# Presentation: 829043

**OPM Guidance for**
**Pandemic Influenza**

- UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

## Today’s Topics

- Hiring Issues
- Pay and Leave Issues
- Telework Issues
- Benefit Issues
- Employee Relations Issues
- Labor Relations Issues
- Reporting
- Summary

## Office of Personnel Management Taskings

- Provide guidance on human capital management and COOP planning criteria
- Update telework guides

## Online Guidance 

- Online Guidance

- Policy Guidance
- Telework Guide
- Information for Employees
- Questions & Answers
- Fact Sheets
- Planning Guides
- Agency Strategies
- Workforce Data Collection

*http://www.opm.gov/pandemic/index.asp*

## Key Principles

-      Federal departments and agencies must achieve two equally important goals:
- 	(1) protect the Federal workforce, and
- 	(2) ensure the continuity of operations.
-        Agencies should accomplish their missions through appropriate means, including voluntary telework arrangements and the designation of an employee’s home as a “safe haven” for the purpose of receiving “evacuation payments.”
- 	OPM believes combining evacuation payments and telework will reduce the need to use excused absences (i.e., “administrative leave”), which should be regarded as a last resort in dealing with a pandemic heath crisis.

## Hiring Issues

## Hiring Issues

- Agencies may utilize:
- Their current workforce through details or temporary promotions not exceeding 120 days
- Their recent retirees through reinstatements to temporary appointments
- Existing hiring authorities
- Government-wide - including 30-Day Emergency Appointments and Direct Hire
- Agency Specific - including Schedule A and B (Excepted Service) and Direct Hire
- OPM may issue authority for:
- Up to 1-year temporary appointments (Excepted Service)
- Critical hiring need or severe shortage Direct Hire
- Waiver of salary offset for reemployed annuitants and buyout repayment for reemployed buyout recipients (at agency request)

## Pay and Leave Issues

## Pay and Leave Issues

- Normal pay and leave provisions apply
- Sick leave may be used for personal medical care, family medical care, bereavement, and exposure to a communicable disease
- New regulation removes requirement for employees to maintain a minimum sick leave balance in order to use maximum amount of sick leave for family care or bereavement
- Unpaid leave available under Family and Medical Leave Act
- Consider agency authorized Voluntary Leave Transfer/Bank Programs
- OPM may establish an Emergency Leave Transfer Program

## Evacuation Payments

- Agency official may order employees to evacuate regular worksite and provide evacuation payments
- Employees may be required to work from “safe haven,” such as home or an alternate location
- Promotes “social distancing”
- Employees may be assigned any work for which they have the appropriate knowledge, skill or ability, without regard to employee’s grade or title
- Evacuation pay based on regular rate of pay, including allowances, differentials, and other authorized payments
- May continue up to 180 days
- Agency Head may grant additional special allowance payments to offset direct added expenses incidental to evacuation

## Telework Issues

## Telework Issues

- Ensure agency telework policy includes guidelines for pandemic health crisis
- Make maximum use of routine telework to accomplish mission
- Implement telework agreements with employees who are needed to telework from home during emergency situations
- Test telework procedures and infrastructure

## Telework Guide 

- A Guide to Telework in the Federal Government _[www.telework.gov](http://www.telework.gov/)_
- “How-to” guide for managers and employees
- Focuses on regular telework, which provides the basis for all emergency use
- Sections on safety, security, COOP, and pandemic

## Telework and Emergency Planning 

- No new mandates at this time...
- Strengthen existing programs
- Integrate into policy, agreements
- Equip teleworkers for success
- Plan communications
- Practice!

## Telework and Pandemic Health Crisis

- What’s different?
- Social distancing (unlike COOP)
- Relatively long period of warning/planning
- Potential for long duration of emergency status

## Telework and Pandemic Health Crisis

- Additional Resources
- Fact sheet
- Planning guide – what agencies can do to prepare for telework during a pandemic health crisis (checklist)
- Training modules at _[http://www.opm.gov/telework/courses/](http://www.opm.gov/telework/courses/)_

## Benefit Issues

## Benefits During a Pandemic Health Crisis

- During an emergency--
- OPM will operate a Federal Employee and Retiree Emergency Information Center
- Employees can contact the Center at      1-800-307-8298 or by email at emergencybenefits@opm.gov
- OPM will post emergency information on its website

## Benefits During a Pandemic Health Crisis

- Insurance Benefits will continue--
- Health insurance carriers will demonstrate maximum flexibility under their OPM contract
- Fee-for-service carriers will relax certain provisions like pre-certification requirements
- All plans will cover treatments outside of plan providers in emergency or pandemic situations
- Drug supply limits will be relaxed

## Benefits During a Pandemic Health Crisis

- Insurance Benefits will continue--
- Federal Employee Life Insurance Program will apply expedited claims payment procedures
- Agencies will be told what procedures have been put into place
- Other insurance programs (long term care insurance, flexible spending account program, dental and vision insurance) should continue as normal during a pandemic or other emergency

## Benefits During a Pandemic Health Crisis

- Retirement Benefits will continue--
- Under most circumstances, retirement applications will continue to be submitted through agency personnel offices
- OPM’s emergency hotline and email address will be available if the agency personnel office is not reachable
- Call or contact OPM to report a death of an annuitant or employee
- Social Security, the Thrift Savings Plan, and the Office of Workers’ Compensation may also have emergency procedures in place

## Benefits During a Pandemic Health Crisis

- Additional Resources-
- Comprehensive guidance is found in *What You and Your Family Need to Know About Your Federal Benefits During an Emergency *in Section VI-H of the planning guide
- Fact Sheets on applying for benefits, insurance programs and employee assistance programs

## Federal Benefits Contact Information

- Insurance Benefits: Call the insurance carrier or go to www.opm.gov/insure
- CSRS and FERS Retirement 1-888-767-6738 or www.opm.gov/retire
- Social Security: 1-800-772-1213 or _[www.ssa.gov](http://www.ssa.gov/)_
- Thrift Savings Plan: 1-877-968-3778 or _[www.tsp.gov](http://www.tsp.gov/)_
- DOL Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs: _[www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/fecacont.htm](http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/fecacont.htm)_

## Employee Relations

## Employee Relations Issues

- Communicate in advance with supervisors and employees
- Explain flexibilities
- Use all available resources
- Discuss possible scenarios
- Make full use of flexibilities
- Telework
- Leave (sick, annual, LWOP)
- Evacuation Pay

## Employee Relations Issues

- Any adverse action may ONLY be used when you have a reasonable belief, based on objective evidence, that an employee is incapable of working or that they pose a direct threat to the health and safety of the workplace
- Consult with HR staff
- Anticipate need to act quickly, but not precipitously
- Consider granting excused absence only if no other option and only for limited period

## Labor Relations

## Labor Relations Issues

- Maintain open communications with exclusive representatives
- Start discussing pandemic issue with union officials now as part of your planning process.
- They can provide an additional perspective to consider.
- Work together to determine how you will communicate with them in the event of a pandemic.
- who are the primary union and management contacts
- who are the alternates
- who can speak for the union at what levels of the organization
- Can agreements be worked out in advance to be followed in the event of a pandemic?  Telework is a good example.
- How can the union help get information out to employees?  Links to OPM from union website, articles in union newsletter, discussion at member meetings?

## Labor Relations Issues

- Collective bargaining rights, agreements, and representational duties
- Some may be suspended during an emergency, if necessary
- 5 USC 7106 Managements Rights – “(D) to take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies”.
- That is not a complete waiver of union rights or collective bargaining agreement provisions.  Actions must be necessary and relevant.  This is a high bar to meet – consult with your Labor Relations staff.
- It does allow you to take immediate and timely actions to protect employee safety and health and meet agency mission requirements.
- If that will result in more than a de minimis change to bargaining unit employee working conditions, communicate that to appropriate union officials as soon as possible.
- Such actions could result in post-implementation bargaining
- Respond to any request for bargaining as soon as possible
- Where appropriate, engage in post-implementation bargaining (most likely appropriate arrangements to minimize any foreseeable negative impact).

## Reporting Workforce Data

## Workforce Data

- Provides ongoing picture of Government’s capacity to function and highlights needs
- Maintains focus on employee care and welfare
- Four data requirements:
- Reported by Payroll Systems
- Number of total employees
- Number of employees working
- Reported by Agency HR Office
- Number of employees teleworking
- Number of employee deaths

## Summary

## Summary

- OPM guidance is easy to use and available      on-line
- _[http://www.opm.gov/pandemic/index.asp](http://www.opm.gov/pandemic/index.asp)_
- Few new policies, but agencies must be flexible and creative when using authorities
- Policies designed to maintain a safe workplace while accomplishing the agency’s mission, will be updated as appropriate
- Employee Guide being developed

## 
Questions and Answers

- Questions and Answers