Leave - Administrative Leave
The term 'excused absence' is used interchangeably with the term
'administrative leave'. Both refer to employees' absence from work, with
approval, without a charge to annual leave or sick leave. This type of
absence results from an administrative determination that the circumstances
surrounding the particular absence are such that employees should not lose
pay or be charged leave. Agencies DO NOT have unlimited authority to grant
employees administrative leave. However, agencies may grant excused absences
in certain circumstances, either for an individual employee or for a group
of employees as follows:
Individual Employees
Excused absences may be granted by supervisors in the following situations:
- Tardiness and Brief Absences - Supervisors may
excuse employees for unavoidable tardiness and brief absences of less
than one hour depending on the reasons for the absences or they may
require that an equivalent amount of time be made up at lunch time or at
the end of the work day. If this privilege is abused, however, absences
may be charged against employees' accumulated leave or as absence
without leave (AWOL) depending on the reasons and frequency, subject to
local negotiated agreements.
- Separation Due to Reduction-In-Force (RIF) -
Excused absence may be granted for a reasonable amount of time to
employees facing separation due to RIF. This time is granted for
employees to conduct job searches, prepare job applications, interview
for jobs, or obtain job counseling, etc., subject to local negotiated
agreements.
- Physical Examinations - Employees may be excused
from work (not to exceed one day) for physical examinations determined
to be necessary in connection with their Coast Guard positions.
Employees will be excused from work for physical examinations incident
to entry into the Armed Services or reserve components of the Armed
Services. If such absence extends beyond one day, statements must be
furnished showing the need for extended absence.
- On-the-job Injury - Employees injured in the line
of duty will be excused without a charge to leave for the time required
for the initial medical examination and treatment on the day of injury.
For more detailed information relative to on-the-job injuries, see the
Workers' Compensation webpage.
- Illness During Work Hours - Employees who become
ill while at work may be excused for a short time (not to exceed one
hour) in order to obtain treatment or consultation in the nearest
Government health unit or emergency room. Employees required to spend
part of the day resting (as part of a doctor’s orders) or required to
receive treatment in a health unit, may be excused for such time needed
provided that not more than 10 hours of excused absence is used for this
purpose in any three-month period.
- Blood Donations - Generally, employees may be
allowed up to four (4) hours of excused absence for purposes related to
blood donation. This time covers travel, clinic time for blood donation
and recovery time. Employees are not allowed excused absence for time
away from work relative to the selling of blood.
- Funerals - Excused absence (as opposed to
bereavement leave; see page on Sick Leave for Family Care or
Bereavement) may be granted for periods of 4 to 8 hours to attend
funeral ceremonies under certain circumstances: veterans of any war,
campaign or expedition may be excused to participate as pallbearers,
honor guards or as members of firing squads in funeral ceremonies for
members of the Armed Forces of the United States whose remains are
returned from abroad for final interment in the United States; employees
may be excused for a period not to exceed 8 hours to make arrangements
for or attend the funeral of an immediate family member killed in the
line of duty in the Armed Forces in a non-combat zone area; federal law
enforcement officers or firefighters may be excused from duty to attend
the funeral of a fellow law enforcement officer or firefighter; the
Commandant may authorize one or more Coast Guard employees to act as
representatives of the Coast Guard and attend the funeral of a fellow
Federal employee killed in the line of duty.
- Civil Defense Training - Full-time employees
(except those designated as emergency employees) may be granted up to 40
hours excused absence each calendar year to participate in pre-emergency
training programs with State or local civil defense organizations.
- Voting/Voter Registration - Employees may be
excused from work for the purpose of voting where the polls are not open
for three hours either before or after the employees’ work hours
(whichever results in the lesser amount of absence). Unless the
employees’ local voting jurisdiction does not allow for registration on
non-work days, employees are not entitled to excused absence to register
to vote. If registration is only allowed during the employees’ work
days, the employees may be granted excused absence on the same basis as
for voting purposes.
- Emergency Rescue or Protective Work - Employees who
are members of the Civil Air Patrol or other similar organizations,
whose services can be excused, may be granted excused absence for up to
three days to participate in emergency rescue or protective work during
an emergency such as fire, flood, or search operations. (This does not
apply to members of the National and State Guards who would be entitled
to military leave for such service. See page on
Military Leave.)
- Change of Post of Duty/Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Employees may be granted up to 40 hours of excused absence in
conjunction with changes in duty station within the Coast Guard. These
absences are to enable employees to make pre- and post-moving
arrangements. This does not include an authorized house hunting trip
associated with a PCS - such time is considered official duty status.
- Ceremonies and Official Functions - Employees may
be excused to attend ceremonies, view parades, welcome visiting
dignitaries and other officially sanctioned functions which are of
sufficient importance to warrant the attendance of the employees
involved. Such excused absences may not exceed four (4) hours. Approval
authorities for these circumstances are as follows:
- First Level Supervisors - 59 minutes
- Districts, Commanding Officers - 2 hours
- Commandant, DCO, DCMS, LANT and PAC Area - 4 hours
- Volunteer Community Service - Employees may receive
up to 40 hours of administrative leave per leave year for volunteer
community service. More information regarding administrative leave for
volunteer community service may be found on the
volunteer community
service webpage.
Note: Not all circumstances have been described wherein excused absences
may be granted. Supervisors, within their authorized discretion, should
review individual circumstances not addressed above and consult with their
servicing Command Staff Advisor (CSA) or Human Resource Specialist for
assistance.
Group Dismissals
- Group dismissals without a charge to individual leave accounts
typically occur as a result of emergency situations. Information
concerning group dismissals generally applies to emergency situations
such as adverse weather conditions, massive power failures, fires,
disruptions to public service transportation, etc. Employees in the
Washington, DC Metropolitan area generally following the
Office of
Personnel Management’s Washington, DC, Area Dismissal or Closure
Procedures. Regions outside the
Washington DC Metropolitan Area may obtain operating status information
from their local Federal Executive Board if applicable.
Emergency Situations Occurring During Non-working Hours
- In cases where offices are open as usual, supervisors may excuse
employees’ tardiness for periods not exceeding 2 hours when tardiness is
caused by emergency situations which develop prior to normal business
hours; e.g., adverse weather, massive power failures, disruptions to
public transportation, etc. Longer periods may be excused only in cases
which are personally reviewed and authorized by a designated higher
level management official. Before tardiness is excused, however, it must
be determined that the employees made every reasonable effort to report
to work. Factors such as the distance between the employees’ residences
and work, modes of transportation used, efforts made by the employees to
get to work, etc., must be considered.
- Annual leave is charged to employees who do not report to duty under
these circumstances unless it is determined by the designated management
official that the employees made every reasonable attempt to get to work
but were prevented from doing so. Similarly, when emergency conditions
are not uniform in the area, employees may be affected differently
depending on individual circumstances. Earned compensatory time off may
be used in lieu of leave if appropriate.
Coast Guard Facility Closure
- In the event it is deemed necessary to close a Coast Guard facility
due to adverse conditions, employees are excused from duty without loss
of pay or charge to leave. Workdays on which a facility is closed are nonworkdays for leave purposes. Because leave cannot be charged on
nonworkdays, employees who are on approved leave must also be granted
excused absence. This does not apply to employees on Leave Without Pay
(LWOP), military leave, suspension, or in a nonpay status on a workday
before and after the closure. These employees are not entitled to
excused absence and should remain in their current status. Telework
employees may be required to work when the facility is closed. Any
requirement that teleworkers continue to work during a facility closure
(or delayed arrival or early dismissal of employees) on their telework day or on any of
their regularly scheduled workdays should be included in the employees’
written telework agreements. On a case-by-case basis, teleworkers may be
excused from duty during an emergency situation if the emergency
adversely affects the telework site (e.g., disruption of electricity,
loss of heat, etc.), if the teleworkers face personal hardship that
prevents them from working successfully at the telework site, or if the
teleworkers’ duties are such that they cannot continue to work without
contact with the regular worksite.
Emergency Situations Occurring During Working Hours
- Should an emergency situation occur during working hours, employees
will be released in accordance with the guidelines applicable to the
facility involved. Supervisors should exempt individual employees from
authorized dismissal times under established guidelines only to avoid
hardships (e.g., when employees’ carpool driver is dismissed earlier or
when younger children are released early from school and no other
alternative forms of child care are available to the employees). When
individual employees are exempted from authorized dismissal times, no
leave should be charged.
- Whether employees are charged leave when an emergency develops during
working hours depends on whether the employees are on duty at the time
of dismissal:
- Excused absence should be granted for employees on duty at the time of
dismissal. Excused absence is appropriate for the remainder of the day
even if the employees were scheduled to take leave later in the day.
- When employees leave after receiving official word of the pending
dismissal but before the time set for dismissal (with supervisory
approval) in a situation not involving a hardship, leave may be charged
for the period remaining before the employees’ official departure times.
Employees who depart before official word of pending dismissal should be
charged leave or Absent Without Leave (AWOL) as appropriate, for the
remainder of the workday.
- When employees are scheduled to return from leave during the period of
dismissal, leave will continue to be charged until the time set for
dismissal. Time beyond the dismissal will be charged as excused absence.
- Employees absent on previously approved annual leave, sick leave or
leave without pay (LWOP) for the entire workday will continue in that
leave status for the entire workday.
- When employees are scheduled to report to work before the dismissal,
but fail to do so, annual leave, sick leave or LWOP is charged as
appropriate. Exceptions to this policy should only be made in unusual
circumstances.
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References
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