Pay & Leave

Emergency Dismissal/Closure Procedures for ARS Employees Working in Beltsville, Greenbelt, & Glen Dale

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has discontinued its delayed arrival/early dismissal policies due to severe weather for employees inside the Beltway.  OPM may authorize an "adjusted home departure" or "adjusted work dismissal" policy, both of which rely on an employee's normal departure time from home or work to determine the time period the employee will be excused from work.
ARS employees in Beltsville, Greenbelt, and Glenn Dale should follow OPM announcements on "adjusted home departures," and their supervisors' instructions on "adjusted work dismissals," as discussed below.

Adjusted Home Departure

An "adjusted home departure" policy allows employees to leave their homes later than their normal departure times. For example, should OPM announce this policy is in effect and employees should delay their normal departure time for 2 hours, employees who would normally leave for work at 7:00 a.m. would delay leaving their homes until 9:00 a.m. This policy replaces OPM's former delayed arrival policy.
An adjusted home departure may be used in other emergency situations, such as power failures and interruption of public transportation. OPM will notify Human Resources Directors of each agency of a decision to close Federal agencies or invoke an "unscheduled leave" or "adjusted home departure" policy. OPM will also attempt to notify the news media by 6:00 a.m. if one of these policies will be used due to an emergency occurring before normal working hours. Information will also be made available on OPM's World Wide Web site at http://www.opm.gov.

In addition to OPM's adjusted home departure announcements, staff in Beltsville, Greenbelt, and Glenn Dale should follow OPM announcements on Federal agency closures and unscheduled leave. These announcements will be reported by the news media.

Adjusted Work Dismissal

For emergencies occurring during the workday, the Deputy Administrator, AFM, ARS, must receive telephone concurrence from the Department before staff in Beltsville, Greenbelt, and Glenn Dale are released. You will be notified through supervisory channels when an adjusted work dismissal is authorized. Under an "adjusted work dismissal," employees will be released from work early relative to the time they normally leave for the day. For example, if a 3-hour early dismissal is authorized due to a snowstorm, an employee who would normally leave at 5 p.m. would be able to leave at 2:00 p.m. This procedure parallels OPM's dismissal policy for the early release of employees who work inside the Beltway.

OPM Announcements

OPM will provide one of the following five announcements to the media when an emergency occurs before the workday begins:

1. "Federal agencies are OPEN; employees are expected to report for work on time." Supervisors may grant a reasonable amount of excused absence to employees who are unavoidably delayed in arriving to work. Factors such as distance, availability of transportation, and the success of other employees in similar situations should be considered in determining the amount of excused absence to grant. Employees are responsible for notifying their supervisors of their situation.

2. "Federal agencies are operating under an UNSCHEDULED LEAVE policy; employees may take leave without prior approval." (Non-emergency employees may take annual leave or LWOP without their supervisor's prior approval, but employees should notify their supervisors of their intentions.)

3. "Federal agencies are operating under an ADJUSTED HOME DEPARTURE policy. Employees are requested to leave home hours later than their normal departure time." (Non-emergency employees should adjust their normal home departure time consistent with the announcement. Employees will be granted excused absence from the time they normally arrive at work until the time they actually arrive at work.)

4. "Federal agencies are operating under an ADJUSTED HOME DEPARTURE/UNSCHEDULED LEAVE policy. Employees are requested to leave home __ hours later than their normal departure time, and employees may take leave without prior approval." (Federal agencies are open on time, but nonemergency employees should adjust their normal home departure time consistent with the announcement. Non-emergency employees arriving late will be excused without loss of pay or charge to leave, or they may take annual leave or LWOP without prior approval of their supervisors. Employees should notify their supervisors of their intentions.)

5. "Federal agencies are CLOSED." (Non-emergency employees are excused from work without loss of pay or charge to leave.)
When OPM invokes one of the above policies, employees who have been designated as "emergency" employees are expected to report to work on time, unless otherwise instructed.

OPM's procedures are designed to minimize transportation system interference during severe weather. If you have any questions, please contact Terri Ponte, on 301-504-1474 or Michelyn Boyd, on 301-504-1466, or Ted Nykiel, on 301-504-4426.

Last Updated 02/15/2008