Federal employees who have been furloughed during the partial government shutdown generally should be reporting for work today but there are certain special considerations for agency management.
Employees are to return on their next "regularly scheduled work day" meaning that some who have been away for the last two weeks may not yet be due to return.
"Agencies are strongly encouraged to use all available workplace flexibilities to ensure a smooth transition back to work for employees (e.g. telework, work schedule flexibilities, and excused absence for hardship situations)," OPM said in a statement.
Further, OPM’s general furlough guide says this: "Guidance concerning when furloughed employees should come back to work at the conclusion of the shutdown would have to be tailored to the specific situation. In the absence of such guidance, agencies should apply a rule of reason in requiring employees to return to work as soon as possible, taking into account the disruption in the lives and routines of furloughed employees that a shutdown causes."
