Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act
Official title: To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employees of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia, Federal contractors, and the States for c… Show full official titleShow less
Official title: To amend title 31, United States Code, to reimburse employees of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia, Federal contractors, and the States for certain costs incurred as a result of a Government shutdown, and for other purposes.
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Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act
This bill requires the federal government to reimburse states and employees of the federal government, the District of Columbia government, or federal contractors for certain costs incurred as a result of a lapse in appropriations (i.e., a government shutdown).
Employee costs that must be reimbursed include costs incurred by an employee as a direct result of a lapse in appropriations, including expenses for loans and credit cards, and any fees, fines, or interest resulting from the employee's inability to make payments as a direct result of a loss in salary due to the lapse in appropriations.
With respect to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about October 1, 2025, employees must be reimbursed for any shutdown costs on the earliest date possible after the enactment of this bill (subject to the enactment of an appropriations act ending the lapse). For subsequent lapses in appropriations, the bill requires that each employee be reimbursed for any shutdown costs on the earliest date possible after the end of a lapse in appropriations that lasts at least 14 days.
States must be reimbursed for payments for assistance programs that would otherwise be provided by the federal government but for a lapse in appropriations that lasts at least 14 days. The states must be reimbursed no later than 90 days after the end of the lapse in appropriations.
The reimbursements required by this bill are subject to the availability of appropriations.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
- FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION
- NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
- FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION
- FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION
- NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
Bodies those filers lobbied
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- SENATE
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- Energy, Dept of
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
- Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 5628: Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-5628/
"H.R. 5628: Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-5628/.
H.R. 5628, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-5628/.
[H.R. 5628: Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-5628/)