Holiday Speculation Begins

As commonly happens at this time of year, federal employees are raising questions about the prospects of additional time off without charge to leave around the holidays. Presidents sometimes have granted a half-day or even a full day off on December 24 (although granting a full day off is most commonly done when that date falls on a Monday, as happened last year). Even if there is no general government-wide order, individual offices might give employees time off under informal practices. Any announcement of a government-wide grant of time off typically comes around mid-December, and typically gives agencies discretion to decide that certain employees must remain on the job for security or other reasons, with overtime or comp time entitlement. There is no recent precedent for the White House granting time off on December 31, although some work sites have done that informally at times, as well.