Proposed rules from OPM would specify several requirements for both supervisors and employees when a worker wishes to work extra hours in order to take the time off as comp time for religious reasons.
The rules in the August 30 Federal Register would add details to a policy that previously has been criticized by GAO and others as leaving too much room for interpretation.
They would permit an agency to require an employee to submit his or her religious compensatory time off request either orally or in writing, in a manner that is administratively acceptable to the agency. The employee would have to provide information including the name and/or description of the particular religious observance for which the employee’s absence is required; (2) the date(s) and time(s) the employee plans to be absent for religious observances; and (3) the date(s) and time(s) the employee plans to perform overtime work to earn religious compensatory time off to make up for the absence.
The agency could allow supervisors to approve requests on a more informal basis as long as the supervisor documents the required information regarding the employee’s request.
In general, a supervisor would be required to approve religious compensatory time off to the extent that modifications in work schedules do not interfere with the efficient accomplishment of its mission.
The specific timing of when an employee is allowed to work additional hours to offset the religious time off would be at the agency’s discretion, in a period up to one year before or one year after the time off. Agencies could require employees to make the requests sufficiently in advance to allow for workforce adjustments.