Hagel: Furloughed Pentagon civilians to be recalled back to work

Hagel: Furloughed Pentagon civilians to be recalled back to work
Stars and Stripes
Chris Carroll
Published: October 5, 2013

WASHINGTON — Defense Department civilians who support "the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members" will soon be recalled from furlough, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Saturday.

That applies to most – but not all - of 400,000 furloughed civilian workers, Hagel said in a statement that directed the military services and other DOD components to begin quickly identifying workers who could return.

"I expect us to be able to significantly reduce – but not eliminate – civilian furloughs under this process," Hagel wrote. "Employees can expect to hear more information from their managers starting this weekend."

The decision was based on a law, the "Pay Our Military Act," passed Monday on the eve of the government shutdown. The law authorized Hagel to not only pay military members as well as civilians already been classified as "excepted" and ordered to stay on the job -- it also gave him latitude to order an end to furloughs for many, he said.
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