You might have noticed. We had some weather issues last week in the Washington, DC area.

Federal employees were sent home two hours early on Wednesday, but waaaaay down in the announcements was this direction from the Office of Personnel Management:

With supervisory approval, a telework-ready employee may depart prior to the scheduled early departure time without charge to annual leave provided the employee makes up the time later in the day by teleworking, as permitted by his or her agency’s policies, procedures, and collective bargaining agreements.

“Yes,” some might say, “but my power went out.”

“Yes,” others might say, “but my agency didn’t tell us we could leave early until two hours before I would have left anyway.”

“Yes, but…”

While there may be a chorus of “yes, buts” heard across the federal government, it was possible.

But only if the employee had a telework agreement in force.

The alternatives, like using leave or maybe getting stuck in traffic, are probably more of a hassle than filling out the paperwork for telework.

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