D.C. native Yvette Hicks got what seemed to be a lucky break last year when she landed a job with Allied Universal, a private sector firm that provides security guards. She took the necessary training and was certified to work on Dec. 27.
She showed up for her first day of work at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum on Jan. 2 only to be told to head back home, thanks to the partial government shutdown. The museum, which is independently run but primarily funded by the federal government, couldn’t pay its contracting companies, including Allied Universal.
“That was the day that everyone knew, ‘OK, I guess we are government workers too,’” Hicks told the Washington Examiner. More than two weeks later, she technically has a job but still hasn’t worked — or been paid — because of the shutdown. Congress recently passed legislation to provide back pay to workers who missed paychecks because of the shutdown, but that only extends to those who work directly for the government. “I won’t be getting anything, period,” Hicks said.
There are an estimated 4.1 million federal contractors, both companies and individuals, that do a variety of different jobs for the government, from construction to staffing cafeterias. It is unclear how many have been affected by the shutdown, given the variety of contracts the government engages in. Many of those contractors, like Hicks, were already living paycheck to paycheck with little in way of savings.
Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday to reimburse federal contractors that pay their workers part of what they would have earned had the government not been shut down, up to 200 percent of the poverty level for a family of four. The Senate version currently has 22 co-sponsors.
Nongovernment employees left idle by the shutdown do have one advantage over federal workers: They typically qualify for unemployment compensation. Federal workers can apply, but they are legally responsible for returning the funds should they get back pay. But unemployment benefits aren’t as good as regular pay, and getting signed up takes time.
In Hicks’ case, because she recently signed on with a federal government contractor, she is living in the worst of both worlds. Not only can she not expect to get back pay, but she also has been told she doesn’t qualify for unemployment compensation either because she technically hasn’t worked in the last month.
Meanwhile, bills are coming due, and she’s not sure how she’s going to pay for medication for her kids’ asthma. She’s currently just trying to keep them from worrying. “I’m telling my kids I’m on vacation,” she said. Her fellow security workers at the Smithsonian are having a similarly hard time due to the shutdown.
Loneice Hamilton, another Smithsonian security worker, has applied for unemployment and is still waiting to hear back. She applied for food stamps as well and was turned down for those because she hasn’t been unemployed long enough. Meanwhile, bill collectors are calling. “I’m getting calls from Petco, Washington Gas, the furniture people,” she said. “I didn’t have any money saved up.”
She’s fairly sure she will qualify for unemployment compensation, eventually. The question is whether that money will arrive in time to cover the bills and how many it will cover. “It takes a while for you to get your money even if you are approved,” she said.
For now, Hamilton is applying for jobs at other security companies, trying to find something that will provide a steadier paycheck. Those companies are being flooded with applications thanks to the shutdown, though.
Faye Smith, another Smithsonian security worker, moved to Washington from Atlanta four months ago in order to be closer to her grandchildren, two of whom have now offered to drop out of school and take jobs to help her pay the rent now that she has been furloughed. It’s an upsetting turn of events for her: Smith was previously working overtime specifically so they could stay in school. But she’s in a tough position financially.
Smith is participating in a “Second Chance” program, a type of subprime loan program intended to help people rebuild their credit ratings. But now she has missed two paychecks already and is fearful of missing a third. “With this program you have to be on time or you’ll be automatically terminated if you don’t have your rent in on the first,” she said.
She spent her Thursday at a food bank, standing in line and trying to get help.
Meanwhile, the security company is telling her to stay close to her phone in case they can come up with other work for her or the Smithsonian reopens. Smith isn’t sure she can do that either. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to pay the phone bill,” she said.
None of the security workers were critical of Allied Universal, agreeing it was a simple matter: The government wasn’t paying it, so it couldn’t pay them. A spokesperson for the company could not be reached for comment.
