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Closing of CDC During Hazardous Weather or Other Emergencies

MANUAL GUIDE - General Administration CDC-85
DATE OF ISSUE: 12/09/2003
CONTACT POINT: Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Human Resources Management Office, Workforce Relations and Partnership Branch
MATERIAL SUPERSEDED: Manual Guide-General Administration CDC-85,Closing of CDC During Hazardous Weather, or Other Emergencies, dated 11/07/00, Updated 11/01/02
and 1/02/03

  1. PURPOSE
  2. POLICY
  3. GUIDELINES UNIQUE TO THE METROPOLITAN ATLANTA AREA
  4. GUIDELINES UNIQUE TO AREAS OTHER THAN ATLANTA
  5. IMPACT ON ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES AND FLEXIPLACE
  6. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE DISABILITIES
  7. EMERGENCY EMPLOYEES AND CRITICAL OPERATIONS
  8. REFERENCES

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this guide is to remind CDC[1] personnel of the policy and procedures to be followed for reporting to work during hazardous weather conditions or other emergencies.

II. POLICY

Employees are responsible for their own safety in traveling to and from work during hazardous weather. If CDC is not closed but conditions are considered too dangerous for traveling, employees may take either annual leave or accrued credit time to deal with their own individual situations. Supervisors should be lenient in granting unscheduled leave for this purpose.

Closings of schools and day care centers as well as transportation problems that result from hazardous weather cause particular difficulty for some employees. Supervisors should be sensitive to individual situations and be lenient in granting unscheduled leave to employees who have care-giving responsibilities.

HHS Instruction 610-3 sets forth the Department’s policy and procedures for temporary closings of the work place and treatment of absences during these closings. Unless announced otherwise, CDC is open during regular working hours. Announcements of delayed openings, early dismissals, or closings will be made as described in the following sections:

III. GUIDELINES UNIQUE TO THE METROPOLITAN ATLANTA AREA

A. Participation in Federal Executive Board Weather Plan. Like other federal agencies in the Atlanta area, CDC participates in the Federal Executive Board (FEB) Uniform Weather and Emergency Plan. The CDC Deputy Chief Operating Officer is the CDC representative for implementation of the plan.

When the FEB Weather Plan Coordinator determines that federal agencies should be closed because of adverse emergency conditions, this decision is immediately relayed to the agencies and to designated radio and television stations.

B. Employee Notification of Closing or Delayed Opening. When a decision is made during nonduty hours to alter normal business schedules, a brief announcement on CDC/ATSDR facility status will be made on the CDC Internet and CDC Intranet homepages and the CDC/ATSDR Hazardous Weather Closing or Emergency Information voice mail box. Employees may dial the emergency voice mail numbers listed below for the message.

CDC/ATSDR Emergency Information
(404) 639-2611 or 1-800-937-5157

CDC/ATSDR Hazardous Weather Closing
(404) 639-0222

CDC employees should not call the CDC switchboard, Central Control Room, Guard Desk, or Physical Security Activity personnel for information about closing or delayed opening. Those lines must be kept open for emergencies.

Because of the volume of calls, callers may initially experience a busy signal, so they may wish to redial. The message will be short, which should allow calls to be processed rapidly. The recording will be updated as soon as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the voice mail service and the electronic mail (E-Mail) system will be used whenever possible to pass along information when business schedules are altered. Employees who have individual access to voice mail and/or E-Mail should check for messages and need not call the CDC Hazardous Weather Closing voice mail box numbers.

Under some circumstances, the Atlanta Federal Executive Board may have general announcements on the closings or delayed openings of federal agencies in the Atlanta area carried on radio stations V103, WAOK, WCNN, WFOX, WGST, WIGO, WQXI, WSB, and Z93 and television stations WAGA Channel 5, WGNX Channel 46, WSB Channel 2, and WXIA Channel 11. However, because access to CDC facilities is particularly difficult during hazardous weather, closings or delayed openings for CDC may differ from Atlanta area federal agencies in general. Therefore, employees are encouraged to use the voice mail service or E-Mail for information specific to CDC.

C. Early Dismissal. When emergency conditions exist during working hours and the decision is made to dismiss employees early, the CDC Deputy Chief Operating Officer will:

  1. Initiate action to notify by telephone the Directors and/or the ADMOs of the Centers/Institute/Offices (CIOs), staff offices, and staff services by activating the cascade plan (see section E).
  2. Post a message on the CDC Hazardous Weather Closing voice mail box (see preceding section B).
  3. Send a message to all Atlanta area voice mail users.
  4. Send a message to all Atlanta area E-Mail users.

Those employees who can be spared will be dismissed without charge to leave (see section VI).

D. Extreme Circumstances. Under extreme circumstances (e.g., when telephone lines are down), the CDC Deputy Chief Operating Officer may not be able to reach a particular CDC facility within the Atlanta area (away from the Clifton Road facility). Likewise, officials at any of these facilities may not be able to reach the staff at the Clifton Road facility. In those instances, the following designated officials have the authority to temporarily close the workplaces when in their judgment it is warranted because of localized hazardous weather conditions or other emergency conditions:

Facility Designated Official
Chamblee Director, National Center for Environmental Health
Corporate Square Director, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention
Executive Park Director, Facilities Planning and Management Office
Koger Center Director, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Lawrenceville Chief, Lawrenceville Research Animal Section, Animal Resources Branch, Scientific Resources Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases
Decatur Authority retained with CDC Deputy Chief Operating Officer pending updated designation
Century Square Assistant Administrator, ATSDR

Designated Officials must develop a notification cascade or other appropriate system to ensure timely notification of all CDC employees at their facility, should the decision be made to dismiss early or to delay the official opening of the [next] workday.

E. Metropolitan Atlanta Area Cascade Plan for Early Dismissal

Official Calls or Notifies
1. CDC Deputy Chief Operating Officer Directors and/or ADMOs of Centers/Institute/Offices and Staff Offices Assistant Administrator, ATSDR Staff of the Office of the Director, CDC, including Associate Directors CDC Hazardous Weather Closing voice mail box Atlanta area voice mail service E-Mail system
2. Directors, Centers/Institute/Offices, Staff Offices, Staff Services, and Assistant Administrator, ATSDR Subordinate Managers and Supervisors
3. Managers and Supervisors Employees and Visitors

IV. GUIDELINES UNIQUE TO AREAS OTHER THAN ATLANTA

CIO Directors or designated representatives are authorized to close CDC/ATSDR facilities at field locations because of localized hazardous weather conditions or other emergency conditions. However, if time permits, the CDC Director or designated representative must be immediately notified of decision to close facility prior to closing. If time does not allow prior notification to CDC Director or designated representative, then notification of facility closing should occur as soon as possible.

A. Anchorage, Alaska. The Director, Arctic Investigations Program (AIP), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the Anchorage facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels and through public radio announcements or employees may call the Federal Office Notification Line, (907) 566-0023, as appropriate.

B. Cincinnati, Ohio. The Management Operations Officer, Office of Administrative and Management Services, NIOSH, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NIOSH Cincinnati facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/ supervisory channels, or the message will be relayed by radio stations WLW-AM (700), WKRC-AM (550), WEBN 102.7 FM, Mix 94.1 FM, KISS 107.1 FM and Fox 92.5 FM, or television station channel 12 News, or on-line www.wkrc.com, or employees may dial a local telephone number, (513) 533-8475, for a brief recording on facility status during emergency and/or hazardous weather conditions.

C. Fort Collins, Colorado. The Director, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, NCID, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NCID Fort Collins facility for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels, or the message will be relayed by radio station KCOL-AM (1410).

D. Morgantown, West Virginia. The Management Operations Officer, Office of Administrative and Management Services, NIOSH, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NIOSH Morgantown facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels or through the 24-hour Emergency Notification Hotline: (304) 285-6200. A recorded message will provide office closing or delayed reporting information. Employees should record this number now and keep it available at their home telephones. NIOSH’s Emergency Notification Hotline is the primary source for adverse weather information. Every effort will also be made to relay the message to the following radio and television stations: WAJR and WDTV Channel 5. Every attempt will be made to have the message on the Emergency Notification Hotline by 5:45 a.m. Employees are encouraged to utilize the Hotline. If there is no updated message by 5:45 a.m., employees are to presume that the facility is open and they should report for duty. Early dismissal will continue to be handled as in the past, with dismissal information being passed to employees through line management channels.

E. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Management Operations Officer, Office of Administrative and Management Services, NIOSH Pittsburgh Operations, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NIOSH facilities for the day. During normal duty hours, this decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels. After normal duty hours, employees may dial the local PRL 24-hour Emergency Notification Hotline number, (412) 594-4661, for a brief recording on facility status during emergency and/or hazardous weather conditions.

F. Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. The Collective Bargaining Official (CBO), RTP will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NCHS RTP facility for the day. This decision will be relayed through normal administrative/supervisory channels. When a decision is made during non-duty hours to alter normal business schedules, RTP employees may dial (919)-541-4974 for a brief recording on facility status and working conditions.

G. San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Chief, Dengue Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, NCID, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NCID San Juan facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels, or the message will be relayed through public radio announcements when appropriate.

H. Spokane, Washington. The Federal Executive Association governs delayed arrival, early dismissal, or office closing for the federal government. In some circumstances, the Research Director, Spokane Research Laboratory, NIOSH, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NIOSH Spokane facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels or through public radio announcements.

I. Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area, Including Hyattsville and Rockville, Maryland. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management governs delayed arrival, early dismissal, or office closing for the federal government in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, including Hyattsville and Rockville, Maryland.

In some circumstances, the Director, NCHS, will determine when it is necessary to delay arrival, dismiss early, or close the NCHS Hyattsville facilities for the day. This decision will be relayed to employees through normal administrative/supervisory channels or through public radio announcements. Employees may also access the latest information concerning workplace closings by calling 301-458-4911.

Other Field Locations or Employees. All other field locations or employees located in other areas will continue to follow the weather plan or emergency closing policy in existence for their specific locality. For example, small groups of CDC employees assigned to buildings with primarily non-CDC offices (e.g., local, state, university, non-CDC Federal Government offices, or NCID quarantine stations) will follow the procedures prescribed for those locations.

V. IMPACT ON ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES AND FLEXIPLACE

A. Employees on Flexitour. Flexitour allows employees to select arrival and departure times within a flexible time band; however, once selected, the hours become the employee’s regular work schedule.

When a facility has a delayed arrival until 9:00 a.m. because of hazardous conditions, the following guidelines will apply:

When employees are dismissed at 3:30 p.m. because of hazardous conditions:

B. Employees on Flexitime. Flexitime allows employees to vary their daily arrival and departure times within the established band, which means they can report to work any time between 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and may leave between 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

When a facility has a delayed arrival until 9:00 a.m. because of hazardous conditions, the following guidelines will apply:

C. Employees on Flexiplace. Employees who work under the Flexible Workplace Arrangements Program (i.e., flexiplace) at home will not normally be impacted by the Agency’s decision to delay the office’s opening, to close an office, or to allow early dismissal. In other words, those employees will be expected to work (if otherwise scheduled to do so) unless the inclement weather has impacted their work site.

VI. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE DISABILITIES

In providing reasonable accommodations for its employees who have disabilities, CDC has adopted flexible leave policies that will accommodate employees who have mobility impairments. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management Handbook on reasonable accommodations provides a liberal policy on excused absence with pay:

"When extreme weather conditions make it difficult for mobility-impaired employees to get to or from work, . . agencies can adopt separate leave policies . . . but should identify in advance employees who would be covered by the extended policy . . .."

Because CDC has a commitment to provide reasonable accommodations for its employees who have disabilities, supervisors should identify employees who are considered legally blind, in wheelchairs, or dependent on crutches, or who have any other disability that would be considered a mobility impairment. Supervisors should advise their employees who have disabilities that under CDC policy they would be granted excused absences during unreasonably hazardous travel conditions.

Other employees who believe that they have disabilities that would cause them to face extreme hazards when traveling to and from work during inclement weather should submit a memorandum to the Selective Placement Coordinator of the Human Resources Management Office for consideration.

VII. EMERGENCY EMPLOYEES AND CRITICAL OPERATIONS

Certain critical operations cannot be suspended or interrupted at a facility even though it may be necessary generally to excuse employees for all or part of a day. Employees who perform duties that are critical and who are required to be at work regardless of emergency situations or any general dismissal authorization are considered "emergency employees."

All emergency employees should be made aware of the special requirements placed on them and that delayed arrival, early dismissal, and office closing situations do not apply to them. These employees cannot be given extra compensation either in the form of premium pay, compensatory time, or credit time for hours worked in an administrative/weather closing situation. In addition, emergency employees who fail to report to work during times of delayed arrival or office closing or who leave early under early dismissal will be charged appropriate leave, leave without pay, or absence without leave.

Any nonemergency employees who report to work during hazardous weather or emergency conditions when offices are administratively closed are not entitled to additional pay, overtime, compensatory time, or credit time.

VIII. REFERENCES

A. Temporary Closing of Work Places and Treatment of Absences, HHS Personnel Instruction 610-3, dated 02/27/97.

B. Federal Government Operating Status in the DC Metropolitan Area During Weather (Or Other) Emergency. http://www.opm.gov/status/

C. Policy for Processing Requests for Reasonable Accommodation, CDC-95, dated 7/27/01 [1] References to CDC also apply to ATSDR

[1] References to CDC also apply to ATSDR.

 

Page last modified: August 26, 2006