Comments on Furloughing Federal Employees on Federal Holidays
Highlights
This document responds to a letter requesting our opinion on the authority of a Federal agency to "furlough" its employees on a Federal holiday. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the Department of Agriculture has notified its employees that, because of budget cuts. the agency intends to furlough its employees on each of the next three scheduled Federal holidays--Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued an advisory statement on March 18, 2986, informing Federal agencies that they could legally furlough employees on a Federal holiday. It is our general policy not to issue legal opinions on matters in litigation. See. e.g., 58 Compo Gen. 282, 286 (1979). However, we believe that an exception to this policy is warranted here since, as discussed below, the OPM position supporting the legality of holiday furloughs appears to rest largely on a misapplication of prior Comptroller General decisions.