A Second Snow Day: Federal Agencies Operate Under Unscheduled Leave Tomorrow

The weather's been clear for two days in Washington, DC, but snow is still on the ground, and the Office of Personnel Management isn't taking any chances with federal employees' safety. Tomorrow, federal offices in the area will be open, but operating under an unscheduled leave policy. That means, if federal workers can't get into the office, they can take leave without having requested it in advance, though they must inform their supervisors of their plans. Any workers designated as emergency employees must report for work in time.

This kind of cautious approach to employees' safety is consistent with the position OPM Director John Berry outlined early in December, and that led the agency to close down federal agencies in the Washington, DC area today. Berry is responsible for making the call about the government's operating status unless he is traveling, in which case he delegates responsibility to an official who will be in the region to consult with emergency management officials and assess the impact of the weather. Full closures cost about $100 million daily in lost productivity. But an Unscheduled Leave policy day should cost less, since some if not most workers will make it into the office.