Chapter 6 › III.B.4 Essential Employees Called Back from Furlough

We called furloughed staff back to work because of the disaster. Is their pay eligible?

FEMA term

Essential employees called back from furlough

Short answer

Yes. Regular hours for essential employees called back from a budget-related furlough because of the declared incident are eligible, as long as those costs were not budgeted.

What FEMA requires

The furlough was budget-related, and the call-back was due to the declared incident.
The costs were not already in your budget.
The employees performed eligible work.

Documentation

The furlough notice, the call-back notice and timesheets for the eligible work.

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

Keep the furlough notice and the call-back notice in the file. They prove the hours were unbudgeted.

Govstar summarizes FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide in plain language and links to the official text. Govstar is independent and not affiliated with FEMA. This is general guidance, not legal advice.