Employees impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires can qualify for paid leave transfers
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced a new emergency leave transfer program for federal employees impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles. The program allows federal employees to donate their unused annual leave to impacted colleagues until the current state of emergency persists.
The decision comes as multiple fires in Los Angeles have burned more than 40,000 acres, leading to at least 27 deaths. The donated leave is managed through agency leave banks.
The OPM memo, issued on January 15, applies to federal employees affected in Los Angeles County from January 7 onwards. Employees seeking to become emergency leave recipients must apply in writing to their agencies or through a personal representative.
Impacted employees can utilize donated leave without using their own. This move is aimed at providing relief to those affected by the wildfires, offering a measure of financial support during this difficult time.
In addition to the emergency leave transfer program, the OPM has also issued a final rule in the Federal Register on Tuesday. This rule standardizes the maps used to determine locality pay rates between the General Schedule and the Federal Wage System. By standardizing the maps for both pay systems, an estimated 15,000 Federal Wage System employees will see their salaries increase by Oct. 1.
The General Schedule locality pay is determined in part by the gap between private sector salaries of the regions the federal employees are in and basic federal pay. On the other hand, the Federal Wage System relies on a government formula to determine the prevailing wage for private sector work in the region. Pay inequity issues developed between the two pay systems within the Federal Wage System itself.
The final rule aims to address this pay inequity gap, ensuring that federal employees are compensated fairly regardless of the pay system they fall under. The regulation also standardizes the maps used for both pay systems, promoting fairness and consistency across the federal workforce.
The Jan 15 memo and the final rule are part of the OPM's ongoing efforts to support federal employees and address the unique challenges they face. The OPM encourages federal employees who wish to donate their leave to contact their own agencies for more information.
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