Complaints Transmitted herewith is Bureau Instruction Memorandum No. 97-33 which provides guidance for BLM managers and supervisors on determining the reasonable amount of official time to grant employees for the purpose of preparing and presenting EEO complaints. Employees are not entitled to official time for pursuing an EEO complaint in the federal courts. Accordingly, you should review all requests individually and consider the complexity of the case when determining the actual number of hours you may grant an employee and his or her employee representative. Generally, you may grant official time in terms of hours not days, and such time may be scheduled consecutively or nonconsecutively.
Employees are responsible for requesting official time in advance.
Except for mandatory situations when employees must be released, such as EEO hearings and agency investigations, supervisors and managers are responsible for the scheduling of such time. You may schedule official time to accommodate employees' needs and office workloads. When approving an employee's use of official time, you should advise him or her of the amount of time granted and any limitations on its use. For example, employees should not take official time away from the work area without supervisory authorization. If an employee requires and requests additional time, you and the employee should make new arrangements.