WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia government employees who were forced to take furlough days last year will be getting some extra money in their paychecks.

Mayor Vincent Gray says nearly 22,000 workers, including thousands of Marylanders, will be repaid for their furlough days starting Tuesday.

The furlough days were imposed to help close what was expected to be a major budget gap. But after the government ended fiscal 2011 with a surplus, Gray proposed that employees be reimbursed for those unpaid days off. The D.C. Council passed a bill authorizing the repayments.

Workers will receive a one-time, lump-sum payment in their regular paychecks at the end of August. Depending on their pay schedule, they’ll get the furlough money either Tuesday, Friday or on Aug. 31.

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