Loans, unemployment insurance available to some furloughed feds
By Sherkiya Wedgeworth, Jan 02, 2019
Short-term loans, unemployment insurance and hardship loans for qualifying employees are being offered to many federal employees currently not receiving pay due to the partial government shutdown.
The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund offers hardship loans for those employees suffering from emergencies while under furlough, such as illness, death of a family member or loss due to a sudden tragedy, such as a fire.
“FEEA’s heart goes out to the 800,000 federal workers currently furloughed or working without pay,” FEEA said in a news release. “While we wish we could help replace income for everyone in need, that is unfortunately beyond the resources of our small nonprofit.”
The release also notes that some federal credit unions may be offering loans in response to the shutdown and encouraged employees to contact their credit union if they are already a member.
Some states are also providing unemployment insurance benefits to their residents.
In most cases those funds would have to be refunded if federal pay is restored for the shutdown period, according to FEEA.
More information on what resources are available to federal employees can be found on the Office of Personnel Management’s website here.
