Colleagues,

Memorial Day is a time we set aside to remember and pay tribute to the heroic members of our military who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country. It is a solemn and important day. We have many active-duty members, reserve service members and veterans in our department. We owe them our gratitude for their service in uniform.

As the Memorial Day holiday approaches, let us respectfully and gratefully remember those who laid down their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we experience every day. I encourage you to consider using this time to honor our loved ones who died in service to our country, and visit our national, state and veteran cemeteries and memorials in order to remember and pay respect for our fallen service members. As an alternative, you might visit the Veterans Legacy Memorial. This online memorial honors more than 4.8 million veterans interred in VA National Cemeteries; VA grant-funded tribal, state, and territory veteran cemeteries; DoD-managed cemeteries (including Arlington National Cemetery); and two U.S. Park Service National Cemeteries.

Secretary Vilsack has authorized a 4-hour early-release in recognition of this important federal holiday, and in remembrance of the fallen members of our armed forces.

Thank you for all you do each and every day to carry out our mission as “the People’s Department.”

• Employees should code their timesheet using “66 – Admin/Excused Absence” (WebTA) or “TC-66 Other Leave” (Paycheck8).
• Employees who are required to work on Friday, May 26th due to mission critical needs will code their timesheet as normal, “01 – Regular Base Pay”.
• If employees are unable to participate in the early departure on Friday, May 26th because their supervisor has directed them to continue working due to mission critical needs; or if Friday is a non-workday; or if the employee is on preapproved paid leave on Friday; then the employee may use the 4 hours on a different day. Employees must work directly with their supervisor to identify another day within the current pay period, or within the next two pay periods (June 4 to July 1) to use the 4-hour time off authorization. The 4 hours does not need to be used on the same day and may be combined with other leave, but the total amount must be used July 1. 
• Leave may only be charged during an employee’s scheduled tour of duty. Employees in a continuous period of non-pay status may not be placed in a pay status solely to receive 4-hours administrative leave for an early release. If employees are in a “use-or-lose” situation, the 4 hours does not constitute an exigency of public business and does not qualify to have annual leave restored.

Sincerely,
Malcom Shorter
Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration
 
*If you are a bargaining unit employee and have questions regarding the content of this message and its potential impact on a current labor agreement, please refer them to your local union representative.

See this and other leadership announcements on OneUSDA.