Expert's View

Annual leave is one of the best benefits provided to federal employees. But the rules on how you accumulate it and how much of it you can have to your credit are complex.

Accrual

How much annual leave you can earn depends on your years of creditable federal service.

If you have fewer than three years of creditable service, you earn 4 hours for each biweekly pay period (13 days a year). Between 3 and 15 years of service, 6 hours per pay period (20 days a year). After you reach 15 years of service, you earn 8 hours per pay period (26 days a year). For part-time employment, accrual is prorated according to the time you are in pay status.

Senior Executive Service members and other senior level scientific and technical employees earn 8 hours of annual leave per pay period (26 days a year), regardless of their years of service.

If you were just hired (or are a former employee who has had a break in service of at least 90 days), you may also be able to get annual leave accrual credit for non-federal service. For example, if you have skills or experience that relate to the duties of the position to which you are being appointed. However, that’s not a given. The decision is up to your agency.

Military service also can count towards your years of service but there are several distinctions. Active duty and active duty for training is included for non-retired members of the armed services. For retired members, credit is only given for actual service during a war declared by Congress or while participating in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is issued or active duty when your retirement was based on a disability received as a direct result of armed conflict or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty.

Carryover

While you can save up as much annual leave as you want during a year, the amount you can carry over from one leave year to the next depends on your employment category. Most employees can carry over a maximum of 240 hours (30 days). Any leave above that level is called “use of lose.” If you don’t use it before the leave year ends, you’ll lose it.

On the other hand, if you are in the Senior Executive Service, you have a 720 hour carryover limit (90 days) unless you had more than that amount on October 13, 1994 when the limit was created. In that case, the amount you had at the time is your personal limit. If you fall below that amount at the end of any leave year, the lower number becomes your new limit.

If you are employed overseas, you can carry over 560 hours (45 days).

If you are a Postal Service bargaining unit employee, you can carry over 440 hours (55 days). Postal Service Executive and Administrative Schedule employees can carry over a total of 560 hours (70 days).

Cashing In

As a rule, if you retire before the end of a leave year, you’ll be given a lump-sum payment for all your accrued and unused annual leave. The amount will be based on the hourly rate of basic pay you would have earned had you stayed on the job until your leave ran out. This can be a real plus in any year when there is an across-the-board pay raise and you retire just before the increase goes into effect. Even if there isn’t a pay raise, which was true for several years, you would still get a financial bump if you received a step raise before you retired.

Things are a little different for Postal Service bargaining unit employees. You can be paid for any leave you carried over from the previous year and any additional leave you earned during the year you retire, not to exceed the carryover limit for your bargaining unit.