Holiday Speculation Under Way

As commonly happens at this time of year, federal employees are wondering whether they will get time off without charge to leave around the holidays. Since the Christmas Day holiday falls on a Friday, many employees are hoping that President Obama will grant at least a half-day of excused absence December 24. Obama granted a half-day off in 2009 when December 24 fell on a Friday, but granting excused absence around the holiday is totally up to a President’s discretion. Granting a full day is more commonly done to create a four-day weekend when Christmas falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday. Employees wanting to be sure to have time off on the 24th might want to go ahead and request annual leave; if excused absence later is granted, that would substitute for the scheduled annual leave time, under past practice. 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. Even if there is no general government-wide order, individual offices might give employees time off under informal practices. There is no precedent for the White House granting time off on December 31, although some work sites may do that informally. There similarly has been no government-wide grant of time off the day after Thanksgiving; if they can get permission, many employees take that as an annual leave day to create a four-day weekend.