Agencies urged to be flexible with employees who join relief efforts
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many federal employees are asking what they can do to help.
In the past, the Office of Personnel Management has urged agencies to be creative in rewarding employees who pitch in during times of crisis.
"Federal employees are always generous and responsive in relief and recovery efforts during emergency situations," said OPM Director Linda Springer in July, after Hurricane Dennis made landfall in Florida. "Agency heads should consider all the human resources flexibilities available to them during such difficult periods."
Employees who are called upon to assist in special relief and recovery efforts in affected communities are now eligible for excused absences. That can include employees with special training like emergency medical technicians or those who simply volunteer to pass out water or fill out forms.
Instead of biweekly premium pay limits, federal agencies now can apply annual premium pay limits to employees logging overtime during times of disaster. So volunteers working around-the-clock responding to a hurricane or other natural disaster, receive premium pay and won't max out as quickly.
On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a call for 2,000 Homeland Security Department employees to volunteer for two weeks working in hurricane-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast. Would-be volunteers were warned to be prepared to work outdoors for long hours.
COMMENTS
- I would like to comment on the article by saying there was an email sent to Management Officials on August 28, 2005 seeking employees to volunteer in the relief efforts in the Katrina aftermath. It surfaced for about four days before a co-worker emailed me the request and once I took it to my chief and inquired about it he claims that he had only found out about it a few hours earlier. So I had asked to be put on the list with all of my expertise I could have been a valuable asset to the relief efforts. He claimed that he had already asked for himself (GO FIGURE!!) and that the Medical Center Director said he could not go because this was the end of the fiscal year, but he explained to me that he would inquire about me going (in which I was never in danger of him even asking). Well to sum it all up their explanation for not letting us see the email or letting us go was that this was the end of the fiscal year and no one could go. So I committed and said well when one VA is at the end of the fiscal year then aren't all VAs? Well it sort of left his mouth open. Anyways so when they talk about the Federal Government and how they run to the aid of hurricane victims trust me it's only their friends that's allowed to go. So here at this hospital I have never known anyone other than the Hazmat Team to go. And to think that they take care of their own. The poor hazmat team that went to Jackson VA had to scramble for food the first night they got there and go to a convenience store and fetch beer and peanuts for dinner because Bay Pines VA Hospital sent their own over there with nothing. "Yes that's really taking care of your own". Wendy Marrtin Posted September 7, 2005 2:22 PM
- Is it any shock or surprise that an agency born of chaos and confusion after the 9/11 attacks is now mired in its own chaos and confusion of inability and inaction in the wake of Katrina? Let's face it: DHS, having absorbed 22 agencies with disparate missions, political egos and infighting and a chronic lack of funding is now virtually unable to do what is was created to do: SECURE THE HOMELAND. If not for the military moving in and taking charge, the disaster would still be getting worse with New Orleans bearing the brunt of lawlessness, hunger, thirst, unsanitary conditions and despair. I hate to pine for the old days, but what about things that worked, like U.S. Customs, with assets that far exceeded most other government agencies-staff, command and control, aircraft, boats, etc.? After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Customs was on the ground WITHIN HOURS, NOT DAYS, providing crucial security/search and rescue functions on the ground, and relief missions from the air. Now, the fracturing of that agency, agents split from inspectors, air and marine split from investigations, etc. has left it incapable of doing much of anything at all. While tens of thousands of people wait and suffer in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the pundits in Washington sit paralyzed in fear and confusion wondering what it is they should or shouldn't do. There was NO such confusion in 1992, and people were saved and the dead were recovered. And you think people are going to wait around the next time there is a massive storm bearing down on their neck of the woods? FORGET IT! After seeing what their government has to offer, I think the only decision people will make is to flee for the hills and take care of themselves and their loved ones, clogging roads and stressing other critical infrastructure, rather that wait to see what their government will do for them after the fact. PATHETIC, SHAMEFUL AND DISGRACEFUL. GovExec.com reader Posted September 2, 2005 8:36 PM
- Pardon the sarcasm, but God help those who volunteer and are veterans. They may well find themselves with no job when they return. Don't forget, we sent federal employees to war and when some came home, they were refused re-employment. Government agencies are good for this. They will just flatly lie and come up with something like, "well, you quit before you left". Don't take this lightly because there is nothing they won't do if their human resources people believe they can get away with it. Charlie Posted September 3, 2005 9:38 PM
