More than 110,000 federal employees across Georgia woke up this week without a paycheck — or a clear timeline for when the next one might arrive.
💼 Why It Matters: A federal government shutdown doesn’t stay in Washington. It ripples through Georgia households, local economies, and industries that depend on stable government contracts, from defense manufacturing to healthcare services.
🚨 What’s Happening: The Georgia Department of Labor has activated emergency resources to help furloughed federal workers navigate unemployment benefits while Congress remains gridlocked.
Federal employees who have been furloughed can file for unemployment insurance online through the MyUI Claimant Portal or in person at one of 34 career centers statewide. The department set up a dedicated webpage with guidance tailored to federal workers in Georgia.
⚖️ The Fine Print: Filing for unemployment during a shutdown comes with complications most workers don’t face.
Claims are tied to an employee’s last duty station, not where they live. Workers must provide employment and wage details from their agency, but during a shutdown, agencies may not respond quickly, slowing down approvals.
Furloughed employees are considered “job-attached” and don’t have to search for work for the first six weeks. But federal employees still working without pay must report their gross earnings when requesting weekly benefits.
And there’s a catch: Once Congress ends the shutdown, furloughed workers will receive back pay. Any unemployment benefits collected during that time must be repaid.
🔄 Not The First Rodeo: Georgia has weathered federal shutdowns before. Labor Commissioner Bárbara Rivera Holmes said the department’s staff are trained to move quickly.
“We’ve been through shutdowns before, and our staff are prepared to assist quickly and with compassion,” she said.
Beyond unemployment checks, the state’s career centers connect workers with training programs through the Technical College System of Georgia and WorkSource Georgia.
🏭 The Broader Fallout: Rivera Holmes pointed to the wider economic threat.
“Millions of workers across industries — from manufacturing to healthcare — depend on stable government funding to keep paychecks coming and operations running,” she said. “A lapse in funding threatens not only livelihoods, but also the momentum of our economic recovery.”
The Sources:
- Georgia Department of Labor press release
- Georgia Labor Commissioner Bárbara Rivera Holmes
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
