OPM closing D.C.-area offices on Friday at 12 p.m.

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The Office of Personnel Management has decided to close federal offices in the national capital region at 12 p.m. on Friday ahead of a snow storm expected to dump as much as 30 inches on the Washington, D.C. metro area.

OPM met with the Metropolitan Council of Governments Thursday night and decided it was best to send federal employees home before the heavy snow arrives in the D.C. area. Forecasts predicted the storm would begin at about 3 p.m.

OPM says federal employees have the option for unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework, but those who report to their worksites should depart four hours earlier than normal. The agency says employees shouldn’t leave any later than 12 p.m., at which time D.C. federal offices will be closed.

Baltimore federal offices also will close at 12 p.m., according to a notice on the Federal Executive Board’s website.

As of Friday morning, the FEB in Philadelphia decided not to close the federal offices early as the snow is expected to arrive there after the evening rush hour.

“Individual agencies may have offered unscheduled telework or leave to their employees who are concerned about the evening commute,” said Lisa Makosewski, executive director of the Philadelphia FEB in an email to Federal News Radio.

Andrea Lewis-Walker, the executive Director of the Newark, N.J. FEB, said her organization hasn’t made a decision as to whether they will close early and will know more in a few hours.

The Pittsburgh, Boston and New York City FEBs had not updated their websites with plans for Friday.

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