Dismissal and Closure Procedures

Emergency tier designations and telework arrangements affect how you will respond to changes in operating status. Contact your supervisor if you have questions.

Translating OPM Announcements

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) who are regularly scheduled to telework or who request ad hoc/unscheduled telework must be prepared to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Employees on pre-approved leave will be charged that leave, unless they were on sick leave for an appointment and that appointment is canceled in which case they can request telework or request another leave type. Employees on pre-approved leave may also request ad hoc telework, under the terms of their telework agreement.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) prevented from working onsite due to an emergency¹ will be granted excused absence². Employees on pre-approved leave will be charged that leave, unless they were on sick leave for an appointment and that appointment is canceled in which case they will be granted excused absence.

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) who are regularly scheduled to telework or who request ad hoc/unscheduled telework must be prepared to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees who decide to report to their worksites should arrive as scheduled.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) report to their worksites as scheduled or contact their supervisors to request (1) unscheduled leave; (2) LWOP; (3) to change their regular day off under a compressed work schedule; or (4) to rearrange their work hours if on a flexible work schedule.

Emergency employees (Tier 1) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) who are regularly scheduled to telework or who request ad hoc/unscheduled telework must be prepared to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees who decide to report to their worksites should arrive no later than the designated number of hours past their normal arrival time and will be granted excused absence² for up to the number of delayed arrival hours announced. Any additional delay in arrival should be covered by a leave request. Employees who are on pre-approved leave or unscheduled leave and do not plan to telework or report to their worksites should be charged leave for the entire day.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) are expected to report to their worksites for work no later than the designated number of hours past their normal arrival time and will be granted excused absence² for up to the designated number of hours past their normal arrival time. For example, an employee who normally arrives at 8:00 a.m. must arrive for work no later than 10:00 a.m. Any additional delay in arrival should be covered by a leave request. Employees must contact their supervisors to request (1) unscheduled leave; (2) LWOP; (3) to change their regular day off under a compressed work schedule; or (4) to rearrange their work hours if on a flexible work schedule. Employees who are on pre-approved leave or unscheduled leave and do not plan to report to their worksites should be charged leave for the entire day.

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty on onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) who are regularly scheduled to telework or who request ad hoc/unscheduled telework must be prepared to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees who decide to report to their worksites should arrive no later than the announced reporting time. Tier II employees who report to the office will be granted excused absence² for up to the number of hours between their normally scheduled arrival time and the announced reporting time. Employees who are on pre-approved leave or unscheduled leave and do not plan to telework or report to their worksites should be charged leave for the entire day.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) are expected to report to their worksites for work no later than the announced reporting time. Tier III employees will be granted excused absence² for the number of hours between their normally scheduled arrival time and the announced reporting time. For example, an employee who normally arrives at 8:00 a.m. will be granted up to 2 hours of excused absence² if the operating status states employees must arrive for work no later than 10:00 a.m. Employees must contact their supervisors to request (1) unscheduled leave; (2) LWOP; (3) to change their regular day off under a compressed work schedule; or (4) to rearrange their work hours if on a flexible work schedule. Employees who are on pre-approved leave or unscheduled leave and do not plan to report to their worksites should be charged leave for the entire day.

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) regularly scheduled to telework or on approved ad hoc telework must continue to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees on site will be dismissed early relative to their normal departure time and will be granted excused absence³ only for the amount of time required to commute home. Once these employees arrive at home, they must complete any remaining portion of the workday by teleworking, requesting unscheduled leave, or a combination of both. Employees on pre-approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave for the remainder of the workday.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) will be dismissed from their worksites early relative to their normal departure time and will be granted excused absence³ for the number of hours remaining in their workday. For example, if a three-hour early departure is announced, employees who normally leave their worksites at 5:00 p.m. would be authorized to leave at 2:00 p.m. and will be granted excused absence for the remainder of the day. Employees on pre-approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave for the remainder of the workday.

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) regularly scheduled to telework or on approved ad hoc telework must continue to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees on site will be dismissed relative to their normal departure times or at the final departure time and will be granted excused absence³ only for the amount of time required to commute home. Once these employees arrive home, they must complete any remaining portion of the workday by teleworking, requesting unscheduled leave, or a combination of both. Employees on pre‐approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave and do not receive excused absence.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) will be dismissed from their worksites early relative to their normal departure time or at the final departure time and will be granted excused absence³ for the number of hours remaining in their workday beyond their designated early departure time. For example, if a three‐hour early departure is announced, employees who normally leave their worksite at 5:00 p.m. would be authorized to leave at 2:00 p.m. Employees on pre‐approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave for the remainder of the workday.

Emergency employees (Tier I) report for duty onsite and on time, as scheduled, and remain for the duration of their tours of duty unless otherwise directed by their supervisor.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) regularly scheduled to telework or on approved ad hoc telework must continue to telework, request unscheduled leave, or a combination of both, for the entire workday. Tier II employees on site will be dismissed relative to their normal departure times or at the final departure time and will be granted excused absence³ only for the amount of time required to commute home. Once these employees arrive at home, they must complete any remaining portion of the workday by teleworking, requesting unscheduled leave, or a combination of both. Employees on pre-approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave and do not receive excused absence.
Non-emergency employees/non-teleworkers (Tier III) will be dismissed from their worksites early relative to their normal departure time or at the final departure time and will be granted excused absence³ for the number of hours remaining in their workday beyond their designated early departure time. For example, if a three-hour early departure is announced, employees who normally leave their worksite at 5:00 p.m. would be authorized to leave at 2:00 p.m. Employees on pre-approved leave for the entire workday or an employee who has requested unscheduled leave before an early departure is announced should be charged leave for the remainder of the workday.

Employees working onsite at the NIH Campus or other leased facilities in Montgomery County should follow their IC’s emergency procedures for shelter-in-place. Employees should remain in their designated safe areas until notified that they may return to the office or leave the worksite.
Non-emergency employees/teleworkers (Tier II) are expected to continue working during the shelter-in-place unless affected by the emergency or otherwise notified by their ICs.

Notes

^[1] An emergency is any disruption that affects an employee’s ability to arrive, depart or continue working at his or her duty location, such as forecasted/actual severe weather, fire, localized flooding or power outages, loss of water, gas leak, or building damage after an earthquake.
^[2] Excused absence should not be granted to employees on (1) official travel, (2) LWOP, or (3) a flexible or compressed work schedule day off.
^[3] In the event of a staggered departure, excused absence should not be granted to employees on (1) preapproved leave for the entire day or who have requested unscheduled leave before the early departure policy is announced, (2) official travel, or (3) a flexible or compressed work schedule day off.
On a case-by-case basis, supervisors may provide excused absence to an employee who is unable to report to telework or report to their worksite because of a personal hardship. For example, factors such as electricity/infrastructure/connectivity issues, availability of public transportation, or available alternatives to childcare or eldercare may be considered.
For a printable document describing NIH Dismissal and Closure procedures and inclement weather/emergency dismissals please visit: NIH Closures and Dismissals Matrix.

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Dismissal and Closure Procedures

Translating OPM Announcements

Federal offices are closed - emergency and telework-ready employees must continue to work

Open - With option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Open – [nn] hour(s) delayed arrival – with option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Delayed arrival - Employees must report to their office no later than [hh:mm] - with option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Open - [nn] hour(s) staggered early departure

Open - [nn] hour(s) staggered early departure - All employees must depart no later than [hh:mm] at which time federal offices are closed

Immediate departure - federal offices are closed

Shelter-in-place

Notes

Top Dismissal and Closures FAQs

Dismissal and Closure Procedures

Translating OPM Announcements

Federal offices are closed - emergency and telework-ready employees must continue to work

Open - With option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Open – [nn] hour(s) delayed arrival – with option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Delayed arrival - Employees must report to their office no later than [hh:mm] - with option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework

Open - [nn] hour(s) staggered early departure

Open - [nn] hour(s) staggered early departure - All employees must depart no later than [hh:mm] at which time federal offices are closed

Immediate departure - federal offices are closed

Shelter-in-place

Notes

Top Dismissal and Closures FAQs

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