Fact Sheet: Administrative Leave

Note: Update: On October 19, 2026, OPM issued a final rule amending the administrative leave regulations in 5 CFR part 630, subpart N, and related regulations at 5 CFR 351.806 (employee status during a reduction-in-force notice period) and 5 CFR 715.202 (resignation) with an effective date of November 18, 2026. This fact sheet has been updated to reflect those amendments, and agencies must review and revise their internal administrative leave policies for consistency with the amended regulations.

Description

Administrative leave is an administratively authorized absence from duty—without loss of pay or charge to other leave—provided under 5 U.S.C. 6329a and 5 CFR part 630, subpart N. (See links to the law and regulations at the end of this fact sheet.) It is paid leave that is not authorized under any other provision of statute or any Presidential directive. It applies only to employees (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2105) in the executive branch who have an established part-time or full-time regular tour of duty. It does not apply to employees with an intermittent work schedule or to a Presidential appointee or other employee who is excluded from coverage under the title 5 leave laws under 5 U.S.C. 6301(2)(x)–(xiii) and who is entitled to the pay of his or her office solely because of status as an officer (5 U.S.C. 5508). (See 5 CFR 630.1401(b).)

For employees covered by the leave laws in title 5 of the United States Code, section 6329a is the exclusive administrative leave authority. Section 6329a also applies to certain employees in the Veterans Health Administration who are otherwise covered by the leave authority in 38 U.S.C. 7421.

Administrative leave is not an entitlement, and agencies are not required to provide it (5 CFR 630.1403(a)(2)). It is provided at the sole and exclusive discretion of the agency head or other authorized agency officials to whom authority has been properly delegated. An agency must retain sole and exclusive discretion to provide or not provide administrative leave in any circumstance based on agency judgments regarding mission needs (5 CFR 630.1403(a)(4)). Under 5 CFR 630.1402, “sole and exclusive discretion” means discretion that rests with an agency alone; that is exercised within the bounds of 5 U.S.C. 6329a and other applicable law, applicable Presidential directives, and the regulations in subpart N; and that may not be limited or conditioned by any agreement or established as a mandatory entitlement to administrative leave.

General Principles and Rules

An agency may provide administrative leave only if it determines that the use meets one or more of the following four general principles (5 CFR 630.1403(a)): 

1. The absence is directly related to the agency’s mission;
2. The absence is officially sponsored or sanctioned by the agency;
3. The absence will clearly enhance the professional development or skills of the employee in the employee’s current position; or
4. The absence is in the interest of the agency or of the Government as a whole.

Under OPM regulations (5 CFR 630.1406), there are two mandatory reporting categories of administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a: (1) administrative leave for investigative purposes and (2) administrative leave for all other purposes. However, OPM may establish additional reporting categories. 

Administrative leave for investigative purposes is subject to the 10-workday calendar year limit in 5 U.S.C. 6329a(b)(1) and 5 CFR 630.1404. By law, an agency may not place an employee on an initial period of investigative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329b in a calendar year unless the employee has first reached the 10-workday limit in that year. (See 5 U.S.C. 6329b(b)(3)(A).) The use of administrative leave for investigative purposes is appropriate when the agency is conducting an “investigation” as defined in 5 CFR 630.1502. If such an investigation continues after the employee has reached the 10-workday calendar year limit for administrative leave, an agency may not continue to provide administrative leave for investigative purposes (5 CFR 630.1403(b)(3)). An agency that wishes to continue the investigation and keep the employee in a paid nonduty status must use the investigative leave provisions in 5 U.S.C. 6329b and 5 CFR part 630, subpart O. Because the 10-workday limit deals with placing an employee in an “initial period” of investigative leave based on a given investigation, it does not apply again to that same investigation in a later calendar year; investigative leave under section 6329b may continue into the next calendar year without the employee first exhausting a new 10-workday period of administrative leave.

Under OPM regulations, the 10-workday calendar year limit is converted to hours based on the employee’s work schedule. For example, for full-time employees with a 40-hour basic workweek or an 80-hour biweekly basic work requirement, the 10-workday limit is converted to an 80-hour limit. For part-time employees, the calendar year limit is prorated based on the number of hours in the employee’s established part-time schedule. For example, a part-time employee who has a 40-hour biweekly tour of duty would have a limit of 40 hours. For employees with an uncommon tour of duty in excess of 80 hours in a biweekly pay period, the calendar year limit is equal to the number of hours in the biweekly uncommon tour (or the average if hours vary). See OPM regulations at 5 CFR 630.1404(b) for additional information.

For administrative leave for all other purposes, there is no statutory limit on the number of hours used. While administrative leave is commonly used for brief or short periods of time—usually for not more than 1 workday, an incidence of administrative leave lasting more than 1 workday may be approved in applicable circumstances described in 5 CFR 630.1403(c) or when otherwise determined to be appropriate by an agency. For example, use of longer periods of administrative leave to facilitate workforce restructuring and realignment is a valid use that serves agency and Governmentwide interests. (See 5 CFR 630.1403(c)(9).) Extended administrative leave for those purposes is subject to any Governmentwide limits established by OPM and to any agency limits. Use of administrative leave by an employee in connection with a workforce realignment initiative is currently limited to 12 weeks in any individual instance unless a higher threshold has been jointly approved by OPM and the Office of Management and Budget.

Generally, administrative leave should be provided on an ad hoc, event-specific, or time-limited basis. However, an agency may establish a policy under which it will generally allow administrative leave under a specific set of circumstances that may recur (e.g., blood donations), as long as that policy recognizes that the agency may decide not to provide administrative leave in any specific case due to mission needs.

Requirements Governing Agency Policies and Approvals

Each agency must adopt written administrative leave policies that are consistent with law, regulation, and Governmentwide policies established by the current Administration.

Under 5 CFR 630.1403(a)(5), a proposed use of administrative leave by an agency is appropriate only when the use is—

• permitted under written agency policies (established by the head of the agency or by other agency officials under a specific delegation of authority); or
• reviewed and approved by an official of the agency who is (or is acting) at a higher level than the official making the determination, if the specific type of use and amount of leave for that use has not been authorized under established written agency policy.

In developing agency policies regarding the appropriate uses and corresponding amounts of administrative leave and in approving specific incidents of administrative leave where the particular use was not specifically authorized in agency policies, authorized agency officials must consider the following factors (5 CFR 630.1403(a)(6)):

1. The regulations in 5 CFR part 630, subpart N;
2. The effect on productivity and the agency’s ability to meet mission needs;
3. Current Administration policies that identify Governmentwide interests;
4. The strength of the justification for using appropriated funds for the administrative leave in question;
5. Consistent treatment of similarly situated employees; and
6. The degree of delegation that is appropriate for various uses of administrative leave.

Prohibited Uses

Under OPM regulations (5 CFR 630.1403(b)), an agency may not provide administrative leave—

1. to mark the memory of a deceased former Federal official (see also 5 U.S.C. 6105);
2. as a reward to recognize the performance or contributions of an employee or group of employees (that is, in lieu of a cash award or a time-off award), except that an agency may provide administrative leave to all employees of an organization as a morale-boosting goodwill gesture, even if it is broadly linked to the accomplishments of the organization;
3. for investigative purposes (that is, involving an “investigation” as defined in 5 CFR 630.1502) after an employee has reached the 10-workday calendar year limit described in 5 CFR 630.1404 in connection with a given investigation;
4. for a purpose for which sick leave could be used (5 CFR 630.401(a)), unless such use in a particular scenario is specifically approved by Governmentwide policy issued by OPM or the President; however, an employee who is eligible to use sick leave may be provided administrative leave on the same basis it is provided to an employee who is not so eligible when the administrative leave is provided for some other purpose; or
5. to cover service by poll workers or poll observers in connection with elections.

Additional prohibitions may be established under current Administration policies based on Governmentwide interests. 

Acceptable Uses

OPM regulations at 5 CFR 630.1403(c) list examples of acceptable uses of administrative leave. That list is not a comprehensive list. Subject to applicable law, regulations, and Governmentwide policies, an agency may identify other acceptable uses in written agency policies and may allow agency officials to provide administrative leave in other circumstances with second-level approval. Even if a use is identified as an acceptable use in OPM regulations or agency written policies, an agency always retains the sole and exclusive discretion to not provide administrative leave in specific circumstances affecting specific employees or categories of employees—for example, based on an agency’s assessment of agency mission requirements. At times, the President or OPM may issue Governmentwide policies or guidance that approve or encourage a specific use of administrative leave, subject to stated conditions.

Examples of Acceptable Uses Listed in OPM Regulations:

1. Investigative purposes. For investigative purposes until the employee has reached the 10-workday calendar year limit.
   • See discussion of this in the “General Principles and Rules” section above.
2. To provide an employee who has not voted early with a reasonable opportunity to vote on a regular election day.
   • Consistent with Executive Order 14148 of January 20, 2025, OPM rescinded two previous Biden Administration guidance memoranda, “Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting” (CPM 2022-05, March 24, 2022) and “Access to Voting” (CPM 2024-18, August 29, 2024), which significantly departed from longstanding policy.
   • Such administrative leave should generally be limited to the hours required to vote, should generally not exceed 3 hours in length, and should be provided only to the extent that such time off does not interfere with agency operations.
   • Agencies should provide administrative leave for early voting on a scheduled workday only when (1) the employee will be unable to vote on the day of the election because of activities directly related to the agency’s mission (such as Temporary Duty (TDY) travel) and cannot vote by absentee ballot or by early voting on a nonworkday, or (2) early voting hours are the same as, or exceed, voting hours on the day of the election.
3. Blood donations. To allow an employee to donate blood during the employee’s tour of duty.
   • This use is limited to the time necessary to make a blood donation, including a reasonable amount of recovery time after donating blood.
4. Employee Assistance Program. To allow an employee to participate in an agency’s employee assistance program for problem identification and referral to an outside resource and for general employee orientation or education activities.
5. Early dismissal before a holiday. To provide for early dismissal (generally no more than 2 hours) on the scheduled workday immediately before a Federal public holiday as a morale-boosting goodwill gesture.
   • While connected to a holiday, this is a use of administrative leave, not paid holiday time off, and should be recorded as such in agency timekeeping and payroll systems.
6. Rest and recovery after extended duty or travel. To allow an employee to rest and recover following unusually lengthy tours of duty or extended travel for work purposes (for example, the U.S. Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior may provide 2 to 3 days of administrative leave to employees who have completed an extended deployment to fight a wildland fire).
7. Geographic relocation for military/Federal spouses. To provide up to 5 days of administrative leave for a civilian employee who needs time off to effectuate a change in his or her residence to a different geographic area in order to accompany a qualifying spouse—that is, a spouse who is a member of one of the uniformed services or a civilian Federal Government employee—when the qualifying spouse’s residence change is the result of military orders or agency direction, as applicable.
   • Under O. 14100 of June 9, 2023, OPM was directed to encourage Federal agencies to provide up to 5 days of administrative leave to their civilian employees who need time off to effectuate a change in his or her residence to a different geographic area in order to accompany a spouse who is a member of a military service who is being geographically reassigned as directed by the service member's orders. OPM fulfilled this directive via a memorandum to agency heads. See OPM’s November 9, 2023, memorandum to agencies titled “Guidance in Support of Executive Order 14100—Advancing Economic Security for Military and Veteran Spouses, Military Caregivers, and Survivors.” This use of administrative leave is now codified in OPM’s administrative leave regulations. OPM regulations have extended this use to spouses of (1) members of other uniformed services and (2) Federal civilian employees.
8. Physical fitness. To provide limited amounts of administrative leave for approved physical fitness activities on a conditional basis (consistent with 5 CFR 630.1403(a)(4) and (6) and subject to any Governmentwide policies issued by OPM or the President) for employees who do not have job-related mandatory fitness standards that allow for use of official duty time for such activities.
   • At this time, OPM has not established Governmentwide policies or a Governmentwide hours limit in connection with this use of administrative leave. Each agency is responsible for determining whether to make this leave available to specified categories of employees, the specific types of physical fitness activities that qualify, and the maximum number of hours. Agencies must consider the decision factors in 5 CFR 630.1403(a)(6), which include consideration of the effect on productivity and the ability to meet mission needs.
   • Agencies should ensure that they retain the sole and exclusive discretion to provide or not provide administrative leave based on agency judgments of mission needs and that administrative leave not become an entitlement without regard to mission needs.
   • Employees who have job-related mandatory fitness standards should use official duty time for approved physical fitness activities, as determined by agency policy.
9. Workforce restructuring and realignment. To provide extended periods of administrative leave (subject to Governmentwide limits established by OPM and agency limits) to employees who sign a written agreement to voluntarily separate on a specified future date as a transition-to-separation tool that supports workforce restructuring and realignment initiatives that are based on agency and Governmentwide interests, including voluntary deferred resignation programs, use of voluntary separation incentive payments, or use of voluntary early retirement authorizations.
   • A deferred resignation program may be used as a stand-alone tool or in combination with voluntary separation incentive payments or a voluntary early retirement authorization. A deferred resignation program may be implemented on a Governmentwide basis (as was done in 2025) or established by an individual agency.
   • Currently, there is a 12-week Governmentwide limit on this use of administrative leave unless a higher threshold has been jointly approved by OPM and the Office of Management and Budget.
   • Deferred resignation programs serve agency and Governmentwide interests since they facilitate workforce restructuring and realignment efforts that will lead to a leaner, less expensive, less wasteful, more efficient, and more mission-focused Federal workforce.
10. RIF notice period. To provide administrative leave to employees subject to an involuntary separation via a reduction in force (RIF) during the period between receipt of the RIF notice and the RIF separation when the agency determines it is in the Government’s best interests.
    • This use is addressed in 5 CFR 351.806 and 630.1403(c)(10).
11. Settlement agreement. To provide extended periods of administrative leave (subject to Governmentwide limits established by OPM and agency limits) to facilitate the voluntary resignation of employees with documented allegations of poor performance or misconduct under a settlement agreement that the agency determines is in the Government’s best interests after considering all other reasonable alternatives.
    • While no final determination of poor performance or misconduct is required, an agency may apply this provision only where the allegations of poor performance or misconduct are documented.

Examples of Other Possible Uses an Agency May Address in Agency Policies

• Tardiness. Agencies may establish policies that allow providing brief periods of administrative leave to employees who arrive after their scheduled start time for adequate reason. However, an agency may determine that other actions are appropriate given the circumstances. For example, an agency may determine that a tardy employee should be placed in absence without leave (AWOL) status for a period of absence that has not been approved. Notation of the absence as AWOL is not a disciplinary action in and of itself, but an incidence of AWOL could be the basis for taking disciplinary action. Alternatively, an agency may decide to retroactively approve the employee’s use of leave without pay or available annual leave or other paid time off, as appropriate, to cover the absence. An employee on a flexible work schedule with flexibility to adjust start and stop times who arrives later than the employee’s normal start time is not tardy (unless the employee arrives during core hours) and would normally be expected to extend his or her stop time to cover the time not worked due to the later arrival time.
• Agency-approved volunteer activities. Agencies may establish policies that allow providing limited amounts of administrative leave for volunteer activities, if the agency determines that the usage of leave would satisfy one or more of the four general principles. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each agency head to balance support for employees’ volunteer activities with the need to ensure that employees’ work requirements are fulfilled and that agency operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. Agencies should review their internal guidance on administrative leave and applicable collective bargaining agreements, as appropriate. For more information, see OPM’s fact sheet on volunteer activities. Note: Employees who spend time during their workday to support the administration of an agency-managed Combined Federal Campaign are allowed to claim that time as duty hours. (See E.O. 12353 and Comptroller General decisions B-155667, January 21, 1965; B-154456, August 11, 1964; and B-119740, July 29, 1954.)

Other Matters

• Holiday Declared by President. When the President issues an Executive order to generally excuse employees from duty on the day before or after a holiday (most commonly, on December 24), the President is usually acting under the authority in 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) that allows a President to declare a holiday by an Executive order. Such paid time off is holiday paid time off, not administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a.
• Death of Former President. When the President issues an Executive order closing Government offices throughout the world as “a mark of respect” upon the death of a former President, the President is acting under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b), which treats the day the same as a holiday. It is not a use of administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a.
• Preventive Health Services. Under a Presidential Memorandum on Preventive Health Services at the Federal Workplace issued by President William J. Clinton on January 4, 2001, Federal agencies are directed to provide up to 4 hours of excused absence each year for an employee’s participation in preventive health screenings, if that employee has fewer than 80 hours (two weeks) of accrued sick leave. Since this leave is granted by Presidential directive, it is not considered administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a.
• Returning Reservists. A still-in-force Presidential Memorandum of November 14, 2003, grants Federal civilian employees returning from qualifying active duty military service in support of the Global War on Terrorism (now referred to as Overseas Contingency Operations) 5 days of excused absence from their civilian duties each time they return from the qualifying duty, subject to implementing guidance. See OPM memorandums of November 14, 2003 (CPM 2003-14), August 6, 2008 (CPM 2008-12), and December 16, 2008 (CPM 2008-21), and OPM’s 5 Days of Excused Absence for Employees Returning from Active Military Duty fact sheet. This paid time off is granted under a Presidential directive and is not considered administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a.

Note: In OPM data reporting systems, administrative leave (or excused absence) provided by Presidential directive is not considered administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a and is categorized as “Other Paid Time in Nonduty Status.”

Other Types of Leave

In the past, administrative leave was used for periods of performance- or conduct-related investigations and for safety-related emergency dismissals and closures. Congress enacted separate types of paid leave to cover those circumstances—investigative leave and notice leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329b and weather and safety leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329c. OPM has issued final regulations on investigative/notice leave and weather/safety leave in, respectively, subpart O and subpart P of 5 CFR part 630. This fact sheet provides guidance on administrative leave under 5 U.S.C. 6329a. Guidance on investigative leave and notice leave was provided in an OPM memorandum to agency heads, CPM 2025-01 (January 3, 2025). Guidance on weather and safety leave may be found in OPM’s Governmentwide Dismissal and Closure Procedures. 

Where to Get Answers to Questions

Agencies are responsible for the administration of administrative leave for their employees and establishing their own HR policies based on statutes, regulations, and OPM guidance. Therefore, if you are an employee, timekeeper, supervisor or other agency official, or union representative, you should contact your servicing HR office for assistance with any questions you may have. If you are a component HR office, you should contact your agency headquarters office for assistance. If your HR chain of command needs assistance answering your question, inquiries should be directed to OPM through the headquarters HR policy office.

Links

• 5 U.S.C. 6329a
• 5 CFR part 630, subpart N
• Federal Register notice of final rule for administrative leave (December 17, 2024)
• Federal Register notice of final rule for administrative leave (October 19, 2026)
• OPM memorandum of January 3, 2025, to agency heads (including guidance on administrative leave)
• OPM memorandum of January 20, 2025, to agency heads (providing guidance on the use of administrative leave as part of workforce restructuring or realignment initiatives)
• OPM memorandum of January 28, 2025, to agency heads (providing guidance on the Governmentwide Deferred Resignation Program)
• OPM memorandum of February 4, 2025, to agency heads (regarding legality of Deferred Resignation Program, including use of administrative leave under that program)
• OPM memorandum of October 12, 2026, to agency heads (regarding new regulations on administrative leave)
• Template for Agency Administrative Leave Policies