Effective immediately, the Governor’s Office will direct, via the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), the early release of employees in the Executive Branch for reasons such as extreme adverse weather conditions. The Department of Higher Education, the Division of Criminal Justice, as well as the Judicial and Legislative Branch will continue to be responsible for their own policies on this issue.
In the event of extreme snow and ice conditions, extreme heat/cold, or other emergency conditions, the Governor’s Office will communicate with the OEM to determine if an early release or delayed opening is prudent. Nonessential employees are not to be granted paid release time by agency heads without the authorization of the Governor’s office, conveyed by the OEM.
If an early release or delayed opening occurs, only those employees immediately affected (at work or scheduled to report for work) by the adverse conditions will be granted payment for time off. Any deviations from officially designated early release or delayed openings cannot be considered time off without a charge to an appropriate leave designation. This includes ridesharing arrangements. Delayed openings will be announced on the radio and television stations as usual. The Governor’s office will make the determination of whether or not there shall be a delayed opening for Executive Branch employees. The announcements will be time and location specific, as appropriate.
For example, the following announcement may be made:
“Due to the weather conditions, nonessential Executive Branch employees working in New London County should not report to work until 11:00 a.m.” [In this situation, the affected employees would not be charged for the time between when the employee is scheduled to begin work until 11:00 a.m.]
An emergency announcement will be released online via Internet e-mail along with the usual faxing and phone calls. In cases of building-specific issues, i.e., inoperable heating facilities, agency heads with buildings under their jurisdictions affected by these conditions may make the decision about an early release or delayed opening for staff assigned to that work location. Again, only those employees immediately affected (at work or scheduled to report for work) by the adverse conditions will be granted payment for time off.
For your convenience, this memorandum has been added to the Department of Administrative Services website, Human Resources page – Business Rules and Regulations (Search Official Memoranda section). If you have any questions concerning the content of this memorandum, please contact Shari Grzyb via e-mail at shari.grzyb@po.state.ct.us or at (860) 713-5176.
