Leave

Annual Leave

Annual (vacation) leave is earned on the basis of an employee's length of creditable federal service (civilian and military – some restrictions apply to military retirees).  The leave year begins on the first day of the first pay period after January 1, and ends the day immediately preceding the beginning of the next leave year.

Annual leave for full-time employees is earned as follows:

At the end of a leave year, up to 240 hours of unused annual leave may be carried over into the next year.  Unused leave over this amount is forfeited, except under certain circumstances involving on-the-job operational demands that prevent the use of leave. 

"Use or Lose"

This refers to the amount of annual leave over the carryover limit (240 hours). These leave hours will be lost if the employee is unable to use them before the end of the leave year. Like regular annual leave hours "Use or Lose" leave hours can be donated to the Leave Donor Program.

Sick Leave

Full-time employees accrue sick leave on the basis of 4 hours for each full biweekly pay period.  There is no limit on the amount of sick leave that an employee can accumulate.  Sick leave is designed to provide the employee a steady income in the event of illness.  Sick leave may also be utilized for medical, dental, and optical appointments and can be used to care for a sick family member.  Sick leave can be also used for purposes related to the death of a family member, including making the arrangements necessitated by the death and attending the funeral.