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What is the difference between leave without pay (LWOP) and absence without leave (AWOL)? |
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May I grant advance annual or sick leave and how much can I grant? |
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How much leave can be granted under the Family and Medical Leave Act? |
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Annual Leave: Employees who are appointed to positions for more than 90 days earn annual leave. If an employee's appointment is less than 90 days, the employee does not earn annual leave. If however, you work for 90 or more days under consecutive appointments without a break in service, you are entitled to be credited for the annual leave earned from the beginning date of your initial appointment. Example: Summer students who work for less than 90 days during their first appointment do not earn annual leave and should not be approved to use annual leave. If Jane works on a 60 day appointment this summer and a 60 day appointment during Christmas break, she will begin earning annual leave after the first 30 days of her appointment during Christmas break.
Sick Leave: Permanent and temporary employees earn sick leave. Intermittent employees do not earn sick leave. Earning of sick leave is not affected by length of service. Full‑time employees earn sick leave at a rate of 4 hours for each full biweekly pay period. Part‑time employees with an established tour of duty earn sick leave at a rate of 1 hour for each 20 hours of duty they are in pay status with a maximum of 4 hours of sick leave per pay period. Sick leave is appropriate for employee use in the following situations: · To receive medical, dental, or optical examination or treatment. · The employee is incapacitated for the performance of duties because of physical or mental illness, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth. · The employee has or has been exposed to a communicable disease. · Any purpose relating to the adoption of a child, including appointments with adoption agencies, social workers, and attorneys; court proceedings; required travel and any other activities necessary to allow the adoption to proceed. Federal employees may use a limited of sick leave for family care purposes, such as as: · Providing care for a family member who is incapacitated as a result of physical or mental illness, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth. · Providing care for a family member as a result of medical, dental, or optical examination or treatment; or · Making arrangements necessitated by the death of a family member or to attend the funeral of a family member. Family member is defined as an employee's spouse, and parents thereof; children, including adopted children, and spouses thereof; parents; brothers and sisters, and spouses thereof; and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. What is the difference between leave without pay (LWOP) and absence without leave (AWOL)? Leave Without Pay (LWOP) is a temporary non-pay status and absence from duty that, in most cases, is granted upon an employee's request. LWOP differs from absence without leave (AWOL) in that LWOP is an approved leave status. What are the effects of LWOP on an employee? Life Insurance: Life Insurance (FEGLI) coverage continues for 12 consecutive months in a nonpay status without cost to the employee (5 CFR 870.401(c)), or to the agency (5 CFR 870.401(d)). The nonpay status may be continuous, or it may be broken by a return to duty for periods of less than 4 consecutive months. Health Benefits:Enrollment continues for no more than 365 days in a nonpay status. The nonpay status may be continuous or broken by periods of less than 4 consecutive months in a pay status (5 CFR 890.303(e)). The Government contribution continues while employees are in a nonpay status. The employee may choose between paying the agency directly for his or her contributions on a current basis or having the premiums accumulate and withheld from his or her pay upon returning to duty. Retirement Benefits: A total of 6 months in a nonpay status in any calendar year is creditable service. Coverage continues at no cost to the employee while in a nonpay status. When employees are in a nonpay status for only a portion of a pay period, their contributions are adjusted in proportion to their basic pay. (5 U.S.C. 8332 and 8411). May I grant advance annual or sick leave and how much can I grant? Annual: Supervisors may grant advance annual leave consistent with agency policy. The amount of annual leave that may be advanced is limited to the amount of annual leave an employee would accrue in the remainder of the leave year. Employees do not have an entitlement to advance annual leave. In most cases, when an employee who is indebted for advance annual leaveseparates from Federal service, he or she is required to refund the amount of advance leave forwhich he or she is indebted. Sick: Employees may be advanced up to 30 days of sick leave in cases of serious disability or illness. The employee must meet the following conditions to have a request for sick leave considered: · All available sick leave is used, · The employee will return to duty long enough to earn the sick leave, · Does not involve a Family Friendly Leave Act authority. The granting of advance sick leave is subject to approval by the appropriate management official in your Operating Administration. The HR office and/or payroll office must be notified if an employee separates prior to repaying all advanced sick leave.
An employee is entitled to paid time off without charge to leave for service as a juror or witness. An employee is responsible for informing his or her supervisor if he or she is excused from jury or witness service for 1 day or more or for a substantial part of a day. To avoid undue hardship, an agency may adjust the schedule of an employee who works nights or weekends and is called to jury duty. (If there is no jury/witness service, there is no court leave. The employee would be charged annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay, as appropriate.) Jury Duty: An employee who is summoned to serve as a juror in a judicial proceeding is entitled to court leave. Witnesses: An employee who is summoned as a witness in a judicial proceeding in which the Federal, State, or local government is a party is entitled to court leave. Official Duty: An employee who is summoned as a witness in an official capacity on behalf of the Federal Government is on official duty, not court leave. Fees/Expenses: Employees must reimburse to their agency fees paid for service as a juror or witness. However, monies paid to jurors or witnesses which are in the nature of "expenses" (e.g., transportation) do not have to be reimbursed to the agency.
How much leave can be granted under the Family and Medical Leave Act? Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), most Federal employees are entitled to a total of up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for the following purposes:
Under certain conditions, an employee may use the 12 weeks of FMLA leave intermittently. An employee may elect to substitute annual leave and/or sick leave, consistent with current laws and OPM's regulations for using annual and sick leave, for any unpaid leave under the FMLA Can an employee receive donated annual leave under the Federal leave transfer and leave bank programs if he or she has filed a claim for disability retirement? A - Yes. An employee may apply for and receive donated annual leave while their application for disability retirement is being processed. Under the Federal leave transfer and leave bank programs, an employee who is experiencing a personal or family medical emergency and who has exhausted his or her available paid leave may request to become an approved leave recipient and receive donated annual leave. Once the disability retirement application has been approved by the Office of Personnel Management, the leave recipient may no longer receive or use donated annual leave beyond the end of the pay period in which the agency receives the notice of allowance of disability retirement. Additionally, donated annual leave may be substituted retroactively for periods of leave without pay or used to liquidate a debt for advanced annual or sick leave granted on or after a date fixed by the agency as the beginning of the period of the medical emergency for which leave without pay or advance annual or sick leave was granted. Therefore, a leave recipient awaiting approval of his or her application for disability retirement may retroactively substitute donated annual leave for leave without pay or advance leave that was taken during the medical emergency. Agencies should advise employees concerning the possible effects of substituting donated annual leave for leave without pay or advance leave on his or her retirement income. If an employee has had a substantial period of leave without pay, the period of time for which the donated annual leave is substituted can make a substantial difference in the accrued annuity payment to which the employee is entitled. This is because an annuity cannot commence until the day after the employee's last day of pay. If the donated annual leave is substituted for the leave without pay period just prior to the employee's separation from the Federal Government for disability purposes, the annuity will commence on the day after separation. However, if the donated annual leave is substituted for an earlier period of leave without pay (e.g., at the beginning of the medical emergency), the annuity may commence at an earlier time, the day after the last day in a pay status. Employees should contact their agency personnel offices to receive additional information on the Federal leave transfer and leave bank programs. Where can I go to get the latest information on leave? The human resource (HR) specialist assigned to your organization can provide you with the latest Federal, Department or Administration leave information. To get the contact of the HR specialist, access the following site: DOT HR Leave Program
In addition, the following OPM sites have the latest Federal information on leave as well as additional answers to frequently asked questions:
Guidance on military leave: http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/military.HTM
Sick leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition: http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/12week.htm
Leave bank program: http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/html/lvbank.htm
General pay and leave policies: http://www.opm.gov/oca/COMPMEMO/INDEX.asp
Index of laws, regulations, and other references related to leave administration: |
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