A vehicle is left abandoned in floodwater on a highway after Hurricane Beryl swept through the area on July 8, in Houston, Texas. Brandon Bell / Getty Images
OPM details emergency leave transfer for feds affected by Hurricane Beryl
The federal government’s HR agency is allowing federal employees to donate their paid leave to those impacted by the storm that has caused an estimated $28 billion-$32 billion in damages and economic effects in the U.S. alone.
The Office of Personnel Management is opening a channel to provide federal employees affected by Hurricane Beryl to obtain emergency paid leave.
Acting OPM director Robert Shriver said in a July 19 memo that the agency had established an emergency leave transfer program, by which other federal employees may donate unused annual leave to impacted employees through the creation of agency leave banks.
Through the agency leave banks, impacted employees “who are adversely affected by a major disaster or emergency, either directly or through adversely affected family members, and who need additional time off from work” can utilize donated leave without having to use their own.
Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the U.S. on July 8 near Matagorda, Texas, after previously striking Mexico, Belize and the Caribbean. After causing 22 deaths and knocking out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses in Texas, the storm spawned tornado outbreaks in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky and New York state.
In the July 19 memo, OPM recognized 67 Texas counties designated for assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
OPM has deployed emergency leave transfer programs in the past to address federal employees affected by natural disasters, but it allows agencies with impacted employees to best determine how much donated leave is needed and how to disburse it.
The memo said OPM is authorizing agency and department heads to what employees were affected, how much time they may need, how long donated leave may be accepted, dispersing the leave to impacted employees and educating them on how to access it.
Employees wanting to donate leave must do so by contacting their own agencies. Impacted employees seeking donated leave must apply for it in writing with their own agencies, not OPM.
“Agencies should contact OPM for assistance in receiving additional donated annual leave from other agencies only if they do not receive sufficient amounts of donated annual leave to meet the needs of emergency leave recipients within the agency,” the memo said. “Based on the demand for donated leave, OPM will solicit and coordinate the transfer of donated annual leave among Federal agencies. OPM will notify each agency of the cumulative amount of donated annual leave that will be credited to it for transfer to its approved emergency leave recipients. The agency will determine the amount of donated annual leave to be transferred to each emergency leave recipient.”
In a second memo issued Monday, Veronica Hinton, OPM associate director of workforce policy and innovation, outlined existing human resources flexibilities that agencies can utilize to provide to employees affected by Hurricane Beryl and throughout the 2024 hurricane season.
Hinton pointed to guidance on weather and safety leave, telework, evacuation payments — which can entitle federal employees to advance payments, continuation of pay and payments for travel and subsistence expenses when they are ordered to evacuate — and the emergency leave transfer program, among other flexibilities.