The policy that federal employees who are activated for military duty to support military operations in the global war on terror are eligible for five days of excused absence upon their return applies only to deployments lasting at least 42 days, OPM has said in a memo to agencies.
The excused absence, created by a 2003 presidential order, applies for each deployment, for employees activated into the military more than once. “It was never envisioned that employees would have separate, multiple activations for very short periods of time and that such employees would receive five days of excused absence for each activation. Furthermore, employees are entitled to five days of excused absence only once in a 12-month period. A new 12-month period begins after the first use of excused absence,” OPM said.