

W Furloughed federal workers protest outside the U.S. Capitol in 2013 to demand an end to the 16-day shutdown (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

As the government heads closer to closing at midnight Wednesday, almost 30,000 federal workers are fighting in the courts for damages for the days they worked without pay during the last shutdown in 2013.

The employees, from the Defense Department to the Bureau of Prisons, have joined a lawsuit against the government that alleges it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act two years ago. They were told to work during the 16-day shutdown because their jobs were essential to security and safety — but not paid until federal agencies reopened.

“These are the people who are so important, our country cannot live without them,” said Heidi Burakiewicz, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Mehri & Skalet, which is representing the workers before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

[Government tells workers they can join lawsuit over pay during 2013 shutdown]

“And yet they got paid after the shutdown,” she said. “No one knew when it was going to end. And now it could happen again.”

About 285,000 of the roughly 1.2 million employees who were told to work in 2013 are eligible to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which seeks compensation of $7.25, the federal minimum wage, multiplied by the number of hours they were on the job during five days that paychecks were delayed. The damages would come to about $290 for someone who worked an eight-hour day, plus any overtime.

[Who gets sent home if the government shuts down]

The lawsuit was originally filed by five workers at the Bureau of Prisons. Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith ruled 13 months ago that the government violated the labor statute by failing to compensate the employees on time. She rejected a Justice Department motion to dismiss the suit, calling it a “case of first impression” for the claims court.

The judge has not decided whether the workers involved in the lawsuit are entitled to damages.

[Shuttering the government actually costs more than keeping it open –more than $2 billion last time]

Campbell-Smith’s ruling required agencies to notify hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their eligibility to join the suit, a process Burakiewicz described as riddled with delays and failures to notify the full group of employees.

Eligible employees have until Oct. 9 to join the case. Burakiewicz said she expects the discovery phase of litigation to wrap up next month.

Approximately 2,000 employees are now plaintiffs in the suit; on Monday, attorneys plan to file with the court for another 20,000 plaintiffs. Several thousand more have filled out paperwork to join the suit, Burakiewicz said, and will be added by the filing deadline.

[If the government shuts down, don’t plan on visiting Yellowstone, financing your home or getting your tax refund]