Tens of thousands of TSA employees who were expecting one day’s back pay and a bonus on Tuesday have not received the bonus, with some also only receiving part of the pay they had been promised.



On Friday, TSA administrator David Pekoske sent an email to agency employees who have been working without pay due to the partial government shutdown, stating that they would be compensated for the shift they worked on Dec. 22, the day the shutdown went into effect, which was not included on their last paycheck.

“Those payments have been processed and will appear in the accounts of employees who worked that day, by no later than Tuesday,” Pekoske’s email said. He said the agency was able to make the payments “using unlapsed funds in specific TSA accounts.”

Pekoske added that employees would receive a $500 bonus each for working through the holidays, which “should appear in your accounts in the next few days.”

TSA workers who are struggling to pay for food, bills, mortgages, and even for transportation to get to and from work said that based on the email, they were expecting both their full back pay for Dec. 22 and the $500 bonus on Tuesday.

But employees have not received the $500 bonus as of Wednesday afternoon. Some workers received paychecks that didn’t cover all the hours they worked on Dec. 22, while others received no paycheck at all for that day, according to union leaders.

TSA spokesperson Tom Kelly said workers should have received both their back pay for that day and their bonuses by Monday or Tuesday, and that the agency “would work with anybody who didn’t get their pay,” including the $500 bonus.

“It was processed after it was signed off by the administrator, and they should have gotten it yesterday or the day before. I wouldn’t know why somebody wouldn’t have gotten their pay,” Kelly said. “I’m certain that if they bring it to their local leadership then it will be worked out.”

The mix-ups and waiting for the bonus are exacerbating an already stressful situation for the roughly 53,000 TSA employees who continue to work without pay.