Governor Retroactively Grants April 20-21 as Administrative Leave After Unclear Return-to-Work Messaging

SAIPAN — Governor David M. Apatang has retroactively authorized administrative leave for Monday, April 20 and Tuesday, April 21 for non-essential Executive Branch employees, citing unclear messaging that left some workers without instructions to return to work following the all-clear declaration on April 17.

In memorandum GOV 2026-248 dated April 22, the governor acknowledged that while employees in federally-funded programs and disaster response roles did resume work on those two days, some non-essential workers may not have received direction from their supervisors or agency heads.

The retroactive leave is in addition to the administrative leave previously authorized under GOV 2026-247, which covers April 22 through April 29. Employees assigned to direct disaster recovery tasks are not affected.

NMI News Service