Federal workers still on the job have a new worry: Taking a day off during the shutdown

The US Capitol building is seen in the background as a man rides a bike along the street on October 1, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

One essential Social Security employee didn’t foresee her surgery being upended by the federal government shutdown when she scheduled it for early October.

But the longtime manager decided to postpone the procedure, which would have required her to take two weeks off to recover, fearing that she could lose her job if she was absent from work.

That’s because taking sick leave during the shutdown would result in her being furloughed for those days. What’s more, the furlough notice would be filed under “disciplinary and adverse actions” in her employee record — an unprecedented categorization during a funding lapse, according to a Social Secur