Congress passed a bill late Wednesday that opened the governmentand granted back pay to federal employees furloughed during thegovernment shutdown.

Under the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2014, “employeesfurloughed as a result of any lapse in appropriations which beginson or about October 1, 2013, shall be compensated at their standardrate of compensation, for the period of such lapse inappropriations, as soon as practicable after such lapse inappropriations ends.”

A state or another federal grantee that used state funds or anyother non-federal funds to continue a federal program will also bereimbursed.

Furloughed state employees or a grantee's employees whose pay isnormally reimbursed by the federal government will be paidretroactively at their standard rate.

The Republican-controlled House passed the continuing resolutionlate Wednesday 285-144 with every Democrat voting in favor of it.The measure, signed by Obama shortly after midnight, funds thegovernment until January 15.

The original federal employee back pay bill called the FederalEmployee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act passed the House on Oct. 5but stalled in the Senate.

During the shutdown, credit unions offered assistance to theirfederal employee members including low interest loans and credited deposits.

“Due to the enactment of a continuing resolution, Federalgovernment operations are open. Employees are expected to returnfor work on their next regularly scheduled work day (Thursday,October 17th for most employees), absent other instructions fromtheir employing agencies,” said the White House Office ofManagement and Budget website on Thursday.

OMB encouraged federal agencies to use all available “workplaceflexibilities” during the transition including “telework, workschedule flexibilities and excused absence for hardshipsituations.”

“We're proud of the work the credit unions did during theshutdown to offer assistance to their members. That assistance waswell received on Capitol Hill,” said Brad Thaler, vice president oflegislative affairs at the NAFCU told Credit Union Timeson Thursday.

“We're pleased that federal employees will be receiving back payand working with their credit unions on the terms of the programsthat were put in place during the shutdown,” he added.