Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 47693 

Waiver of Notice of Proposed Rule 

Making and Delayed Effective Date 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), I 

find that good cause exists for waiving 

the general notice of proposed 

rulemaking. In response to a potential 

pandemic influenza event, the President 

recently issued the Federal 

Government’s Implementation Plan for 

the National Strategy for Pandemic 

Influenza. This proposal has been 

fashioned in furtherance of that plan. In 

light of the imminence of the potential 

threat, providing an advance notice and 

comment period, before these 

regulations become effective, would be 

both impracticable and against the 

public interest. Accordingly, a waiver of 

the requirements for proposed 

rulemaking is justified under these 

circumstances. 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review 

This rule has been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with E.O. 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they will apply only to Federal 

agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR 531 and 550 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Claims; Government 

employees; Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements; Wages. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Linda M. Springer, 

Director. 

■ Accordingly, OPM is amending parts 

531 and 550 of title 5 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations as follows: 

PART 531—PAY UNDER THE 

GENERAL SCHEDULE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 531 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5115, 5307, and 5338; 

sec. 4 of Public Law 103–89, 107 Stat. 981; 

and E.O. 12748, 56 FR 4521, 3 CFR, 1991 

Comp., p. 316; Subpart B also issued under 

5 U.S.C. 5303(g), 5305, 5333, 5334(a) and (b), 

and 7701(b)(2); Subpart D also issued under 

5 U.S.C. 5335(g) and 7701(b)(2); Subpart E 

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5336; Subpart F 

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5304, 5305, and 

5338; and E.O. 12883, 58 FR 63281, 3 CFR, 

1993 Comp., p. 682 and E.O. 13106, 63 FR 

68151, 3 CFR, 1998 Comp., p. 224. 

Subpart F—Locality-Based 

Comparability Payments 

■ 2. In § 531.605, revise paragraph (d)(3) 

to read as follows: 

§ 531.605 Determining an employee’s 

official worksite. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(3) An authorized agency official may 

make a temporary exception to the 

requirements in paragraphs (d)(1) and 

(2) of this section in appropriate 

situations of a temporary nature, such as 

the following: 

(i) An employee is recovering from an 

injury or medical condition; or 

(ii) An employee is affected by an 

emergency situation, which temporarily 

prevents the employee from commuting 

to his or her regular official worksite. 

* * * * * 

PART 550—PAY ADMINISTRATION 

(GENERAL) 

■ 3. The authority citation for subpart D 

of part 550 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5527; E.O. 10982, 3 

CFR parts 1959–1963, p. 502. 

■ 4. In subpart D, add § 550.409 to read 

as follows: 

§ 550.409 Evacuation payments during a 

pandemic health crisis. 

(a) An agency may order one or more 

employees to evacuate from their 

worksite and perform work from their 

home (or an alternative location 

mutually agreeable to the agency and 

the employee) during a pandemic health 

crisis. Under these circumstances, an 

agency may designate the employee’s 

home (or an alternative location 

mutually agreeable to the agency and 

the employee) as a safe haven and 

provide evacuation payments to the 

employee. An agency must compute the 

evacuation payments and determine the 

time period during which such 

payments will be made in accordance 

with § 550.404. An evacuated employee 

at a safe haven may be assigned to 

perform any work considered necessary 

or required to be performed during the 

period of evacuation without regard to 

his or her grade, level, or title. The 

employee must have the necessary 

knowledge and skills to perform the 

assigned work. Failure or refusal to 

perform assigned work may be a basis 

for terminating evacuation payments, as 

well as disciplinary action. 

(b) The head of an agency, in his or 

her sole and exclusive discretion, may 

grant special allowance payments, based 

upon a case-by-case analysis, to offset 

the direct added expenses incidental to 

performing work from home (or an 

alternative location mutually agreeable 

to the agency and the employee) during 

a pandemic health crisis. 

(c) An agency may terminate 

evacuation payments under the 

conditions listed in § 550.407. An 

agency must make any necessary 

adjustments in pay consistent with 

§ 550.408 after the evacuation is 

terminated. 

[FR Doc. 06–6990 Filed 8–16–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 630 

RIN 3206–AK61 

Absence and Leave 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) is issuing final 

regulations concerning the use of sick 

leave. The final rules remove the 

requirement for an employee to 

maintain a minimum sick leave balance 

in his or her sick leave account in order 

to use the maximum amount of sick 

leave provided for family care and 

bereavement purposes. These 

regulations are being issued as part of 

OPM’s effort to standardize leave 

policies and provide agencies with 

guidance on leave programs available to 

assist employees in the event of a 

pandemic health crisis. 

DATES: Effective date: These regulations 

are effective on September 18, 2006. 

Applicability date: These regulations 

apply on the first day of the first 

applicable pay period beginning on or 

after September 18, 2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sharon Dobson by telephone at (202) 

606–2858; by fax at (202) 606–0824; or 

by e-mail at pay-performancepolicy@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office 

of Personnel Management (OPM) is 

issuing final regulations to revise the 

rules concerning the use of sick leave to 

provide care for a family member, make 

arrangements necessitated by the death 

of a family member, or attend the 

funeral of a family member. The revised 

regulations will assist employees in 

balancing their work and family 

responsibilities and needs. These final 

regulations will be issued to standardize 

and simplify leave programs and 

policies to support consolidating agency 

human resources and payroll systems, 

and to continue OPM’s efforts to 

provide agencies with timely guidance 

on leave programs and policies available 

to employees in the event of a pandemic 

health crisis. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
47694 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 

On January 5, 2005, OPM issued a 

comprehensive package of proposed 

regulations to revise the rules 

concerning the determination of official 

duty station for location-based pay 

entitlements, compensatory time off for 

religious observances, hours of work 

and alternative work schedules, and 

absence and leave (70 FR 1068). The 

proposed regulations were issued to aid 

and support the standardization of pay 

and leave policies under the e-Payroll 

initiative. The proposed regulations are 

available at 

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ 

getpage.cgi?dbname=2005

_register&position=all&page=1068. 

In this final rule, OPM addresses the 

comments received on the proposed 

rules in 5 CFR part 630, subpart D, 

concerning the use of sick leave for 

family care or bereavement purposes. 

The 60-day comment period ended on 

March 7, 2005. A total of seven 

comments were received from five 

agencies, an employee organization, and 

an individual. We will address 

comments received on the proposed 

changes to other regulations in 

subsequent issuances. 

Sick Leave for Family Care or 

Bereavement Purposes 

Currently, an employee must 

maintain 80 hours of sick leave in his 

or her sick leave account to be entitled 

to use up to 104 hours (13 workdays) of 

sick leave for general family care or 

bereavement purposes and up to 480 

hours (12 workweeks) of sick leave to 

care for a family member with a serious 

health condition. The proposed 

regulations modified § 630.401 to 

remove the requirement an employee 

must maintain 80 hours of sick leave in 

his or her sick leave account to use more 

than 40 hours (5 workdays) of his or her 

sick leave for family care or 

bereavement purposes. An agency 

recommended removing the limit 

altogether on the total amount of sick 

leave an employee may use for any 

family care purpose. The agency 

believes removing this requirement 

would give employees greater 

responsibility for managing their sick 

leave and would greatly simplify the 

administration and recordkeeping 

requirements related to sick leave. In 

addition, the agency stated that it is 

difficult for managers to make a 

distinction between sick leave for 

general family care or bereavement 

purposes and sick leave to provide care 

for a family member with a serious 

health condition. 

OPM believes an annual limit of 104 

hours (13 workdays) of sick leave for 

general family care or bereavement 

purposes and 480 hours (12 workweeks) 

of sick leave to provide care for a family 

member with a serious health condition 

is an ample amount of time for most 

employees to give care and attendance 

to family members for illness or injury 

when viewed in the context of other 

available options and entitlements. The 

entitlement to use sick leave for general 

family care or bereavement purposes 

and/or to provide care for a family 

member with a serious health condition, 

in conjunction with a generous annual 

leave system, including advance annual 

leave; the leave transfer and leave bank 

programs; flexible work schedules; 

telework; unpaid leave under the 

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); 

compensatory time off; and 

compensatory time off for travel will 

further assist the vast majority of 

employees to meet their sickness-related 

family care needs. 

An agency and an individual 

commented that by removing the 

requirement for an employee to 

maintain a minimum sick leave balance 

to use more than 40 hours of sick leave 

for family care purposes is contrary to 

the law at 5 U.S.C. 6307(d)(3). This is 

incorrect. The provisions of the Federal 

Employees Family Friendly Leave Act 

(Pub. L. 103–388, October 22, 1994) 

expired on December 21, 1997. The 

Federal Employees Family Friendly 

Leave Act amended the law to provide 

for a 3-year trial period to expand the 

purposes for which sick leave may be 

used by an employee, to include family 

care and bereavement. Under 5 U.S.C. 

6311, OPM has been granted authority 

to prescribe regulations necessary for 

the administration of annual and sick 

leave. (See the memorandum to 

Directors of Personnel, CPM 97–13, on 

the ‘‘Use of Sick Leave for Family Care 

or Bereavement Purposes’’ at http:// 

www.opm.gov/flsa/oca/compmemo/ 

1997_1996/cpm97–13.asp.) Thus, OPM 

used its permanent regulatory authority 

to issue regulations to permit an 

employee to use sick leave to (1) care for 

a family member who is incapacitated 

as a result of physical or mental illness, 

injury, pregnancy, or childbirth; (2) 

assist a family member who receives 

medical, dental, or optical examination 

or treatment; (3) make arrangements for 

or attend the funeral of a family 

member; or (4) care for a family member 

with a serious health condition. 

An agency was concerned that 

removing the 80-hour sick leave balance 

requirement may result in more 

employees depleting their sick leave 

accounts and resorting to requesting 

advance leave or donated leave under 

the voluntary leave transfer and leave 

bank programs. The agency believes the 

requirement to maintain a minimum 

sick leave balance of 80 hours reduces 

the number of employee requests for 

advance leave and donated leave and 

the costs associated with administering 

those programs. We have not made this 

change. Employees continue to be 

responsible for managing their use of 

sick leave to ensure they retain enough 

sick leave for both personal and family 

needs. An employee would continue to 

be limited to 13 days of sick leave each 

leave year for general family care or 

bereavement purposes and a maximum 

of 12 weeks of sick leave each leave year 

to care for a family member with a 

serious health condition. 

An agency recommended the final 

regulations include information on the 

amount of sick leave an agency may 

advance to an employee for family care 

or bereavement purposes or to provide 

care for a family member with a serious 

health condition. We agree and have 

added § 630.401(f) to clarify an agency 

may advance a maximum of 30 days of 

sick leave when required by the 

exigencies of the situation for a serious 

disability or ailment of the employee or 

a family member or for purposes related 

to the adoption of a child. 

We also proposed amending 

§ 630.403(b) to establish a 

Governmentwide policy on the time 

limit for the receipt of medical 

documentation supporting an 

employee’s need for sick leave. We 

proposed this change to ensure all 

employees are treated equitably and to 

aid in establishing standardized 

Governmentwide pay and leave 

policies. The proposed regulations at 

§ 630.403(b) would require an employee 

to provide administratively acceptable 

evidence as to the reason for his or her 

use of sick leave. The employee must 

provide such evidence no later than 15 

calendar days after the date his or her 

agency requests documentation. An 

agency and an employee organization 

believed imposing a stringent time 

limitation of 15 calendar days would 

not be fair for employees facing 

extenuating circumstances, such as an 

employee who may not be able to obtain 

medical certification because of the 

remoteness of his or her location. We 

agree and have revised § 630.403(b) to 

require an employee to provide 

administratively acceptable evidence, in 

accordance with the agency’s policy, no 

later than 15 calendar days after the date 

the agency requests such 

documentation. If it is not practicable to 

provide the requested certification, 

despite the employee’s diligent good 

faith efforts, the employee must provide 

such certification within a reasonable 

period of time, but no later than 30 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 47695 

calendar days. This requirement is 

consistent with the medical certification 

requirements under the Family and 

Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provided in 

the regulations at 5 CFR Part 630, 

Subpart L. 

An agency and an individual 

commented that providing 15 calendar 

days for an employee to present medical 

certification may conflict with the terms 

of a more restrictive leave policy 

imposed upon an individual by an 

agency (often referred to as ‘‘leave 

restriction’’). This requirement is 

consistent with the medical certification 

requirements for using leave without 

pay under the FMLA. Because many 

employees may choose to substitute 

their sick leave for leave without pay 

under the FMLA, we believe it is 

necessary to impose the same 

requirement for using sick leave that is 

required under the FMLA—i.e., an 

employee must provide administratively 

acceptable evidence no later than 15 

days after the agency requests 

documentation. 

Miscellaneous 

In this final rule, we are removing the 

reporting requirements in § 630.408 to 

reduce the amount of information 

agencies must maintain on the use of 

sick leave for family care purposes. 

However, agencies are required to 

maintain records sufficient to ensure 

employees do not exceed their 

entitlement to sick leave for family care 

purposes. We are also deleting the 

procedures in former § 630.409 for the 

retroactive substitution of sick leave for 

annual leave used for adoption-related 

purposes between September 1991 and 

September 1994, because the time limit 

for retroactive substitution under this 

section expired on September 30, 1996. 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review 

This rule has been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with E.O. 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify these regulations would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

because they would apply only to 

Federal agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 630 

Government employees. 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

Linda M. Springer, 

Director. 

■ Accordingly OPM is amending 5 CFR 

part 630, to read as follows: 

PART 630—ABSENCE AND LEAVE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 630 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 6311; 630.205 also 

issued under Pub. L. 108–411, 118 Stat 2312; 

630.301 also issued under Pub. L. 103–356, 

108 Stat. 3410 and Pub. L. 108–411, 118 Stat 

2312; 630.303 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 

6133(a); 630.306 and 630.308 also issued 

under 5 U.S.C. 6304(d)(3), Pub. L. 102–484, 

106 Stat. 2722, and Pub. L. 103–337, 108 Stat. 

2663; subpart D also issued under Pub. L. 

103–329, 108 Stat. 2423; 630.501 and subpart 

F also issued under E.O. 11228, 30 FR 7739, 

3 CFR, 1974 Comp., p. 163; subpart G also 

issued under 5 U.S.C. 6305; subpart H also 

issued under 5 U.S.C. 6326; subpart I also 

issued under 5 U.S.C. 6332, Pub. L. 100–566, 

102 Stat. 2834, and Pub. L. 103–103, 107 Stat. 

1022; subpart J also issued under 5 U.S.C. 

6362, Pub. L 100–566, and Pub. L. 103–103; 

subpart K also issued under Pub. L. 105–18, 

111 Stat. 158; subpart L also issued under 5 

U.S.C. 6387 and Pub. L. 103–3, 107 Stat. 23; 

and subpart M also issued under 5 U.S.C. 

6391 and Pub. L. 102–25, 105 Stat. 92. 

■ 2. Part 630, subpart D is revised to 

read as follows: 

Subpart D—Sick Leave 

Sec. 

630.401 Granting sick leave. 

630.402 Requesting sick leave. 

630.403 Supporting evidence for the use of 

sick leave. 

630.404 Use of sick leave during annual 

leave. 

630.405 Sick leave used in the computation 

of an annuity. 

630.406 Records on the use of sick leave. 

Subpart D—Sick Leave 

§ 630.401 Granting sick leave. 

(a) Subject to paragraphs (b) through 

(e) of this section, an agency must grant 

sick leave to an employee when he or 

she—

(1) Receives medical, dental, or 

optical examination or treatment; 

(2) Is incapacitated for the 

performance of his or her duties by 

physical or mental illness, injury, 

pregnancy, or childbirth; 

(3)(i) Provides care for a family 

member who is incapacitated by a 

medical or mental condition or attends 

to a family member receiving medical, 

dental, or optical examination or 

treatment; or 

(ii) Provides care for a family member 

with a serious health condition; 

(4) Makes arrangements necessitated 

by the death of a family member or 

attends the funeral of a family member; 

(5) Would, as determined by the 

health authorities having jurisdiction or 

by a health care provider, jeopardize the 

health of others by his or her presence 

on the job because of exposure to a 

communicable disease; or 

(6) Must be absent from duty for 

purposes relating to his or her adoption 

of a child, including appointments with 

adoption agencies, social workers, and 

attorneys; court proceedings; required 

travel; and any other activities necessary 

to allow the adoption to proceed. 

(b) The amount of sick leave granted 

to an employee during any leave year 

for the purposes described in 

paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (4) of this 

section may not exceed a total of 104 

hours (or, for a part-time employee or an 

employee with an uncommon tour of 

duty, the number of hours of sick leave 

he or she normally accrues during a 

leave year). 

(c) The amount of sick leave granted 

to an employee during any leave year 

for the purposes described in paragraph 

(a)(3)(ii) of this section may not exceed 

a total of 480 hours (or, for a part-time 

employee or an employee with an 

uncommon tour of duty, an amount of 

sick leave equal to 12 times the average 

number of hours in his or her scheduled 

tour of duty each week), subject to the 

limitation found in paragraph (d) of this 

section. 

(d) If, at the time an employee uses 

sick leave to care for a family member 

with a serious health condition under 

paragraph (c) of this section, he or she 

has used any portion of the sick leave 

authorized under paragraph (b) of this 

section during that leave year, the 

agency must subtract that amount from 

the maximum number of hours 

authorized under paragraph (c) of this 

section to determine the total amount of 

sick leave the employee may use during 

the remainder of the leave year to care 

for a family member with a serious 

health condition. If an employee has 

previously used the maximum amount 

of sick leave permitted under paragraph 

(c) of this section in a leave year, he or 

she is not entitled to use additional sick 

leave under paragraph (b) of this 

section. 

(e) If the number of hours in the 

employee’s tour of duty is changed 

during the leave year, his or her 

entitlement to use sick leave for the 

purposes described in paragraphs (a)(3) 

and (4) of this section must be 

recalculated based on the new tour of 

duty. 

(f) An agency may advance a 

maximum of 30 days of sick leave to a 

full-time employee at the beginning of a 

leave year or at any time thereafter 

when required by the exigencies of the 

situation for a serious disability or 

ailment of the employee or a family 

member or for purposes relating to the 

adoption of a child. Thirty days is the 

maximum amount of advance sick leave 

an employee may have to his or her 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
47696 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 

credit at any one time. For a part-time 

employee (or an employee on an 

uncommon tour of duty), the maximum 

amount of sick leave an agency may 

advance must be prorated according to 

the number of hours in the employee’s 

regularly scheduled administrative 

workweek. 

§ 630.402 Requesting sick leave. 

An employee must file an 

application—written, oral, or electronic, 

as required by the agency—for sick 

leave within such time limits as the 

agency may require. The employee must 

request advance approval for sick leave 

for the purpose of receiving medical, 

dental, or optical examination or 

treatment and, to the extent possible, for 

the purposes described in 

§ 630.401(a)(3), (4), and (6). 

§ 630.403 Supporting evidence for the use 

of sick leave. 

(a) An agency may grant sick leave 

only when the need for sick leave is 

supported by administratively 

acceptable evidence. An agency may 

consider an employee’s self-certification 

as to the reason for his or her absence 

as administratively acceptable evidence, 

regardless of the duration of the 

absence. An agency may also require a 

medical certificate or other 

administratively acceptable evidence as 

to the reason for an absence for any of 

the purposes described in § 630.401(a) 

for an absence in excess of 3 workdays, 

or for a lesser period when the agency 

determines it is necessary. 

(b) An employee must provide 

administratively acceptable evidence or 

medical certification for a request for 

sick leave no later than 15 calendar days 

after the date the agency requests such 

medical certification. If it is not 

practicable under the particular 

circumstances to provide the requested 

evidence or medical certification within 

15 calendar days after the date 

requested by the agency despite the 

employee’s diligent, good faith efforts, 

the employee must provide the evidence 

or medical certification within a 

reasonable period of time under the 

circumstances involved, but no later 

than 30 calendar days after the date the 

agency requests such documentation. 

An employee who does not provide the 

required evidence or medical 

certification within the specified time 

period is not entitled to sick leave. 

(c) An agency may require an 

employee requesting sick leave to care 

for a family member under 

§ 630.401(a)(3)(ii) to provide an 

additional written statement from the 

health care provider concerning the 

family member’s need for psychological 

comfort and/or physical care. The 

statement must certify that—

(1) The family member requires 

psychological comfort and/or physical 

care; 

(2) The family member would benefit 

from the employee’s care or presence; 

and 

(3) The employee is needed to care for 

the family member for a specified 

period of time. 

§ 630.404 Use of sick leave during annual 

leave. 

Subject to § 630.401(b) through (e), an 

agency may grant sick leave to an 

employee during a period of annual 

leave for any of the purposes described 

in § 630.401(a). 

§ 630.405 Sick leave used in the 

computation of an annuity. 

Sick leave used in the computation of 

an annuity is charged against an 

employee’s sick leave account and may 

not thereafter be used, transferred, or 

recredited. All sick leave to the credit of 

an employee as of the date of his or her 

retirement (or death) and reported to 

OPM for credit towards the calculation 

of an annuity is considered used. 

§ 630.406 Records on the use of sick 

leave. 

An agency must maintain records of 

the amount of sick leave used by an 

employee for family care purposes and 

to make arrangements for or attend the 

funeral of a family member under 

§ 630.401(a)(3) and (4). The records 

must be sufficient to ensure that an 

employee does not exceed the 

limitations in § 630.401(b) and (c). 

[FR Doc. 06–7005 Filed 8–16–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES