Administrative Leave for Workforce Realignment and Other Purposes
Key claim: Federal agencies now have clearer rules on when they can put employees on paid administrative leave during workforce cuts, deferred resignation programs, and reduction-in-force notice periods, and when they can refuse to let an employee take back a resignation.
Abstract
(Rule · Personnel Management Office) The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations governing administrative leave for workforce realignment and other purposes. This final rule more fully addresses the appropriate uses of administrative leave, including use in connection with deferred resignation programs and other workforce realignment initiatives, and for other purposes. The final rule also clarifies when an agency may provide administrative leave during a reduction-in-force notice period and accept or deny an employee’s request to withdraw a resignation in the context of a deferred resignation program.
Why this matters
Administrative leave is the primary tool agencies use to keep employees in pay status while separations are processed, so the final rule sets the ground rules for how federal workforce cuts, deferred resignations, and RIF notice periods actually play out day-to-day. By also fixing when a resignation can be rescinded, OPM shifts leverage between employees and agencies at the exact moment separations become irreversible. The scope is federal-sector only, but it governs a large share of ongoing workforce-reduction activity.