OPM has stressed that agencies must clearly communicate to employees what is expected when agencies have to close or otherwise change operations due to severe weather conditions.
In its annual update of policies governing agency operations, it said operating status announcements “are only effective if each employee understands what the announcement means and how to react.” The operating status announcement policy technically governs only the nation’s capital area but serves as the model for decisions by Federal Executive Boards elsewhere.
Said the memo: “It is paramount that agencies communicate expectations to their employees in written policies and procedures, subject to any applicable collective bargaining responsibilities, as consistent with law. Expectations must be made clear in continuity or operations plans, as well as in written telework agreements, in compliance with the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010.
“Employees must understand which human resources flexibilities are available to them during specific agency operating procedures, such as unscheduled telework, unscheduled leave, leave without pay, alternative work schedule day off, etc. In an emergency situation, timing is crucial. Employees must be able to act under their own agency’s procedures when unscheduled telework or unscheduled leave are options, or when provisions in agency telework agreements requiring employees to telework when the federal government is closed have been triggered,” it said.
The memo is here: http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=6600
