Furloughed civilian employees at military bases across Georgia headed back to work Monday morning.

Thousands have been on furlough since the partial federal government shutdown began Tuesday, but most received recall notices over the weekend.

"It sure beats spending four days at home with nothing to do but worry about paying bills and when we're going to get paid next," said engineer Hans Hinners, who works at Robins Air Force Base, as does his wife Shannan.

"It certainly as not been a vacation for us," he said of their four unpaid days off last week.

Congress passed a bill last week exempting Defense Department employees from furloughs if they provide direct support for the military. The Pentagon has interpreted that to mean most workers, but not all.

"We get to head back to work, 'yay' for us," Hinners said. "And that has kind of put into perspective there are still 50,000 DOD employees that weren’t recalled, and a total of 450,000 federal employees that are still having to deal with this mess."

Tags: Robins Air Force Base, Adam Ragusea, federal government shutdown