Washington, May 15 (EFE).- More than 820,000 U.S. federal government employees will have to take several days off without pay due to mandatory federal spending cuts for this fiscal year, media reports said Wednesday. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed Defense Department civilian employees that some 680,000 of them will have to take a total of 11 days off without pay, one per week from July until the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The number of forced furlough days could possibly be further reduced if savings in other areas can be found, officials said.

The Pentagon will place most of its nearly 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave for 11 days through September to "survive" steep automatic budget cuts, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday. The Pentagon chief told an audience of civilian defense workers that he regretted the decision and had tried to limit the length of the furloughs while safeguarding the military's combat readiness. "I'm sorry, but I have to be honest and deal with the facts. You deserve honesty and you deserve the facts," he said at a conference hall in Alexandria, Virginia.

Washington, Apr 2 (EFE).- U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will return part of his salary in solidarity with those civilian employees of the Defense Department who must take pay cuts in the form of unpaid leave, Pentagon spokesman George Little said Tuesday. Hagel will return as much as 14 percent of his salary via a legal mechanism to return money to the Treasury Department, even thought he is not subject to the pay cuts, Little said. As defense chief, Hagel earns an annual salary of about $200,000, according to the daily Politico.

* Justice Department employees among first to get notices * Military's 800,000 civilian employees expected to be hardest hit * Cuts could affect border patrol, meat inspections, airports By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The nation's largest employer, the U.S. government, has begun notifying its vast and varied workforce to prepare for reduced hours and slashed paychecks over the next seven months as big budget cuts that were once an abstraction became a reality Friday.