The Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday clarified how excepted employees can take leave during the partial government shutdown. In new guidance from acting Director Margaret Weichert, OPM weighed in on how agencies should implement the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last week. But perhaps more urgently, OPM gives excepted employees two options for taking paid leave during the shutdown. “While excepted employees have the option to use their paid leave (i.e., establish entitlement to paid leave to be paid after the lapse ends), they are not required to use leave to cover periods of authorized absence from work,” Margaret Weichert, acting OPM director, wrote in a Jan. 23 memo. “Instead, they may choose to remain in the default status of being furloughed during any such authorized absence during the lapse.” Excepted employees can take leave during a government shutdown, as OPM reiterated. If excepted employees want to take leave, they should use the same procedures to request time off and earn approval from their supervisors as they would if their agencies weren’t experiencing a lapse in appropriations. If employees choose this option to take time off, their agencies will charge their personal leave banks as they normally would during any other circumstances. But excepted employees also have another option, OPM said. They can work with their supervisors to be placed in “default furlough status” for any approved absence during the government shutdown. If excepted employees take this route, their agencies will not charge their personal leave banks, according to OPM. “We expect employees generally to choose to allow the default furlough status to be applied to any approved absence, since [the new provision in the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act] provides retroactive pay for furlough periods without charge to leave,” Weichert wrote. The second option, as OPM itself acknowledged, appears to be the more favorable path for excepted employees. OPM’s guidance suggests these employees can take time off— as long as their supervisor approves it — without charge to their leave banks. They’ll be paid for this leave once the government shutdown ends, as the new back pay law has promised. If excepted employees take this second option, any hours of approved leave would be considered “furloughed hours.” Again, OPM clarifies: “In providing retroactive pay for furlough hours, employees may not be charged paid leave (e.g., annual leave and sick leave) or other paid time off (e.g., compensatory time off in lieu of overtime, for travel, or for religious purposes; credit hours under a flexible work schedule),” the agency said. “All paid leave and other paid time off was automatically cancelled because of the lapse in appropriations. There is no legal authority to revoke those cancellations and charge employees for paid leave or other paid time off.” OPM’s new guidance should provide some more clarity to excepted employees. Federal News Network has received dozens of questions from readers about this specific topic. Most were concerned their furloughed colleagues would eventually be paid for time spent not working with no consequences to their personal leave banks, but OPM’s new guidance gives concerned excepted employees leeway in taking leave. Excepted employees who are supposed to work during the government shutdown but don’t show up for the job and don’t communicate with their supervisors, however, may be considered “absent without leave (AWOL)” for any missed hours of work. In this case, employees won’t receive back pay for any “AWOL” hours, OPM said. The Government Employees Fair Treatment Act guaranteed back pay to both furloughed and excepted employees working during the current lapse in appropriations — whenever the government shutdown ends. It also clarified that agencies allow their excepted employees to take leave during the lapse. The bill’s signing was supposed to give furloughed and excepted employees some assurance they’ll get paid whenever the government shutdown ends. But because the President signed it into law before the shutdown had ended, it created some confusion for excepted employees and agencies — who lacked formal guidance to implement the legislation in the way Congress intended. How impacted employees will get back pay OPM’s new guidance also sheds more light on how exactly furloughed and excepted employees will be paid once the government shutdown ends. Whenever the lapse in appropriations ends, employees will receive the “standard rate of pay.” For furloughed employees, they’ll receive a paycheck that covers the hours they would have been working if the government shutdown hadn’t occurred. It includes: The employee’s rate of basic pay, Overtime and other premium pay for regularly scheduled work, Regular premium payments (law enforcement availability pay, for example), and Allowances and differentials paid on a regular basis. Excepted employees will receive a paycheck that covers the hours worked during the government shutdown, including overtime and approved paid leave. Again, excepted employees who don’t show up for work could be considered AWOL and wouldn’t be paid for those hours. The new back pay law authorizes federal payroll providers to begin paying furloughed and excepted employees as soon as possible when the government shutdown ends. OPM urges agencies to use workplace flexibilities during shutdown OPM on Wednesday also reminded agencies of existing, approved workplace flexibilities they could use to alleviate the government shutdown’s impacts on employees who are working without pay. Not only are several hundred-thousand working without pay, but many have lost their transit benefits and child care subsidies, OPM said. “OPM strongly encourages agencies to be as accommodating as possible during the current lapse in appropriations to allow telework-eligible employees performing excepted duties to telework more frequently, permit flexible start and stop times under a flexible work schedule and provide employees with the ability to request time off based on their personal circumstances,” Weichert wrote in a second Jan. 23 memo. Of course, many excepted employees, such as agents at the Transportation Security Administration or U.S. Border Patrol, for example, generally can’t take advantage of telework because they need to be physically present at their duty stations for work. Still, the latest guidance shows OPM is encouraging agencies to get creative when it comes to managing their employees during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. “We want to thank the dedicated men and women who are serving the American people during the partial lapse in appropriations,” Weichert continued. “We pledge to continue to perform funded and critical non-funded services and look forward to the day when we can resume the full complement of work we perform on behalf of the citizens of the United States.”<doc-sep>Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. As the partial government shutdown drags on past 30 days, agencies are scrambling to find the answers to questions they’ve never had to address before. The Office of Personnel Management, for example, is preparing more guidance for excepted employees on how they can use leave during the government shutdown. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which the President signed into law last week, clarifies that excepted employees working during the shutdown can take leave during the lapse in the appropriations. But the new law doesn’t specify how agencies should denote employee time-off. Jan. 18 OPM guidance addresses excepted employees who fail to show up for work. They should be considered “absent without leave,” or AWOL. Employees who have a “legitimate impediment” should work with their supervisors to be put on “situational furlough status” for approved days off. In the past, “situational furlough status” meant employees risked receiving back pay for the days they spent off and technically furloughed. But since all federal employees are now guaranteed back pay whenever the government shutdown ends, excepted workers are wondering how their agencies will handle will handle their requests for leave. Federal News Network has received dozens of emails and calls from excepted employees who are working without pay. They want to know whether their agencies will retroactively charge them for leave taken during the government shutdown — whenever the lapse in appropriations ends. And they’ve voiced concerns that their furloughed colleagues will eventually be paid for time spent not working with no consequences to their personal leave banks. According to a fact sheet from the Agriculture Department dated Jan. 18, OPM is “developing additional guidance on the use of leave during the lapse in appropriation for excepted employees.” OPM didn’t respond in time to requests for information about this forthcoming guidance. Second furlough notices go out Agencies meanwhile are handling another unprecedented situation. For the first time ever, departments and agencies are sending out second shutdown furlough notices to employees. The first furlough notices, which employees received shortly after the government shutdown first began on Dec. 22, last for 30 days and expired Jan. 21. OPM requires agencies to send out second shutdown furlough notices to non-excepted employees, simply notifying them that the lapse in appropriations has continued. “You will continue being in a furlough status effective Jan. 21, 2019,” a Jan. 18 furlough notice to employees at the Agriculture Department reads. “This furlough, e.g., non-pay or non-work status , is not expected to exceed 30 additional days. During the furlough, you are not permitted to perform your government duties as an unpaid volunteer, and you must remain away from your workplace unless and until recalled to duty.” Some agencies used these second shutdown furlough notices to clarify the answers to common lapse-related questions. Ethics questions during the government shutdown USDA, for example, reiterated employees can find outside employment during the government shutdown, as long as it doesn’t conflict with their official duties at the department. USDA is waiving the usual requirement that employees get agency approval for taking on outside employment during this furlough, Mary Pletcher Rice, the department’s chief human capital officer, said in the furlough notice. If USDA employees do take on additional outside work, they should make sure they follow government ethics guidelines and check that their new employer isn’t considered a prohibited agency source. The Coast Guard also recently weighed in on another unprecedented scenario caused by the government shutdown: Dozens of people describing themselves as federal employees impacted by the shutdown are turning to crowdsourcing sites like “GoFundMe” to solicit donations. Absent specific guidance from the Office of Government Ethics on this topic, the service warns its members and their family from using their status as a “Coast Guard member” or “federal employment affiliation” to solicit gifts through these sites. “But nothing precludes raising money personally or through websites so long as the effort is wholly in a personal capacity, no prohibited sources are solicited and the activity does not appear to be endorsed by the Coast Guard or an individual Coast Guard member,” the service wrote in a series of FAQs on its website. “Be careful, because funds raised by individuals may count as personal income for tax purposes.” Are you a federal employee or contractor impacted by the partial government shutdown? Share your concerns, frustrations and comments with anonymous survey. Take the survey here or find the questions below. Create your own user feedback survey<doc-sep>Lisa Gray was supposed to go on vacation with her family on Thursday, but now it's up in the air. As an air traffic controller, her husband, Thomas, is a federal employee affected by the government shutdown. He won't be getting a paycheck for his work this week, directing aircraft in and out of Oakland International Airport. But that's not all. His family won't be able to go on vacation, either, since he's unable to receive paid time off for the duration of the shutdown. "All scheduled paid leave and other paid time off, (including paid holiday time off), are canceled for lapse-affected employees during a lapse in appropriations," the U.S. Office of Personnel Management guidelines say. As a result, Gray's family vacation may be upended. "He did have to turn in his vacation week for next week because there’s no guarantee you’d get paid for vacation days," Lisa Gray, herself a former air traffic controller told ABC News. "It’s hard to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day anyway, and then under these circumstances, it’s worse," she added. "Many employees are scheduled to take use-or-lose annual leave in late December and early January (before the end of the leave year on January 5, 2019, for those on thestandard biweekly payroll cycle)," the White House guidelines continued. "All leave is canceled for lapse-affected employees during a lapse in appropriations." The lapse refers to the lapse in appropriations, or a stall in budget talks, which is what caused the shutdown. The federal government shut down operations for unfunded agencies on Dec. 22, with President Donald Trump threatening to hold up negotiations until he gets appropriations for a wall on the Mexican border. Furloughed "non-essential" workers, who are forced to stay home and not work, and "essential" employees currently working without pay will probably get back pay after Congress passes a law to provide it once the shutdown ends. This has been the case in every previous shutdown. But workers with planned vacation, who are subject to a "use it or lose it" policy in which they cannot roll over days, must choose between the risk of not getting paid back for the time off, or skipping the vacation and taking the financial loss of airplane tickets, hotel reservations and other arrangements that they made in advance — which is the case for many during the holiday season. The situation can get even more dramatic if someone is already on vacation when the government shuts down. This almost happened to former federal employee Sonia Bendiks when she was in Turkey 10 years ago. "I had planned the trip for four months," Bendiks told ABC News in an email. "Before I left for my trip, my employer (the USDA) mentioned the possibility of a federal government shutdown. I was told that, if a shutdown occurred, my leave would be canceled and I would have to return to the U.S. immediately." "I spent many days during my vacation communicating with co-workers regarding the status of the federal budget and the possibility of a shutdown. Thankfully, a shutdown was averted," Bendiks said. Chris Barrett, a correctional officer at a federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania, isn't that lucky. "I’m supposed to be on leave this week for Christmas and according to the government, I’m not allowed to take my leave. I have to go back to work," Barrett told ABC News. "It was my understanding that all annual leave and stuff like that gets canceled during a shutdown." Since all prison employees are considered "essential" they have to report to work, Barrett said. "From what I’ve read, if you’re on annual leave, that’s like you’re getting paid not to be at work, even though you earned that leave and scheduled that leave a year ago," he added. "You have to cancel that leave and report to work. So it’s a lot of stress," Barrett said. "I don’t know what to do, to be honest with you. It’s out of my control so I have to live with it, but just day by day." ABC News' Kendall Karson contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
As lawmakers and the White House — at least for the moment — appear to be at an impasse on a solution that would keep all of government open past Friday, the Office of Personnel Management has new guidance for federal employees ahead of a potential partial government shutdown. Again, not all federal employees will be impacted if part of the government closes at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22. Generally, employees and contractors at the Defense Department and Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services will not be impacted by Friday’s outcome. HHS employees, however, should check with their agency for more details. Employees who work for programs that fall under the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, which has already been passed and signed into law by the President, will not be affected by a partial government shutdown. HHS employees that fall under agriculture and interior appropriations, however, may be impacted. Many agencies have updated their shutdown contingency plans in the last few days. Find your agency’s plan here. Some agencies are beginning to inform employees of the status — either “excepted” or “non-excepted” — and are giving them individual guidance for the coming days. OPM has provided more clarity about the potential lapse in appropriations and its impact on pay, leave and holiday time. Will I get paid? By law, federal employees can’t receive any pay for work done during a government shutdown until the lapse in appropriations ends. Excepted employees who are required to work during a shutdown will eventually get paid, but not until after the shutdown ends. Non-excepted employees who are furloughed aren’t guaranteed pay, but they have received it after shutdowns in the recent past. Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) have introduced the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, which, if passed and signed into law, would give furloughed workers back pay for the duration of the partial shutdown. Will I get my next paycheck on time? You should. Because Saturday, Dec. 22 is the last day of the most recent biweekly pay period, employees should receive a paycheck for the past two weeks at the usual time, OPM said. Payroll providers may finalize and process paychecks as an orderly shutdown activity, but there’s a good chance that checks may not include pay for any work done on Saturday, Dec. 22. What about the holidays? In most recent government shutdowns, non-excepted employees are expected to come to work on their next scheduled day in the office to receive a furlough notice and conduct closeout activities. With the holidays, however, OPM is encouraging agencies to be lenient. “Under this unique timing of the lapse in appropriations, agencies should take into consideration an employee’s previously scheduled leave, [alternative work schedule] day off, or holiday(s) that takes place during the furlough period and allow the employee to be furloughed during the period the employee had been scheduled to take leave — unless the agency determines there is a need for the employee to report to work to perform excepted activities,” OPM said. Employees can perform shutdown activities prior to a potential partial shutdown as precaution. “If an employee was scheduled to be on leave on the workdays immediately after the lapse commences, the employee is not required to report to duty to perform orderly shutdown activities on a scheduled leave day, even though the leave has been canceled,” OPM said. “An agency may allow such an employee to perform required orderly shutdown activities (if any, including receipt of a furlough notice) on the first workday on which the employee had been scheduled to return to duty.” Some agencies are allowing their employees to accept furlough notices via email, meaning they wouldn’t need to come into the office to accept them. Excepted employees are in a slightly different situation. Generally, excepted employees are expected to come work, but they can take an unpaid absence during the days they were previously scheduled to take leave, like during the week of Dec. 23, for example. If they do choose to take an absence during that time, excepted employees would be put in “furlough” status for those days, meaning they’re not guaranteed pay for the time off. Remember, Monday, Dec. 24 is now considered a federal holiday for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day on Dec. 25 is also a holiday.