Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Updates FAQs on Travel, Leave

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force updated guidelines last week that outline policies for travel, leave, and mask-wearing, among other COVID-19 related issues.

Official Travel

The updated Task Force guidance clarifies that there are no government-wide limits on official travel, regardless of vaccination status. The guidance instructs employees to follow their agency’s travel policy and encourages agencies to inform employees of CDC guidelines and recommendations.

To be consistent with Task Force guidance, agencies are required to ask employees if they are up to date with COVID-19 vaccines when approving official international travel in order to implement the proper quarantine procedures.

Regarding testing related to official travel, the Task Force instructs agencies to follow CDC recommendations to decide when an employees should be required to test.

The previous iterations of the Task Force's guidance prohibited federal employees who came into close contact with individuals affected by COVID-19-from traveling on official business for ten days. In line with the new policy, employees who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines and therefore not recommended to quarantine, may be approved only for mission-critical official travel during days one to five after close contact.

Meanwhile, employees who are recommended to quarantine, cannot be approved for official travel for five days after the close contact. The agency should also not permit official travel for such individuals during days six to ten after close contact unless the official travel is urgent, necessary and mission critical. This aligns with the CDC guidance that individuals avoid travel for a full ten days after close contact.

Leave

The updated policy clarifies that is an employee is isolating because of COVID-19 symptoms, while waiting for a test result, or if they have a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19 and does not feel well enough to telework, they may request sick leave, use accrued annual leave or other forms of earned paid time off (e.g., compensatory time off or credit hours), access a voluntary leave bank, or use unpaid leave in this situation, as appropriate.

To mitigate close contact in the workplace, the guidance allows agencies to, on a limited basis, provide up to 3 days of administrative leave to employees who have COVID-19 symptoms and are isolating while actively seeking to be tested. Weather and safety leave is unavailable to these employees based on a February 2020 directive.

Agencies may, however, provide weather and safety leave if an employee who is not up to date with COVID-19 vaccines needs to quarantine as recommended by agency quarantine protocols after a known close contact and if the employee is not capable of teleworking, often because of job duties. Still, if an employee is sick, they should use sick leave, annual leave, or other forms of paid time off.

The guidance consistently affirms that employees should telework when possible, including during quarantine from international travel; use sick leave or annual leave when sick; and only use weather and safety leave when they are unable to telework.

The task force instructed agencies to advise employees that making a false statement could result in disciplinary action, including termination. Furthermore, agencies may require employees to submit additional information to prove a close contact has occurred

Mask Wearing

The guidance clarifies that agencies must require individuals to wear masks when in Government-operated aircraft, boats and other maritime transportation conveyances, and buses with multiple occupants. Mask wearing is not required for outdoor areas of conveyances.

Further, in Government-operated vans, cars, trucks, and other motor pool passenger vehicles, agencies must recommend that individuals wear well-fitting masks when there are multiple occupants.