, and domestic offices.’