EPA has again reduced the number of its expected days. Employees still are required to take 32 hours of unpaid time through June 15—the equivalent of three days in addition to the agency closing day of May 24. In the second phase, the agency will close on July 5 and August 30, and employees will be required to schedule seven more hours through the fiscal year. That is 24 hours less than was most recently projected for the second phase. The agency had previously cut its projections from the 13 days it originally expected, but its latest message to its 17,000 employees essentially said there will be no further reductions. Meanwhile, NOAA has told its 12,000 employees that it won’t need furloughs after all. Originally it had warned many employees of the potential for 10 days and some of the potential for 20, but as with other agencies that have reduced or headed off furloughs, it says that needed savings have been found through austerity steps and budgetary reshuffling.
