On June 18, Acting OPM Director Michael Rigas issued a memorandum on annual leave, noting that while the agency does not have the authority to change statutory limitations related to it, OPM is working on regulations to streamline leave restoration. 

FMA National President Craig Carter wrote Rigas to urge that the forthcoming regulations cover as many feds as possible and advised the acting director of other concerns related to annual leave and Covid-19. Carter wrote, “Many FMA members have expressed concerns with respect to leave, and concerns about forfeiting annual leave they were unable to use within the calendar year due to the immense challenge of working through the pandemic. An even greater concern is that should the employees we manage not be able to use their earned leave due to the pandemic, they will vie for time off at the end of the year, leaving too few workers to fulfill our crucial missions, or if leave is not granted, morale will surely and understandably plummet.”

Carter noted the Wexton amendment to the House NDAA (H.R. 6395) on this issue, discussed in further detail in this newsletter. He also referenced April 16, 2020, Department of Defense (DOD) guidance for active-duty service members, allowing them to accrue more leave than normal and keep it through 2023. In that guidance, Matthew Donovan, the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, wrote, “Leave is vital to the continued health and welfare of our service members and civilian workforce and is key to the Secretary of Defense’s first priority in responding to Covid-19 – protecting our service members, DOD civilians, and their families.” Carter offered support for the DOD policy and argued the federal workforce deserves a similar assurance. “Toward that end, we urge OPM to issue regulations that will apply to every federal employee impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Carter wrote.