The Office of Personnel Management issued a new memorandum regarding the restoration of annual leave for employees affected by the government shutdown.

Today the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a new memorandum in response to questions as to whether properly scheduled use-or-lose annual leave that was unable to be used due the shutdown may be restored to both employees required to work and those furloughed.

As you know, during a lapse in appropriations, all paid leave or other paid time off is cancelled.  Under 5 U.S.C. 6304(d)(1), annual leave in excess of an employee’s annual leave ceiling is to be restored if it is forfeited because of “exigencies of the public business” when the leave was scheduled in advance.  Under 5 CFR 630.308(a), this means the leave had to be scheduled before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year.  

Before the shutdown commenced OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determined that a lapse in appropriation qualifies as an exigency of the public business for purposes of annual leave restoration.  Therefore, according to OPM, as long as the leave was properly scheduled in writing no later than November 24, 2018, agencies must restore any annual leave that was forfeited because of the lapse in appropriations—regardless of whether the affected employees were furloughed or excepted from the furlough.  However, OPM noted that any previously restored annual leave that was due to expire at the end of the 2018 leave year and was subsequently forfeited, may not be restored again even if the forfeiture was due to the lapse in appropriations.

As this shutdown continues, we will provide additional updates as they become available.

https://kslnewsradio.com/category/podcast_player/?a=35554&sid=2017&n=The+Jaymac+News+Show

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/us/paychecks-government-shutdown.html

Additional unemployment information

 

As always, we want to encourage employees to first go to IRS.gov and type in the words “Employee Emergency” for continuing information on the furlough. The Employee Resource Center (ERC) help line 866-743-5748, option 1 is also available to assist employees with questions after they have reviewed the IRS.gov “Employee Emergency” page.

Below is additional information received from the Utah Unemployment Claims Center with tips to help expedite filing  unemployment claims due to the shutdown.   

1. A claim can be filed online at jobs.utah.gov. 

2. Claimants are NOT required to supply pay stubs for monetary eligibility. With the government shutdown, there is a backlog of employees filing for claims, so government agencies are taking longer to get back to the Unemployment Claims Center with wages. In an effort to try and determine monetary eligibility faster, the Unemployment  Claims Center is asking all federally employed claimants to send pays stubs for their base period, which for most is the time period of July 1st 2017 - December 31 2018. Again, it is not required, but they are trying to do what they can to speed up the process. 

3. If a claimant is able and chooses to send pay stubs, they can fax it to 801-526-9394. They just need to list their first and last name and the last four digits of their social security number so the Unemployment  Claims Center can attach the fax to their claim. Claimants can use the fax machines at the Workforce Services Employment Centers for free.

Shelly Carver’s interview with Access Public Radio is available here. 

 https://www.upr.org/post/government-shutdowns-impact-utah-tuesdays-access-utah

Ogden featured in Washington Post article

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-towns-with-federal-workers-brace-for-impact-as-the-shutdown-continues/2019/01/06/893c6d2c-a51e-4d62-b242-23c0732ef0bc_story.html?utm_term=.7b7f24a3813b

IRS NTEU staff featured in Standard Examiner article

https://www.standard.net/news/business/shutdown-could-make-it-tough-for-tax-filers-not-just/article_0eb69d7b-63b0-5f97-b6ed-1f4a2c709d66.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Furlough Information

NTEU email updates

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