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Federal employees have options if they are let go by their agency, but what about federal contractors?
Kevin Owen, a partner at Gilbert Employment Law in Silver Spring, Maryland, said that it’s likely there are “limited to no recourse” from the federal government.
“When you’re a federal contractor that is working for a company that has the contract, you’re an employee of the company, not the government,” Owen said.
He said that if you are a contractor, you have to remember who ultimately is employing you.
“Generally, federal contractors are at-will employees,” Owen said. “If the company loses the contract, or if the funding is frozen, and your job is tied to a very specific contract that is no longer paying out, then it’s the private company who is making the decision to end or furlough your employment.”
So what does that mean for seeking legal action against the federal government if you lose your job?
“That’s not something that you’d be able to seek legal recourse against the federal government, and probably not even against the contractor,” Owen said.
And for those companies that have government contracts? Owen’s advice is to diversify your income streams.
“If you do lose one or half your government contracts, that you don’t necessarily be put in the place where you have to have massive layoffs of your talent,” he said. “Because when your talent is gone, it’s going to be very hard for these contractors to bring them back.”
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
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