United States Office of Personnel Management

or parent with a serious health condition. You may request to 

substitute any or all of the unpaid leave with available annual 

and/or sick leave within the rules for using annual/sick leave. 

For more information on the leave options available to you, 

consult with your agency’s human resources office or visit 

www.opm.gov/pandemic.

The most important point to remember as a Federal 

employee is that while you and your family are in no 

immediate danger, we must be prepared for any situation. 

Should an influenza pandemic occur, the disease could 

spread rapidly and disrupt the lives of many people. 

Working together, we can ensure America is ready. 

Flu Prevention: 

Common Sense Tips 

Flu prevention begins by taking some common sense 

steps to keep you and your family safe. These simple tips 

may help prevent the spread of influenza 

(www.cdc.gov/flu/workplace):

• Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough.

• Clean your hands often with warm water and soap. 

If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based 

disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers. Keep a supply 

on hand at your home or office. 

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Infections 

may occur when germs are picked up through touching 

infected surfaces and then ingested into the body through 

openings such as the mouth. 

• Stay home when you are sick and see a doctor when 

needed. If you are sick, you can play an important role in 

controlling the spread of the disease 

by maintaining your distance from others. 

UNITED STATES Office of Personnel Management

www.opm.gov

1900 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20415

202-606-1000

Preparing for 

Pandemic 

Influenza

Helpful Information 

for Federal Employees

What If I Get Sick?

If you or a close family member get sick, you have several 

different leave options available.

Sick Leave

Most Federal employees who become ill may request 

to use their accrued sick leave for their own illness 

or to care for a family member who is ill or receiving 

medical treatment. You may also use sick leave if health 

authorities or a health care provider determines your 

exposure to a pandemic influenza virus jeopardizes 

the health of others by your presence on the job, even 

if you have not fallen ill yourself. See your agency 

policy guidance for specifics on the use of sick leave. 

Annual Leave

You may also have the option of requesting the use of 

accrued annual leave during a pandemic health crisis. This 

option would most likely be used when you anticipate a 

longer absence than your available sick leave hours would 

enable you to take. For example, if you have accumulated 

35 hours of sick time, but need 9 or 10 working days (72-80 

hours) to recuperate from the flu, you may use annual leave 

for the remainder of the time you need to be out. 

In addition to annual leave, you may request to use 

available compensatory time off, earned compensatory 

time off for travel, or credit hours earned under a flexible 

work schedule. Contact your agency for specific policies 

in this regard. 

Voluntary Leave Transfer 

and Leave Bank Programs

You may qualify to receive donated annual leave if you or 

a family member has a medical emergency and you do not 

have available annual or sick leave. The voluntary leave 

transfer and leave bank programs allow you to receive 

donated annual leave from fellow employees. Each Federal 

agency must have a voluntary leave transfer program in 

place, and some Federal agencies also have voluntary leave 

banks. Check with your agency for more information about 

these programs. 

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act gives you the right 

to take up to 12 weeks of leave without pay for a serious 

health condition or to care for your spouse, son, daughter, 

OD-02 12/2006
Additional information is available by visiting the Federal 

Government’s official pandemic Website at: 

www.pandemicflu.gov.

Maintaining Government 

During an Influenza Pandemic

President Bush and the Office of Personnel Management are 

committed to maintaining a working Government should 

an influenza pandemic occur in the United States. Plans 

and strategies have been developed to ensure continuous 

operation of Federal agencies and authorities. 

The Office of Personnel Management has worked to ensure 

Federal employees have easy-to-access information on how 

an influenza pandemic could affect you and what options you 

have. Federal employees may be especially concerned about 

how a pandemic influenza outbreak could affect your jobs 

and livelihood. 

The following pages are designed to offer you condensed 

information on leave and pay options during a pandemic and 

tips on how you can avoid the spread of flu. 

What Are My Work Options? 

Pandemic influenza may cause you to be unable to work from 

your office, or you may have obligations outside the office 

because of a pandemic which might prevent you from going 

to work. This could be for any number of reasons. It could 

be that you, or close family members, are ill or contagious. 

Or a decision may be made to reduce the potential for 

contact by recommending employees either recently 

sick, or in contact with those who were, remain home. 

In the event of a pandemic, one way to slow the spread of 

disease is for people to decrease contact with each other, an 

approach known as “social distancing.” Workplaces may 

provide opportunities for influenza to spread, so in the event 

of a severe pandemic, Federal employees who are able to do 

so may be afforded an opportunity to telework from home 

and/or work an alternative schedule. You may need to request 

an alternative work schedule in situations where your time 

available to work is limited to periods when an alternative 

care provider is able to care for your family member. 

The alternative work arrangements offered by the 

Federal Government are designed to assist you in 

balancing work and family responsibilities. Alternative 

work arrangements include flexible and compressed 

work schedules and telework arrangements. It is a 

good idea to explore these options in advance so 

you can make a smooth transition if necessary. 

Flexible Work Schedules (FWS)

Under normal circumstances, flexible work schedules 

(FWS) allow you – with supervisory approval – to 

choose your work arrival and departure time and FWS 

day off within limits set by your agency. In a pandemic, 

flexible work schedules may provide you with greater 

flexibility in meeting your biweekly work requirement. 

Within the requirements established by your agency’s 

FWS policy, you may request a flexible work schedule to 

meet your biweekly work requirement while recovering 

from the flu or caring for a sick family member. General 

information on flexible work schedules is available at 

www.opm.gov/oca/WORKSCH/HTML/AWSFWS.asp. 

Talk to your supervisor to learn of any FWS rules specific 

to your agency. 

Compressed Work Schedules (CWS)

Compressed work schedules (CWS) are fixed work 

schedules that allow you – with supervisory approval – to 

complete your basic 80-hour biweekly work requirement 

in less than 10 workdays. Under a compressed work 

schedule, arrival and departure times and your scheduled 

work day off do not vary from one pay period to the next. 

Like an FWS, a CWS allows you maximum flexibility 

to manage work and family responsibilities in the event 

of a pandemic. Check with your agency to learn of any 

agency-specific rules regarding CWS. General information 

is available at: 

www.opm.gov/oca/WORKSCH/HTML/AWSCWS.asp.

Telework

All agencies have telework policies, and some employees 

have agreements in place that allow them to work either 

from home or from another location convenient to their 

home a few times per week or per month, as appropriate. 

You may explore the possibility of telework for social 

distancing purposes or to allow you to work part-time 

from home while recovering from the flu. You may also 

be able to telework during periods when an alternative 

care provider is available to care for a sick family 

member. If you are currently teleworking, discuss how 

to handle a pandemic scenario with your manager, 

and make any necessary changes to your agreement. 

Individuals not currently teleworking should discuss the 

possibility with their manager of emergency telework 

should it become necessary, and consider entering into 

an agreement. You should practice telework regularly 

enough to ensure computers and other communications 

systems work and ensure you establish a comfort level 

working from a remote location. Please check with your 

supervisor to learn about your agency’s telework policies. 

For general information, “A Guide to Telework in the Federal 

Government” is available at: 

http://www.opm.gov/pandemic/agency2a-guide.pdf.

What About Pay?

Federal agencies are taking steps to ensure there will be no 

disruptions to your paychecks during an influenza pandemic. 

In the event of a flu outbreak, you may be asked to work 

from home or to work non-traditional hours, evening hours, 

weekends, or Federal holidays. In some cases, you may be 

eligible for premium pay. 

A wealth of information is available regarding the different 

types of premium pay offered by the Federal Government. 

The following Websites provide detailed information. You 

should also check with your agency’s human resources office 

for information and programs specific to your agency. 

For information on Overtime Pay, visit: 

www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/FACTOT.asp

For information on Night Pay for General Schedule 

Employees, visit: 

www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/NIGHT.asp

For information on Sunday Premium Pay, visit: 

www.opm.gov/oca/worksch/HTML/sunday.htm

For information on Federal Holiday Pay, visit: 

www.opm.gov/oca/WORKSCH/HTML/HOLIDAY.asp

Evacuation Pay

During a pandemic health crisis, your agency may order you 

leave your office and work from an alternate work location, 

such as your house, under its evacuation payment authority. 

This is one way to facilitate social distancing. If you are 

ordered to evacuate your worksite under this authority, you 

will receive evacuation payments. Evacuation payments 

reflect your regular pay and are paid on your regular payday. 

For general information on evacuation payments, visit: www.

opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/EVAC.htm. 

In early 2006, President George W. Bush issued an 

Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for 

Pandemic Influenza – a document which directed 

each Federal department and agency to develop a 

comprehensive preparedness plan in the event of an 

outbreak of pandemic influenza in the United States. 

Under the President’s direction, the Office of 

Personnel Management is charged with providing 

guidance to Federal employees and agencies on 

human capital management strategies, pay and 

leave policies, alternative work arrangements such 

as telework, and important health information. 

This document contains general information for 

Federal employees. You should consult your supervisor 

or appropriate human resources office to learn your own 

agency’s policies on the topics discussed in these pages. 

This guide seeks to provide handy, easily-understandable 

information that Federal employees should have to prepare 

for a possible pandemic influenza. 

What is Pandemic Influenza?

An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus 

causes high numbers of illnesses in humans and spreads 

rapidly throughout the world. Because there is little natural 

immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to 

person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

a pandemic is a global disease outbreak. A flu pandemic 

occurs under the following conditions:

1. A new influenza virus emerges, against which there is little 

or no immunity in humans;

2. It must spread easily from human to human; and, 

3. It must infect humans and cause severe illness.

The avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, often called “bird flu,” 

is causing illness and death among poultry and has caused 

more than 250 illnesses in humans, as reported by the World 

Health Organization (WHO). The H5N1 virus is a cause 

of concern among health officials as a potential pandemic 

virus. The virus has been found in Asia, Europe and Africa. 

Although the spread of this virus to humans has been limited, 

should the virus evolve into a strain that could spread 

efficiently from person to person, a pandemic could ensue.