Mr. Mayorkas said his employees deserved extra time, in addition to their regular Labor Day holiday, as a reward for their “sacrifice to secure our homeland and to advance our nation.”The new grant comes just days after The Washington Times reported that Mr. Mayorkas has already given out 115 hours of leave since he took office in 2021. The Times calculated that works out to at least $1.2 billion worth of taxpayer-funded time off work, given an average department pay rate of about $40 an hour.
Homeland Security regularly ranks among the lowest federal workplaces in terms of morale. The ongoing issues surrounding immigration have put new strains on the department, which has had to siphon workers from other duties to rush to the border to handle the unprecedented surge of illegal immigrants under President Biden.“DHS employees, and the families who serve alongside them, are extraordinary public servants who make great sacrifices to advance our mission.
The rules seem to discourage use of administrative leave as a performance award, but do allow it for cases where the absence is deemed to advance an agency’s mission. Department heads such as Mr. Mayorkas are given wide latitude to decide what counts.