"Federal workers were guaranteed back pay once the government reopened. Some at the National Park Service are still waiting."
"As many as 100 seasonal workers at the National Park Service have not received some back pay after being furloughed during the government shutdown, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and four people briefed on the matter.
The Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, owes these workers as much as $200,000 in total, according to the documents and the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.
The law that Congress passed to reopen the government included a provision that ensured back pay for federal workers who had been furloughed. The official guidance from the Office of Personnel Management states that such pay “must be provided at the earliest date possible after the lapse ends.”
Yet some seasonal workers are still waiting for as much as four weeks of back pay, according to the documents and two of the people briefed on the matter. The situation is predominantly affecting seasonal workers at national parks in the Northern and Central Rockies, which are among the most visited parks in the United States, those two people said."
Maxine Joselow reports for the New York Times November 24, 2025.
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