OPM has issued its annual reminder to agencies and employees regarding policies on agency closings or other disruptions of operations in case of bad weather.
The memo at www.chcoc.gov points agencies to the Washington, DC, Area Dismissal or Closure Procedures are available at www.opm.gov/oca/COMPMEMO/dismissal.pdf, which serves as a guide for when significant numbers of employees in the Washington area are prevented from reporting for work on time. Federal Executive Boards and Federal Executive Associations coordinate similar dismissal or closure procedures in other major metropolitan areas.
It noted that OPM makes the call as to whether OPM agencies in the Washington, area are open or closed, or operating under an unscheduled leave policy, a delayed arrival policy, or an early dismissal policy, which will be available on OPM’s home page and on (202) 606-1900.
The memo also said:
* Agencies should designate and notify those emergency employees, including mission-critical emergency employees, who will be required to report for or remain at work in dismissal or closure situations. The designation of emergency employees may vary according to the particular nature of the exigency.
* Agencies must identify the emergency situations in which emergency employees and mission-critical emergency employees will be expected to report for or remain at work.
* Agencies should notify their telework employees whether they will be required to work at their telework sites during a disruption of government operations. Any requirement that a telework employee continue to work if the agency closes (or dismisses employees early) on his or her telework day or on any of his or her regularly scheduled workdays should be included in the employee’s telework agreement.
