There's so much misinformation running around here it isn't even funny. Here's some facts.
ALL Federal workers are on furlough, meaning they are not being paid at this time. This is both "essential" and "non-essential" employees.
Essential employees are reporting to work and doing their jobs. They are not being paid as of right now.
This bill simply says that those employees who were required to come to work during the shutdown will be paid for their work when the shutdown is over. Non-essential employees will not be paid, since they didn't work. They may have the option of using their leave time (since they had already earned that before the shutdown) but I haven't seen anything concrete about that.
Most folks, when they hear the word “furlough,” understand that to be those who are not working.
And few expect that those who work will not be paid.
If you are correct, that those who are not working will not be paid, that is news to me, and I stand corrected.
Ditto what you said. I’m working with a fair number of such folks. I had to decide who got furloughed and who didn’t a few days ago.
BTW, I just saw on Twitter that the Senate killed this bill.
This paragraph in the article seems to run counter to your assertion:
“Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid supports the measure, but said Saturday that if furloughed workers are guaranteed back pay, there’s no reason to keep them out of work.”
If they’re working, they’re hardly “out of work,” are they?
You did not refute this observation for "nonessential" employees. This is bringing the liberals out of the closet on FR. The ones who worry about the non-essentials and their livelihood are purely big government proponents and, practically speaking, liberals and totalists.