Washington, D.C. 20530

August 28, 2003

MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS

The Department of Justice permits its organizations to grant a maximum of 80 hours per leave year for time-off awards. Effective immediately, that maximum is increased to 120 hours per leave year.

After careful consideration, we decided that this increased maximum will afford our organizations increased flexibility. This change will eliminate the need for individual requests. Of course, reasonable judgment should be exercised in granting these awards. The written justification for the award must be based solely on the merit of the employee’s job performance and shall not be used to compensate or reward employees for working outside of the basic workweek.

This change in policy which is effective immediately will be incorporated in the Department’s awards order which is being rewritten. There will be an annual reporting requirement on the usage of these awards. The reporting requirement will be stated in the new order. Abuse of the authority may result in cancellation of its use.

If you have questions about this matter, please contact Sheila D. Marshall of the Personnel Staff’s Workforce Effectiveness Group via electronic mail at sheila.d.marshall@usdoj.gov or by telephone at (202) 514-6778.

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