Washington, D.C. 20530

June 1, 2000

MEMORANDUM FOR BUREAU PERSONNEL OFFICERS

SUBJECT:      Emergency Provisions for Employees Affected by the Los Alamos Fires

This provides the attached memoranda from the President and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) with information on actions taken in response to the destruction caused by the Los Alamos wildfires.

In his memorandum for heads of executive agencies, President Clinton requests that they excuse from duty, without charge to leave or loss of pay, employees who are affected by the fires in the Los Alamos area and their aftermath and who can be spared from their usual responsibilities. Specifically, the President requests that excused absence be granted to 1) employees who are needed for emergency law enforcement, relief, or clean-up efforts authorized by Federal, State, or other officials having jurisdiction, and 2) employees who are prevented from reporting for work or faced with a personal emergency because of the fires and their aftermath. This policy does not apply to Federal employee members of the National Guard or Reserves who are called up to assist, since they are entitled to military leave under 5 U.S.C. 6323(b).

In addition, the President authorizes OPM to establish, if it is needed, an emergency leave transfer program to assist employees affected by the major disaster represented by the Los Alamos fires. Most affected employees will be granted excused absence for the immediate emergency. However, agencies are to be prepared to implement an emergency leave transfer program as the need becomes known in accordance with the provisions of appropriate OPM regulations. The OPM regulations concerning the emergency leave transfer program can be accessed on the OPM web site at www.opm.gov/fedregis/1999/64r72250.pdf.

In accordance with the regulations, if you become aware of employees who are in need of donated leave due to conditions caused by the wildfires, you should do the following:

• Determine whether, and how much, donated annual leave is needed by affected employees;



• As appropriate, approve leave donors and/or leave recipients in your component;



• Facilitate the distribution of donated annual leave from approved leave donors to approved leave recipients within your component;



• Notify the Personnel Staff's DOJ Operations Group if insufficient leave is donated within your component to accommodate the needs of approved leave recipients.

If members of your staff have questions concerning these matters, they may contact Margaret Foskey, of the Personnel Staff's Policy Group, on (202) 514-6778. Similarly, if members of your staff know of any need for an exception to the biweekly maximum earnings limitation for premium pay for employees performing emergency work resulting from the Los Alamos wildfires, they should contact John Cahill, also of the Policy Group, on the above telephone number. Questions concerning procedures for identifying employees in need of emergency leave donations, collecting donated leave, and distributing it to needy employees may be directed to the Personnel Staff's Operations Group on (202) 514-6782. Employees who have questions concerning any of these matters should be directed to their servicing personnel office.

Attachments

cc: Melinda Morgan, HRSAG