Norton to Participate in Hearing on Effects of Government Shutdown on Federal Contract Workers

May 3, 2019

Contact: Jack Miller

Norton to Participate in Hearing on Effects of Government Shutdown on Federal Contract Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that she will be participating in a House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations field hearing on Monday, May 6, 2019, at George Mason University, that will focus on the impacts of the recent government shutdown on federal contract workers. Norton introduced a bill, the Low-Wage Federal Contractor Employee Back Pay Act of 2019 (H.R. 339), that would guarantee back pay to federal contracted retail, food, custodial and security service workers who were not paid during the shutdown.

“I am very pleased that we will be holding this hearing so that Congress can begin to understand fully the impact the unnecessary government shutdown has had, especially on low-wage contract workers,” Norton said. “These employees faced numerous hardships and continue to feel the effects of the shutdown, all through no fault of their own. Unlike their counterparts who are employed by the federal government itself, many of these workers did not receive back pay despite often performing identical work to and alongside federal workers.”

Norton is also the lead cosponsor of the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act (H.R. 678), which would provide backpay for contractor workers up to the lesser of 200% of the federal poverty level for a family of four or their weekly compensation. She also led a group of House Democrats in writing to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Russell Vought, requesting OMB to direct federal agencies to modify their contracts to provide back pay to federal contract workers.

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