Template for Agency Administrative Leave Policies

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a template for agencies to establish administrative leave policies consistent with regulations issued by the Biden administration on December 17, 2024, which implemented a law on the use of administrative leave, 5 U.S.C. 6329(a). Issuance of the template was prompted by a statutory deadline of September 13, 2025, for establishing agency policies. The template provided caps on when administrative leave could be used or given by the agency to employees for various purposes. It appeared to bless the use of administrative leave in conjunction with workforce reduction initiatives by providing a 12-week cap on such uses. It also touched on employee voting: The template-policy stated that administrative leave for voting "should be provided only to the extent it does not interfere with agency operations." The template also provided that administrative leave may be approved for early voting when "(1) the employee will be unable to vote on the regular election day because of activities directly related to the agencyʼs mission... and cannot vote by absentee ballot or by early voting on a nonworkday; or (2) early voting hours are the same as, or exceed, voting hours on the regular election day."