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Employee Leave Flexibilities During Emergencies

During emergency situations, the last thing you want to worry about is work and leave. However, the following leave flexibilities are available. Eligibility varies. Try to remember to work through your supervisor. Please contact Human Resources Management with questions. If you exhaust all these leave flexibilities and balances, please reach out to your chain of command to ask about any other options. 

Unable to Submit Your Time & Attendance?

If you are unable to submit your timesheet due to the effects of a national emergency (hurricane, flooding, or similar), try to contact your chain of command. Someone in your regional office or the human resources officer assigned to your region can help get your timesheet submitted so that you receive payment by the official pay date. The pay department in Human Resources is also available for assistance.

 

Emergency Leave Transfer Program

Radar of Hurricane in Gulf of Mexico

The Office of Personnel Management may establish an Emergency Leave Transfer Program (ELTP) in the event of a major disaster or emergency as declared by the President that results in severe adverse effects for a substantial number of employees. In this case, if you are adversely affected or have family members who are adversely affected by the emergency, you may apply to become an ELTP recipient to receive donated annual leave.

 

 

Weather, Safety, & Administrative Leave

Weather and safety leave may be granted when you are prevented from safely traveling to or safely working at your normal worksite, telework site, or other approved location due to: 

  • An "act of God", such as a severe snowstorm, wildfire, tornado, or similar.

  • A terrorist attack, or

  • Other conditions such as power outages, building fires, or similar.

There are three different situations which senior management officials may approve Weather and Safety leave.

  1. Office closures: The senior management official (regional foresters, deputy regional foresters, Washington Office staff directors, directors, deputy directors, forest supervisors, district rangers or Job Corps center directors) at the agency worksite who has delegated authority to close a Forest Service office due to emergencies, may approve up to 5 days (40 hours) of weather and safety leave. Unusual circumstances, such as the scope and severity of the public emergency may warrant the granting of additional administrative leave. 

  2. Safe travel and/or performing work: Regional foresters, deputy regional foresters, Washington Office staff directors, directors, and deputy directors have authority to grant weather and safety leave when they have determined employees are prevented from safely traveling to or working at an approved location. For example, a road closure, or comparable situation. The amount of weather and safety leave they may grant is up to their discretion based on the emergency situation but may be granted only for hours within an employee’s scheduled daily tour of duty. This is not limited to 40 hours as it is with office closures and personal emergencies.

  3. Personal emergencies: Regional foresters, deputy regional foresters, Washington Office staff directors, directors, and deputy directors has authority to grant administrative leave to employees who face a personal emergency as the result of a “public emergency”.  Up to 5 days (40 hours) of administrative leave may be granted only when the employee can be spared from their usual job responsibilities. For unique circumstances, the Office of Human Resources Management at USDA may approve another 40 hours of admin leave.  For applicable situations, contact Human Resources.

  4. Participation in Emergency Rescue or Protective Work. Regional foresters, deputy regional foresters, Washington Office staff directors, directors, and deputy directors have authority to grant administrative leave without charge to your personal leave to participate in a civilian capacity in emergency rescue or emergency protective work during official working hours. Major emergency situations include but are not limited to extreme weather conditions or disasters such as fire, flood, or other natural phenomena. Line Officers have the authority to grant administrative leave retroactively when they determine that the activity was for an emergency and was in the interest of the public welfare. Code time as TC-66. This policy does not apply to Federal employee members of the National Guard or Reserves who are called to assist in disaster relief and recovery efforts, as they are entitled to military leave under 5 U.S.C. 6323(b).

Supervisors can approve unscheduled leave (annual) or flexing of hours if unforeseen weather and safety concerns are prevalent or expected.

  • Telework or remote work employees: If you are on an approved telework agreement, you generally, don’t receive weather and safety leave and are expected to work unless you are prevented from safely working at your home and alternate work site because of severe weather or an emergency event such as electrical power or broadband outage, fire, flooding or heating and cooling failures.

  • Non-telework employees: You are usually granted weather and safety leave for the hours you are scheduled to work. However, you will not be granted weather and safety leave while on official travel outside of the duty station or on an alternative work schedule day off or another non-workday.

  • Emergency employees: You are expected to report to or remain at your worksite unless otherwise directed by the agency.

  • Employees on pre-approved leave (paid, unpaid, or other paid time off generally): You should continue to be charged leave or other paid time off and should not receive weather and safety leave.

If you are prevented from safely working at your telework or remote worksite because of the severe weather or other emergency event such as flooding, evacuation, power outage, no internet access and unable to work, or similar, you may be granted weather and safety leave. Unfortunately, intermittent employees may not receive weather and safety leave because intermittent employees do not have an established regular tour of duty during the administrative workweek and cannot earn or use leave. The time is coded as “DC-34 + TC-66” (Paycheck8).

If you were ordered to evacuate your home due to the hurricane or other national emergency, or you lost your home due to flooding and are unable to safely work at an alternative worksite, the senior management official at the agency worksite may grant weather and safety leave where it would be unsafe to work at an alternative worksite.

For example, Hurricane Helene caused significant flooding in parts of Florida and North Carolina and other Southeastern States. Your home flooded causing you to seek alternate shelter. The senior management official at the agency worksite granted 80 hours of weather and safety leave because you were personally impacted by the emergency and unable to safely work at your telework or remote location. Once you can safely work at an alternate work location such as a hotel or other, then you would be expected to telework, and the agency would no longer grant weather and safety leave.

Pre Approved Leave

If you were scheduled to be on paid leave but were unable to take your pre approved leave because you were adversely affected by severe weather or other emergency situation and unable to work, you would charge weather and safety leave. If you are not affected by the severe weather or emergency situation and able to still take your pre approved paid leave, then you would continue to charge leave.

For example, you have a telework agreement and are scheduled to be on annual leave from July 12 to 24 to visit your family (flight scheduled on July 12). Hurricane Beryl affected the area and your flight was cancelled. You request to cancel your annual leave on July 12, since the hurricane caused your travel plans to change. You were not affected by the hurricane (able to telework, no power outages, no flooding, etc.) and may not be granted weather and safety leave. You cancel your leave on July 12 and telework.

Leave Without Pay Scheduled

If you were scheduled to be on leave without pay, then you may not receive weather and safety leave. You were not expected to work or travel to an approved worksite.

During a weather or safety-related event that affects a Federal duty station, employees who are not activated under an agency’s Continuity of Operations Plan but are able to safely telework at an alternative telework or functional remote worksite may be required to telework, or request to be absent from duty (either paid leave or leave without pay) if they choose not to perform work, unless one of OPM’s regulatory exceptions permitting the use of weather and safety leave applies. Agencies may only provide weather and safety leave if an employee is prevented from safely working due to the severe weather or emergency situation. 5 CFR 630.1605(a)(2)(ii)

  • If you have been ordered to evacuate from an area because of imminent danger to your life because of a national emergency, the senior management official at the agency worksite may authorize up to 30 days of advance payments of pay, allowances, and differentials to help meet immediate expenses related to the evacuation. Advance payments may not exceed 30 days.

  • Advance payments are computed based on the projected workdays and work hours in the selected time period and on the rate of pay (including any applicable allowances, differentials, or other authorized payments) to which you were regularly entitled immediately before the issuance of the evacuation order. 

    • Intermittent employees: To determine the amount of pay an intermittent employee may receive, estimate the days and hours the employee would have been expected to work during the selected period (not to exceed 80 hours in a biweekly pay period). If possible, the estimate should be based on an intermittent employee’s projected days and hours of work based on a 6-week average.

  • An advance payment is equivalent to a loan and must be treated as a debt owed to the federal government. You should work with Human Resources to set up a repayment agreement for the collection of the debt.

  • For example, you were ordered to evacuate your home due to Hurricane Beryl. You evacuated your family and relocated to a motel for 30 days. The agency approved 30 days of advance payments. The payment was made at your regular rate of pay and issued on the normal pay day. You signed a repayment agreement. Repayment began 3 pay periods later in which 15% of your basic pay each pay period went to pay off the debt until it was paid in full.

 

Annual Leave

  • Annual Leave: You may use any or all accrued annual leave for personal needs, such as rest and relaxation, vacations, medical needs, personal business, emergencies, or to provide care for a healthy or sick family member. You have a right to take annual leave subject to the right of the supervisor to schedule the time at which annual leave may be taken. 

  • Advanced Annual Leave: If you need more annual leave, you may request advanced annual leave. Your supervisor may advance annual leave up to the amount you would accrue during the remainder of the leave year. You may request advanced annual leave regardless of your existing sick leave balance. 

 

Compensatory Time Off

  • Compensatory time (comp time) off is earned time off with pay in-lieu of overtime pay for overtime work. An employee may use compensatory time off to be absent from work for any purpose, with supervisory approval.

  • Compensatory Time Off for Travel (Travel Comp): Travel comp is earned time off with pay for time spent in a travel status away from the employee’s official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable. An employee may use travel comp to be absent from work for any purpose, with supervisory approval.

 

Credit Hours

Credit hours are hours an employee elects to work, with supervisory approval, in excess of the employee’s basic work requirement under a flexible work schedule. An employee may use credit hours to be absent from work for any purpose, with supervisory approval. 

 

Leave Without Pay

LWOP is a temporary non-pay status and absence from duty that may be granted at the employee’s request. In most instances, granting LWOP is a matter of supervisory discretion. An extended period of LWOP may have an effect on an employee’s benefits including health benefits, retirement benefits, and life insurance.

Sick Leave

An employee is entitled to use sick leave following regulations. 

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The FMLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of LWOP with job protection during any 12-month period for a serious health condition that prevents an employee from performing their duties or to care for a spouse, son or daughter, or parent with a serious health condition. 

Alternative Work Schedules (AWS)

AWS include flexible work schedules and compressed work schedules. Under an AWS an employee can complete their biweekly work requirement in less than 10 workdays. Under a flexible work schedule an employee may choose to adjust arrival and departure times. Agencies should discuss options with their employees to help maximize productivity at work, while assisting them in meeting their family and personal needs. 

More Resources

For additional information refer to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Handbook on Pay and Leave Benefits for Federal Employees Affected by Severe Weather Conditions or Other Emergency Situations.