The U.S. Supreme Court resolves payment struggles, and federal workers who are also military reserves
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal employees who are also in military reserves must be paid when they are required to work during a national emergency.
5-4 decisions could affect thousands of people and ensure that they don’t suffer financially when they leave a kind of government service temporarily.
The judges ruled in an appeal filed by the Air Traffic Controller that he had been in the Coast Guard for about five years and had a salary rate lower than his income as a FAA employee.
Congress first passed the differential compensation regulations in 2009, but the Justice Department argued that it only applies to people who have close ties to national emergency situations.
Most people disagree, finding that in a national emergency, any reserve officer required to serve should match everything they do in the federal civilian work. Gorsuch joined with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts.
In the objection, Justice Clarence Thomas pointed out that the country has been in a national emergency for decades or another national emergency, and the discovery of most people will make the difference pay more broadly than what Congress expected. Thomas wrote that he would send the case back to the lower court. His ranks were joined by his Justices Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
