The USPTO is experiencing several system outages due to a major power failure. These outages are expected to continue through at least Saturday, December 26, 2015.

The following guidance applies to all employees who are unable to work due to the system outage (e.g., Patent examiners, Trademark examining attorneys, LIEs, etc.). Employees who are not affected by the system outage should continue to work.

This guidance does not apply to employees who are: (1) on approved annual leave, (2) approved sick leave, (3) LWOP, (4) absent because of worker’s compensation, (5) on military leave, or (6) on suspension; they are not eligible for administrative leave on Wednesday 12/23, the half day on Thursday 12/24 and Saturday 12/26. They will remain in their current status.

Since the WebTA system is currently offline, employees will have the ability to submit corrections to their WebTA once the system becomes available or when they return to the office.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

· Employees on flexible work schedules may claim up to a maximum of 8 hours of administrative leave on December 23rd that may be credited towards their 80-hour basic work requirement.

· Employees on compressed work schedules are entitled to administrative leave for the number of hours they are scheduled to work on December 23rd. For example, an employee scheduled to work 9 hours because they are on a 5/4/9 schedule, will be granted 9 hours of administrative leave for December 23rd.

· For employees who are unable to work due to the system outage, overtime, compensatory time and credit hours may not be worked.

· Part-time employees will receive administrative leave for the number of hours they are normally scheduled to work on December 23rd, except that employees on a flexible part-time schedule may only claim up to a maximum of 8 hours. The POPA part time program is a flexible part time schedule. A part-time employee who has set arrival and departure times is working a fixed work schedule.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

· Employees on flexible work schedules may claim up to a maximum of 4 hours of administrative leave and up to a maximum of 4 hours of holiday leave on December 24th for a total of 8 hours that may be credited towards their 80-hour basic work requirement.

· Employees on compressed work schedules are entitled to administrative leave for half of the number of their scheduled work hours on December 24th and may claim half of the number of their scheduled work hours as holiday leave on December 24th. For example, an employee scheduled to work 9 hours because they are on a 5/4/9 schedule, will be granted 4.5 hours of administrative leave and 4.5 hours of holiday leave for a total of 9 hours for that day.

· For employees who are unable to work due to the system outage, overtime, compensatory time and credit hours may not be worked.

· Part-time employees may claim administrative leave for up to half of the number of hours they are scheduled to work and will receive holiday leave for half of the number of hours they are normally scheduled to work on December 24th, except that employees on a flexible part-time schedule may claim up to a maximum of 4 hours of administrative leave and maximum of up to 4 hours of holiday leave. A part-time employee who has set arrival and departure times is working a fixed work schedule.

Friday, December 25, 2015

· For employees who are unable to work due to the system outage, overtime, compensatory time and credit hours may not be worked.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

· Employees on flexible work schedules who had intended to work may claim up to a maximum of 8 hours of administrative leave on December 26th that may be credited towards their 80-hour basic work requirement.

· For employees who are unable to work due to the system outage, overtime, compensatory time and credit hours may not be worked.

Employees who need leave to complete their 80-hour bi-week (because the administrative leave is capped at 8 hours each day), should request leave through WebTA once the WebTA system is again available. These requests will be granted retroactively.

If you have any questions, please contact your supervisor.

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