The vast majority of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are still working during the government shutdown and most are being paid on time through advanced appropriations. Even so, tens of thousands of VA employees are not getting paid right now because they are either furloughed or working without pay. The VA said in a press release Thursday that nearly 37,000 of its employees are missing pay because of the shutdown, and that veterans are forced to go without “critical VA services.” According to VA’s contingency plans, nearly 30,000 employees are “excepted,” meaning they are working without pay during the shutdown. Nearly 15,000 VA employees, according to the department’s contingency plans, are expected to be furloughed, meaning they are not working. Excepted and furloughed employees typically receive back pay once a shutdown ends. President Donald Trump signed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act in January 2019, which guarantees back pay to shutdown-impacted federal employees. But the Office of Management has floated the possibility that furloughed workers are not automatically entitled to back pay. VA Secretary Doug Collins called on Democratic lawmakers to end the government shutdown and “provide the complete and comprehensive services America’s veterans, families, caregivers and survivors have earned.” “The Democrats’ government shutdown is limiting services for Veterans and making life miserable for VA employees, and things are only going to get worse as time goes on,” Collins said in a statement. About 97% of VA employees keep working during a government shutdown, and more than 90% of its total workforce continues to get paid on time. VA’s health care operations are not impacted by the shutdown. Its medical centers, outpatient clinics and Vet Centers, which provide community-based counseling, remain open and are operating normally, because the department receives some funding from Congress in advance. Fewer than 3,000 Veterans Health Administration employees, including medical and prosthetic research positions, are working without pay during the shutdown. No VHA employees are furloughed, according to the department’s contingency plans. Nearly half of Veterans Benefits Administration employees, however, are excepted, meaning they are working without pay during the shutdown. That includes about 15,000 claims processors and finance center employees who ensure disability and pension claims are paid on time to veterans and their survivors. VA benefits continue to be paid on time, but 56 VA regional benefits offices are closed to the public. The department said it’s also in the process of permanently closing its Manila regional office in the Philippines, because its legal authority to operate expired on Sept. 30. The VA outlined a wide range of its services that are impacted by the shutdown. The department says more than 900,000 veterans are unable to get help from the GI Bill Hotline, which is not staffed during the shutdown. More than 100,000 veterans also can’t get counseling or case management services from the Veteran Readiness and Employment program, which includes job training and independent living programs for veterans with service-connected disabilities. The VA says it has a backlog of nearly 62,000 VR&E applicants that is “growing by the day.” More than 16,000 service members who are preparing to leave the military cannot receive VA transition briefings because the contract that provides the service is not operational during the shutdown. In addition, more than 150 VA national cemeteries across are no longer performing maintenance or placing permanent headstones. Veterans service organizations told the Senate VA Committee on Wednesday that their ability to help veterans and their families is also impacted by the shutdown. The Veterans of Foreign Wars said its representatives housed in VA facilities or contracted federal buildings are unable to access their offices. VFW Executive Director Ryan Gallucci said VFW representatives can perform most tasks remotely, but they haven’t been able to receive weeks of mail sent to their VA offices, potentially leaving thousands of veterans without timely support. “As we speak, the government shutdown disrupts our work as critical deadlines approach. Veterans can’t afford to wait. We must reopen the government to avoid unnecessary pain and hardship for our defenders,” Gallucci said. Gallucci told lawmakers that VFW representatives were recently given a “very short window” to collect any mail at VA facilities, but were told by the VA that veterans service groups “must not linger within the space.” “This is certain to cause completely avoidable delays in claims processing and greatly increases the risk of a claim being unnecessarily denied,” Gallucci said. Gallucci said the VFW has called on the VA to extend filing dates covering the shutdown, to ensure that benefits claims are accurate, but said the department has not done so. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of veterans receiving disability benefits nearly doubled, even as the overall veteran population fell by about a third. Jon Retzer, deputy national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, told lawmakers that VSOs with offices within VA regional facilities “are not allowed to conduct normal business to be able to assist veterans.” Retzer said DAV was recently allowed 30 minutes to collect weeks of accumulated mail at their VA offices. One regional office in North Carolina, he said, had over 180 pieces of unopened mail. “When you look at that, those are time-sensitive issues, with effective dates to file initial claims, and evidence to support pending claims, and so on,” he said. Retzer said DAV employees working remotely are able to still provide services to veterans, but said taking personally identifiable information out of VA facilities raises additional concerns. “The thing is, it really drives a wedge in our process, because within the VA regional office, we have the capacity of technology and the resources do secure work. And we’re very disappointed, and we hope that the VA will open back up for all organizations that are accredited in there, because this is the first time in any shutdown that we are actually not allowed to stay in,” he said.The post Nearly half of VA benefits employees working with pay during government shutdown first appeared on Federal News Network.