Absence and Leave, 47693-47696 [06-7005]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
Waiver of Notice of Proposed Rule
Making and Delayed Effective Date
§ 531.605 Determining an employee’s
official worksite.
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
4. In subpart D, add § 550.409 to read
as follows:
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:
I
PART 531—PAY UNDER THE
GENERAL SCHEDULE
1. The authority citation for part 531
continues to read as follows:
I
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
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:
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3. The authority citation for subpart D
of part 550 continues to read as follows:
I
I
Regulatory Flexibility Act
VerDate Aug<31>2005
PART 550—PAY ADMINISTRATION
(GENERAL)
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5527; E.O. 10982, 3
CFR parts 1959–1963, p. 502.
This rule has been reviewed by the
Office of Management and Budget in
accordance with E.O. 12866.
I
*
*
*
*
(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.
*
*
*
*
*
§ 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
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47693
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
Office of Personnel
Management.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
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.
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
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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
https://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
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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 https://
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
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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
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 157 / Thursday, August 17, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
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
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Government employees.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Linda M. Springer,
Director.
Accordingly OPM is amending 5 CFR
part 630, to read as follows:
I
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PART 630—ABSENCE AND LEAVE
1. The authority citation for part 630
continues to read as follows:
I
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:
I
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
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47695
(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
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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.
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
(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,
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Jkt 208001
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
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(3) The employee is needed to care for
the family member for a specified
period of time.
§ 630.404
leave.
Use of sick leave during annual
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
leave.
Records on the use of sick
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
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 159 (Thursday, August 17, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47693-47696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7005]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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-performance-
policy@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.
[[Page 47694]]
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 https://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 Sec. 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 https://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 Sec.
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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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
[[Page 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
Sec. 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 Sec. 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.
0
Accordingly OPM is amending 5 CFR part 630, to read as follows:
PART 630--ABSENCE AND LEAVE
0
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.
0
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
Sec. 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
[[Page 47696]]
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.
Sec. 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 Sec. 630.401(a)(3), (4), and (6).
Sec. 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 Sec.
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 Sec. 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.
Sec. 630.404 Use of sick leave during annual leave.
Subject to Sec. 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 Sec. 630.401(a).
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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 Sec. 630.401(a)(3) and
(4). The records must be sufficient to ensure that an employee does not
exceed the limitations in Sec. 630.401(b) and (c).
[FR Doc. 06-7005 Filed 8-16-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P
