Memorandum
To:
From:
Subject:
United
States
Department
of
the
Interior
OFFICE OF
THE
SECRETARY
Washington,
DC
20240
Bureau Human Resources Officers
Raymond
A.
Limon
~
/
Director, Office
of
Hu,.furh-~
urces
Personnel Bulletin 18-04, Weather and Safety Leave
The attached Personnel Bulletin (PB) establishes the Department
of
the Interior (DOI) weather
and safety leave policy. This policy is consistent with the final U.S. Office
of
Personnel
Management (OPM) regulations
(5
CFR Part 630 Subpart P) published
in
April 2018, which are
effective on May
10,
2018.
Prior to May 10, 2018, Federal agencies often granted general administrative leave for situations
in which employees were prevented from safely commuting to or working at an approved
location due to an act
of
God
or
other emergency. Beginning May
10,
2018, general
administrative leave
is
no longer appropriate for this purpose, and weather and safety leave may
be granted instead, in accordance with this policy.
Weather and safety leave may be granted to DOI employees only
if
they are prevented from
safely commuting to or working at the regular worksite or other approved location due to an act
of
God, a terrorist attack, or another condition that prevents an employee or group
of
employees
from safely traveling to or safely performing work at an approved location. Consistent with
OPM regulations, employees with an approved telework agreement who are able to safely work
at an approved telework site cannot be granted weather and safety leave. These employees will
be expected to telework or use other appropriate paid leave except for those limited
circumstances outlined in the PB.
The Office
of
Human Resources is developing a list
of
frequently asked questions to provide
additional guidance regarding the PB, which will be available on the Human Capital Crossroads
website at https://sites.google.com/a/ios.doi.gov/human-resources-community-of-practice/.
Questions concerning this PB may be directed to Joy Buhler at
Joy
Buhler@ios.d i.gov.
Attachment:
PB
18-04, Weather and Safety Leave
United
States
Department
of
the Interior
OFFICE OF
THE
SECRETARY
Washington,
DC
20240
MAY
1 0
2018
PERSONNEL BULLETIN NO: 18-04
SUBJECT: Weather and Safety Leave
1.
Purpose. This Personnel Bulletin (PB) establishes the Department
of
the Interior (DOI)
Weather and Safety Leave policy. This PB supersedes the existing guidance regarding weather-
related administrative leave found in the "DOI Absence and Leave Handbook," and the "DOI
Telework Handbook," until the handbooks are updated. This policy also supersedes PB 12-07,
"Excused Absence during Inclement Weather
or
Other Emergency Condition."
2. Effective Date. This policy is effective on May 10, 2018.
3. Authorities.
A. Title 5
of
the United States Code, Chapter 61, Hours
of
Work
B. Title 5
of
the United States Code, Chapter 63, Leave
C. Title 5
of
the United States Code, Chapter 65, Telework
D. Part 610
of
Title 5, Code
of
Federal Regulations
E. Part 630
of
Title 5, Code
of
Federal Regulations
F. U.S. Office
of
Personnel Management, Washington, DC, Area Dismissal and Closure
Procedures
G. Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations "Red Book"
H. Interagency Incident Business Management Handbook "Yellow Book"
I.
DOI All-Hazards Supplement to the Interagency Incident Business Management Handbook
4. Backgr·ound. The Administrative Leave Act
of
2016 created the new leave category
of
weather and safety leave in December 2016, codified in 5 U.S.C. § 6329c. The U.S. Office
of
Personnel Management (OPM) issued implementing regulations
(5
CFR Part 630 Subpart P) in
April 2018, which are effective on May 10, 2018. Prior to this effective date, Federal agencies
often granted general administrative leave for situations in which employees were prevented
from safely commuting to or working at an approved location due to an act
of
God or other
emergency. Beginning
on
the effective date
of
this policy, general administrative leave is no
longer appropriate for this purpose and weather and safety leave may be used instead, in
accordance with this policy.
5. Coverage. This policy applies to all DOI employees, except for intermittent employees who,
by definition, do not have an established regular tour
of
duty during the administrative
workweek, and employees exempt from 5 U.S.C. Chapter
63
by another statute.
6. Definitions.
A. Act
of
God.
An
act
of
nature, including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes,
landslides, snowstorms, and avalanches.
B. Telework. A work flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the duties and
responsibilities
of
his or her position, and other authorized activities, from an approved worksite
other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work. The work arrangement
must first be formalized by a document, called a Telework Agreement, which is signed by both
the employee and first line supervisor. Once the Telework Agreement is finalized and fully
executed, employees are considered telework-ready.
C. Telework Site. A location where an employee is authorized to perform telework, as
described in 5 U.S.C. Chapter 65, such as the employee's home.
D.
Weather and Safety Leave. Paid leave provided under the authority
of
5 U.S.C. § 6329c.
7.
Policy. DOI employees may be granted weather and safety leave only
if
they are prevented
from safely traveling to or safely performing work at a location approved by the agency due to:
An act
of
God;
A terrorist attack; or
Another condition that prevents an employee or group
of
employees from safely traveling
to or safely performing work at an approved location ( e.g., a building fire at the regular
worksite).
Weather and safety leave is not an entitlement and will only be provided at the agency's
discretion.
8.
Notification. Weather and safety leave will generally
be
provided in conjunction with an
operating status announcement ( e.g., Government office closure, delayed arrival, or early
departure) issued by OPM, a local Federal Executive Board (FEB),
or
DOI local operating unit
head when conditions in Section 7
of
this policy are met.
For employees located
in
the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, DOI will follow operating
status announcements issued
by
OPM. For locations outside the Washington, D.C. area, it is
within the authority
of
heads
of
operating units
or
their designees to determine the operating
status. In locations with an established FEB, managers will follow operating status decisions
made
by
the FEB. When a location is closed by an interruption
of
normal operations, these
reasons must be documented
by
a memorandum signed by the appropriate management official
and be retained for three years.
9. Teleworkers. Employees with an approved telework agreement (i.e., "telework-ready
employees") who are able to safely travel to and work at an approved telework site cannot be
granted weather and safety leave. Telework-ready employees must prepare to telework when an
event defined in Section 7 is forecasted ( e.g., a major snowstorm
is
predicted) by bringing home
any necessary equipment (e.g., laptop computer) and work files. To the extent that an employee
is
unable to perform work at a telework site because he or she failed to make necessary
preparations for reasonably anticipated conditions, weather and safety leave cannot be provided,
and the employee must use other appropriate paid leave, paid time off, or leave without pay.
If,
in the judgment
of
the first line supervisor, the emergency conditions could not reasonably be
anticipated ( e.g. an earthquake is impossible to predict, while a snow storm
is
generally
forecasted), and the employee was not able to prepare for telework and is otherwise unable to
perform productive work at the approved telework site, the employee may receive weather and
safety leave, as long as other conditions
of
this policy are met.
If
an employee is prevented from safely working at the approved telework site due to one or
more
of
the conditions listed in Section 7
of
this policy ( e.g., weather-related damage that makes
occupying the home unsafe, loss
of
power at home), a first line supervisor may, at his or her
discretion, provide weather and safety leave to the employee. However,
if
the conditions listed
in Section 7
of
this policy do not prevent the employee from safely traveling to or safely
performing work at a regular approved worksite, even
if
the affected day is a scheduled telework
day, the first line supervisor cannot grant weather and safety leave.
When a delayed arrival is announced, employees who choose to telework instead
of
reporting to
the regular worksite will not receive weather and safety leave for the delayed arrival period since
the purpose
of
the delayed arrival is to facilitate safely commuting to the regular worksite.
Employees who report
to
the regular worksite are granted weather and safety leave for the hours
between the employee's typical start time and the actual reporting time, up to the maximum
amount
of
time indicated in the delayed arrival announcement.
Telework program participants working at the regular worksite when an early departure
is
announced may receive weather and safety leave only for the amount
of
time required to
commute home. Telework participants will then be expected either to complete the remaining
time in their workday by teleworking
or
to take other leave once they arrive home, unless the
employee is prevented from safely working at the approved telework site due to one or more
of
the conditions listed in Section 7
of
this policy.
10. Dependent Care. DOI employees cannot personally care for a dependent while teleworking
and are responsible for securing appropriate arrangements for any dependents who are unable to
care for themselves independently.
If
teleworkers cannot arrange for appropriate dependent care
because
of
the weather event or emergency, any time spent in providing personal care to
dependents cannot be considered hours
of
work. The employee is expected to accurately account
for work and non-work hours during his or her tour
of
duty and to take the appropriate leave
(paid
or
unpaid) to account for time spent away from normal work-related duties. Weather and
safety leave cannot
be
granted in these situations.
11. Emergency Employees. Bureaus may designate emergency employees who are critical to
operations and for whom weather and safety leave may not be applicable. First line supervisors
should inform employees
of
their designation as emergency employees well in advance in
anticipation
of
possible emergency events.
If
emergency employees can work from an approved
telework site in lieu
of
traveling to the regular worksite in appropriate circumstances, the first
line supervisor should encourage the employee to enter into a telework agreement providing for
that contingency. Emergency employees must report to work at their regular worksite or another
approved location as directed by their first line supervisor, unless the supervisor determines that
travel to
or
performing work at the approved worksite
is
unsafe. In such circumstances, when
traveling to or performing work at an approved worksite is unsafe, the employee may be required
to work at another location, including an approved telework site as appropriate; or it is
determined that circumstances justify granting weather and safety leave to the emergency
employee.
12. Post-Incident Rest and Recuperation. Consistent with established DOI-U.S. Department
of
Agriculture interagency policy as documented, for example, in the "Interagency Incident
Business Management Handbook," employees who have completed a 14-day assignment
responding to a wildfire
or
other hazardous incident may be granted two paid days
off
as a
rest/recuperation period to mitigate the safety risks
of
extreme fatigue, when the two days
immediately following such assignment would otherwise be their regular workdays.
If
granted,
the two-day rest/recuperation period will be recorded as weather and safety leave.
13. Weather and Safety Leave Admini tration. Employees may be granted weather and safety
leave for hours within the employee's normal tour
of
duty. For full-time employees, that tour is
the 40-hour basic workweek as defined in 5 CFR § 610.102, the basic work requirement
established for employees
on
a flexible or compressed work schedule as defined in 5 U.S.C. §
6121(3), or an uncommon tour
of
duty under 5 CFR § 630.210.
14. Time and Attendance Recording.
If
weather and safety leave
is
authorized, employees
must record those approved hours using the code "061 - Weather And Safety
Leave-
Used" in
the appropriate time and attendance system.
15. Pre-Approved Leave. Employees may not receive weather and safety leave for hours
during which they are
on
other preapproved leave (paid
or
unpaid) or paid time off. Employees
will not be provided weather and safety leave
if
an employee cancels preapproved leave
or
paid
time off, or changes a regular day
off
in a flexible
or
compressed work schedule, for the primary
purpose
of
obtaining weather and safety leave. This restriction does not apply to employees who
cancel their preapproved leave because their leave plans are disrupted by the weather/safety
event (e.g., an employee, who is not otherwise ill, requests sick leave
to
attend a doctor's
appointment that is cancelled because
of
the same weather/safety event). Weather and safety
leave may be provided to these employees
if
they are neither otherwise required to report to work
nor
telework-ready.
16. Delegation
of
Authoritv for Weather and Safety Leave. The authority to grant weather
and safety leave is delegated as follows:
A. Authority to grant weather and safety leave up to 30 days
is
granted to the local level.
B. Authority to grant weather and safety leave in excess
of
30 days is granted to
Bureau/Office Heads. Bureau/Office Head approvals must be forwarded to the
Director
of
the Department's Office
of
Human Resources for notification purposes.
17. Labor-Management Obligations. Bureaus and offices are reminded to fulfill their labor-
management obligations, as appropriate, in implementing the requirements set forth in this PB
and related statutory and regulatory requirements.
18. Inquiries. Any Department employee or employee representative seeking further
information concerning this policy may contact their servicing Human Resources Office (HRO).
Servicing HROs may contact the Department's Office
of
Human Resources, Workforce
Relations Division concerning questions related to this policy.
Raymond
A.
Limon
Director, Office
of
Human Resources
