Washington Lets Area U.S. Employees Take Snow Day...01/20/00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said the 365,000 federal workers in the Washington area could take a day of unscheduled leave Thursday, due to the first real snow to hit the area this winter.

The Office of Personnel Management said the so-called liberal leave policy applied to all federal agencies in the Washington metropolitan area.

Virtually all public schools in the area announced they would not open Thursday because of the winter snow storm warning. Three to six inches were expected in Washington D.C., where snow emergency parking regulations were in effect. Delays were expected at area airports.