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| Strategic Management of Human Capital | Employment and Benefits | |
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April 8, 1999 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PAY AND LEAVE
ADMINISTRATION On April 1, 1999, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum and guidance concerning the determination to excuse certain employees within a designated geographic area from work on April 23, 1999, as a result of the 50th Anniversary NATO Summit. The memorandum and guidance are available on our Internet web site at http://www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/1999/nato99. The following are answers to questions we have received concerning employees who are excused on April 23, 1999. Duty Station Q. The OPM memorandum says employees whose duty station is in the identified area should be excused from duty. How does OPM define the term "duty station?" A. For the purpose of this memorandum, an employee's "duty station" is the location where he or she is assigned to work on April 23. This location does not have to be the employee's "permanent" or "official" duty station. For example, an employee who is working in the designated geographic area on a temporary assignment or on a detail is covered by the excused absence policy. An employee who is not assigned to work in the designated geographic area on April 23 is not covered. Excusing Employees Q. Who decides whether an employee in the designated geographic area will be required to work? Can an employee appeal the decision to OPM? A. The employing agency is responsible for determining whether an employee cannot be excused for reasons of national security, defense, or comparable public business. OPM has no role in these agency determinations. A number of employees stationed in the designated geographic area will be on duty to participate in and support the various activities of the NATO Summit (e.g., State Department and Secret Service). Q. Can an agency provide excused absence to employees outside the covered area? A. OPM’s guidance covers only employees with duty stations in or immediately adjacent to the designated geographic area. (Also see Q&A on Telecommuting.) Agencies with duty locations outside the designated geographic area should avoid taking independent action to expand the coverage of the excused absence policy, which was designed to strike a balance between accommodating the Summit and continuing the essential tasks of Government. "Immediately Adjacent" Q. The OPM memo says the covered area includes duty stations within or immediately adjacent to the defined perimeter. Please define "immediately adjacent." A. An employee's duty station is "immediately adjacent" to the defined perimeter if it is in a building that is located on a perimeter street, even though the building is outside the bounded area. The building does not need to have the perimeter street in its official street address. Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) Q. How should an agency handle requests from employees on AWS schedules to change their normal work schedule or change their nonworkday from April 23 to another day within the pay period? A. Agencies should determine nonworkdays for AWS employees or changes in an AWS employee's work schedule consistent with the agency's internal policy or applicable collective bargaining agreement. Q. If an employee's nonworkday is April 23, is he or she entitled to a day off "in lieu of"April 23? A. No. An employee, including an AWS employee, is covered by the excused absence policy only if he or she is scheduled to work on April 23. There is no provision for a day off "in lieu of" of April 23. Q. Can the basic work requirement for an AWS employee on a flexible work schedule be limited to 8 hours on April 23? A. A flexible work schedule employee's basic work requirement on April 23 should be determined consistent with an agency's internal policy or applicable collective bargaining agreement. It may be desirable for an agency to limit the basic work requirement to 8 hours on April 23, consistent with the treatment of other full-time employees on that day and with the treatment of flexible work schedule employees on holidays. However, any changes in work schedules for such employees should be made prior to the start of the pay period. Telecommuting Q. Should telecommuting employees be granted excused absence on April 23? A. This decision rests with each affected agency. An agency is not required to excuse a telecommuting employee who is working outside the designated geographic area on April 23 unless that employee cannot perform work because the office to which he or she reports is closed. Pay Q. Can an employee in the designated geographic area who is required to work on April 23 earn overtime pay, compensatory time off, or credit hours for working his or her basic work schedule on April 23? A.No. An employee in the designated geographic area may not earn overtime pay, compensatory time off, or credit hours under an AWS for working his or her basic work requirement on April 23. Of course, if overtime hours are assigned in excess of the employee's basic work requirement, he or she would be entitled to overtime pay or compensatory time off, as appropriate. Q. Will excused employees receive overtime pay for the hours of overtime they would have worked on April 23? A. No. Agencies should cancel overtime work for employees who will be excused on April 23. Employees who are excused from duty on April 23 will generally receive the pay they normally would have received for their basic work requirement on April 23. (NOTE: Employees are entitled to receive overtime pay only for overtime hours actually worked.) Overlapping Tours Q. What amount of excused absence should be granted to employees whose tours overlap April 22-23 or April 23-24? A. In such situations, an agency should determine the amount of excused absence it grants in a manner consistent with its internal policy or applicable collective bargaining agreement regarding excused absences in other situations. In making such determinations, agencies also should be aware that street closings for the NATO Summit likely will begin on Thursday evening, April 22 (after rush hour), and that NATO Summit activities on Friday, April 23, will continue into the evening hours.
Last Modified: 3:38:20 PM on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 |
