100,000 Maryland Federal Workers Face New Leave Rules Effective Nov. 18

Federal employees in Maryland and across the country will operate under a new set of rules for paid administrative leave starting Nov. 18. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized a regulation that explicitly allows agencies to place staff on paid leave during "workforce realignment" efforts, including buyouts and layoff notice periods. This change directly impacts the approximately 148,500 federal jobs currently located in Maryland, a state where the federal government remains a major employer.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 19. OPM Director Scott Kupor followed up on Oct. 22 with a memo to agency human resources chiefs. The memo clarifies that agencies have "sole and exclusive discretion" to accept or deny requests to withdraw a resignation. It also states that receiving deferred resignation benefits, such as paid leave, is a valid reason for an agency to say no to a rehire request.

Maryland has felt the effects of recent federal downsizing sharply. State labor figures show federal employment in the state fell from an estimated 163,100 positions in January 2025 to about 148,500 by September of that year. That is a loss of roughly 14,600 jobs, or 9%. Many of these departures occurred through deferred resignation programs, where employees agreed to leave and were kept on paid leave until their exit date. The new rule makes that specific arrangement an explicitly approved use of administrative leave for future rounds of cuts.

The regulation turns into permanent policy several practices the administration has used since early 2025. Critics argue the rule sidesteps a limit Congress set in 2016. The Administrative Leave Act of 2016 limits certain uses of paid administrative leave to 10 days a year. That law was passed after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found employees sitting on paid leave for months or even more than a year during investigations.

OPM argues the 2016 law does not define every situation where the 10-day cap applies. The agency says Congress left the details to OPM and that the law's sponsors did not anticipate leave that produces long-term savings by shrinking the workforce. Kupor has said the deferred resignation program returns more than 400% on its cost, according to Federal News Network.

Unions and watchdog groups disagree with that assessment. The American Federation of Government Employees called the savings claim "speculative." The National Treasury Employees Union described the process as "backwards," arguing OPM was blessing policies it had already put in place. Robert Shriver of Democracy Forward described the remaining 10-day cap as "largely optional and meaningless."

Dawn Locke of the GAO noted that OPM lacks the data to pin down the program's exact costs and total savings. She said rehiring, overtime, and contractor costs would have to be counted against the savings. The GAO has recommended that OPM track deferred-resignation leave separately.

The new rule takes effect on Nov. 18, which is after the Nov. 3 general election. However, OPM’s 2025 template for agency leave policies already excluded poll workers from administrative leave. The rule generally bars administrative leave for serving as a poll worker or poll observer. It also states that administrative leave generally cannot be used for anything sick leave could cover.

OPM says it will update its administrative leave fact sheet and its template for agency policies. The agency will notify states when those updates are ready. Separate guidance issued in 2025 generally limited realignment leave to 12 weeks, with longer periods needing joint approval from OPM and the Office of Management and the Budget.