If You're in The DC Area, Get Ready to Telework Again Next Week

Because more than 40 world leaders are coming to town for a major nuclear summit. Lots of Washington, DC will be essentially shut down by security for the event. If you do need to get into the office, DCist has a good, early guide to what transportation will be impacted by barriers, closed roads, diversions, etc. But if you can stay off the roads, trains, etc. Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry would rather you stay out of Washington. He wrote to the Chief Human Capital Officers last night:

Such employees are strongly encouraged to reduce traffic on those days by using car or van pools, Metrobus, and Metrorail. Employees who can work at home or an alternative site are strongly urged to do so, in accordance with their agencies' telework and AWS policies. Employees eligible for AWS are strongly encouraged to take Monday or Tuesday as their AWS day off. If these flexibilities are not available or will not cover absence on Monday and Tuesday, all non-emergency employees who can be spared may request annual leave, leave without pay, and/or the use of previously earned compensatory time off or earned credit hours under an alternative work schedule.

I'm at the Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting this morning, and Steve O'Keefe, the Exchange's Executive Director joked that the town will be full of "a whole pile of people. The city's pretty much going to be shut down...there will be no parking, metro will be limited, and sure enough there will be ample security." So stay out of downtown if humanely possible. I sure will be trying to avoid it.