District Employees to Receive Repayments for Fiscal Year 2011 Furlough Days Beginning August 21

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray and DC Department of Human Resources (DCHR) Director Shawn Stokes today announced that nearly 22,000 DC government employees who were required to take furlough days in Fiscal Year 2011 in order to close what was anticipated to be a significant budget gap will receive repayment for their lost wages beginning August 21, 2012.

Earlier this year, Mayor Gray proposed repaying employees after he announced that his administration closed Fiscal Year 2011 with a significant budget surplus. The D.C. Council passed legislation in June authorizing the repayments, and the Mayor quickly signed the bill and asked DCHR officials to process the payments as soon as possible after the required congressional review period.

“We asked our employees to sacrifice an amount of income that was significant for many of them in order to help close what was then projected to be a budget gap,” Mayor Gray said. “Instead, efficient management of government and unanticipated tax revenues gave us a surplus – and it’s only right that we pay back our hard-working employees. I am pleased that, with the Council’s support, we are able to do so.”

“The welfare of a city is reflected in the welfare of its workers,” said Geo T. Johnson, Executive Director, District Council 20 AFSCME. “We have seen this recently, when the Mayor of this great city returned the  furlough days to city workers, who helped carry the burden when fiscal times were hard.”

Eligible DC government employees will receive a one-time, lump sum repayment in their regular paychecks at the end of August 2012 (Aug. 21, 24, or 31, according to each employee’s pay schedule).