OPM Sets Policies on Administrative Leave

OPM has issued a policy statement summarizing the situations in which administrative leave, also called excused absence, is appropriate. The guidance follows a GAO report last year that pointed out that some employees have been put on that paid but non-working status for extended periods, including while disciplinary charges are pending against them. The OPM policy says that excused absence is mandatory or appropriate for certain purposes government-wide, such as forshort periods for voting in some circumstances, on return from active military duty, when agency operations are closed due to severe weather or other emergencies, and when ordered by the President, such as when part or all of a day before or after the Christmas Day holiday is granted as excused time off.