Furloughts Take Effect for Defense Department's Civilian Employees - East Idaho News
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Furloughts Take Effect for Defense Department’s Civilian Employees

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041312 GeorgeLittle?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1373334081261Department of Defense(WASHINGTON) — Unpaid furlough days went into effect Monday for some of the military’s 650,000 civilian employees as a result of the sequestration cuts that went into effect earlier this year.  Most affected workers will have Mondays or Fridays as their furlough days, so not everyone will be off at the same time.

This isn’t just a Beltway phenomenon, as civilian employees at most every military base across the country will be affected.  
 
The Pentagon once thought civilians might have to be furloughed for as many as 22 days through the end of September, but they were eventually able to reduce the number to as many as 11 furlough days through that time.
 
Either way, Defense Department-employed civilians will see their paychecks impacted in a big way, the 11 unpaid days between now and Sept. 30 will be equal to a 20 percent reduction in pay. The furloughs will save the Pentagon $1.8 billion in pay for those three months.
 
A hundred thousand exemptions were granted in the run-up to the furloughs. The biggest group to be exempted were shipyard workers building the Navy’s newest ships, as the furloughs would have significantly affected shipbuilding schedules.
 
Only Senate confirmed civilians will be exempt at the Pentagon. That means top Pentagon spokesman George Little will be among those furloughed.  He’ll be off every Friday for the next three months.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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