Letter to the Hon. Russ Vought, Acting Dir. of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Hon. Michael Rigas, Acting Dir. of the Office of Personnel Management - Norton Calls on OMB, OPM to Allow Federal Employees Paid Time to Care for Family Members During Coronavirus Pandemic

Letter

Acting Directors Vought and Rigas:

As you well know, the current problems caused by the coronavirus are affecting every single American, including federal employees. Countless federal employees are teleworking to attempt to stay safe from the virus, and also to care for their family members, including children who are forced to stay home from school and daycare. We understand that because of the time these federal employees must spend on caring for family members, these teleworking federal employees are having to use their leave time, go without pay, or telework longer hours in the early morning or late evening to make up for the lost hours they spend caring for their families. This has put an unsustainable burden on numerous families. We therefore write to encourage you to allow teleworking employees who are also caring for family members to have up to 15 hours of administrative or other designated paid leave per week to care for their family members. This would still require federal employees to work five hours per day, providing vital federal services, while allowing them to manage their family care duties.

We believe this measure would provide great relief for federal employees who have no other option during these unprecedented times.

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