Years of federal service | Pay period accrual | Total annual accrual |
Less than 3 years | 4 hours | 13 days |
3 to 15 years | 6 hours | 20 days |
15 years or more | 8 hours | 26 days |
Normally you may not carry over more than 30 days (240 hours) of annual leave. Earned annual leave exceeding 240 hours must be used by the end of the leave year or it will be lost.
Annual leave may be granted when requested with consideration to the effect of your absence on the assigned workload. In cases where an emergency requires you to remain away from work without prior approval, you must notify your supervisor as soon as possible on the first day of your absence. Check with your supervisor about specific reporting requirements for your office.
The minimum charge for use of annual leave is 15 minutes. Should you leave federal service, you will be paid a lump sum for any unused annual leave, at your current hourly rate of pay. Part-time employees earn leave based on the number of hours worked. Part-time employees with less than 3 years of service earn 1 hour of annual leave for each 20 hours in pay status. Those with 3 but less than 15 years of service earn 1 hour of annual leave for each 13 hours in pay status. Those with 15 or more years of service earn 1 hour of annual leave for each 10 hours in pay status.
Sick Leave
Full-time employees earn 13 days of sick leave each year, at the rate of 4 hours per pay period (every 2 weeks). Employees who work on a part-time basis with an established tour of duty earn sick leave at the rate of 1 hour for each 20 hours of duty. Credit may not exceed 4 hours of sick leave for 80 hours of duty in any pay period. There is no limit on the amount of sick leave you may accumulate. Use of sick leave is charged in increments of 15 minutes.
Sick leave may be used when you are unable to work because of sickness or injury, or when you have a medical, dental, or optical appointment. Some limitations apply, so check with your servicing human resources office if you have any questions. Under the Family Friendly Leave policies, you may also use sick leave to care for sick family members, to take them for medical, dental or optical appointments, and for death of a family member. Contact your servicing human resources office for more specific information.
These simple rules must be followed in using sick leave:
- Use sick leave as little as possible and only for the proper reasons. Sick leave cannot be used to supplement annual leave.
- If you are too sick to work, notify your supervisor within 1 hour after the time you are scheduled to report for duty.
- Ask your supervisor in advance when you want to use sick leave for medical, dental, or optical examinations or treatment.
- Submit a medical certificate signed by your doctor for periods of sick leave that last for more than 3 days, or if requested by your supervisor for any other sick leave.
Holidays
The following holidays are observed in the federal service:
New Years Day | January 1 |
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday | Third Monday in January |
Washington’s Birthday | Third Monday in February |
Memorial Day | Last Monday in May |
Independence Day | July 4 |
Labor Day | First Monday in September |
Columbus Day | Second Monday in October |
Veteran’s Day | November 11 |
Thanksgiving Day | Fourth Thursday in November |
Christmas Day | December 25 |
If you are regularly scheduled to work on a day that a holiday falls on, you will be paid at your regular salary, if you are in a pay status either the day before or the day after the holiday.