ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- The Federal government offers a wide range of leave options to assist employees who need to be away from the workplace. Some of these leave options include annual leave, sick leave, advanced annual and sick leave, leave without pay, Family Medical Leave Act and donated leave under the voluntary leave donor program.
Annual Leave
An employee may request and, subject to supervisory approval, use annual leave for such things as vacations, personal business and emergencies.
Employees are responsible for making timely requests for annual leave as far in advance as possible, in order for the supervisor to ensure the agency's mission and their employees' needs are met.
Supervisors may ask employees how they will use the requested annual leave in order to make informed decisions about meeting workload requirements. Employees are not required to provide the supervisor with this information, but should understand that, if the information is not provided, their request for annual leave may be denied based on meeting those workload requirements.
Although annual leave is a benefit to which employees are entitled, it is the supervisor's responsibility to control leave usage in a way that minimizes the adverse effect of an employee's absence on the work of the organization.
Sick Leave
Absent fraud and subterfuge, an employee is entitled to use sick leave for personal medical needs, care of a family member, care of a family member with a serious health condition, adoption-related purposes and bereavement.
The sick leave usage limits per each leave year are: 13 days (104 hours) of sick leave for general family care and bereavement and 12 weeks (480 hours) of sick leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition each leave year.
There is no limit for an employee's own personal medical needs.
An employee is not entitled to more than the combined total of 12 weeks of sick leave each leave year for all family care purposes.
The right of the employee to take sick leave for nonemergency medical, dental or optical examinations is subject to the requirement that sick leave be requested as much in advance as possible and the supervisor's authority to approve or disapprove the leave based on the need for the employee's services.
Only under unusual circumstances will a doctor's appointment require a whole day's use of sick leave. An employee may, in certain cases, want to charge part of a day's absence to sick leave and the remainder of the day's absence to annual leave or another appropriate leave category.
Employees not reporting for work because of illness or injury are required to notify their supervisor not later than two hours after the beginning of their scheduled work shift. Certain factors in sick leave records frequently suggest improper use of sick leave. In cases where it is suspected sick leave usage is being abused by an employee, immediate corrective measures, which may include appropriate disciplinary action, may be taken.
A medical certificate is normally required to support an employee's absence in excess of three workdays. A medical certificate may also be required for an absence of less than 3 days if there is evidence of suspected sick leave abuse, contagious disease or the impact of outpatient treatment on an employee's ability to return to work.
Advance Sick and Annual Leave
Advance sick leave may be granted in deserving cases of serious illness or disability. Advance sick leave will not exceed 240 hours at any one time and in no case can the advance be more than would be accrued prior to an anticipated separation or retirement.
To be eligible for advance sick leave, the employee must: be out of work five consecutive workdays; exhaust all sick leave and any accrued annual leave that would be forfeit (use or lose); and provide a medical certificate to cover the entire absence with a statement by the physician that there is reasonable assurance the employee will be able to return to duty.
Advance annual leave may be granted on a case-by-case basis subject to workload requirements. The advance annual leave amount cannot exceed the amount of annual leave an employee would accrue during the (remainder of) leave year.
Leave Without Pay
The granting of Leave Without Pay is discretionary on the part of the supervisor, except under certain circumstances.
In the following circumstances, the granting of LWOP is mandatory and must be granted:
1. For a disabled veteran who needs medical treatment for their disabling condition
2. To a reservist or National Guardsman/Guardswoman for military training duties when his/her military leave is exhausted and he/she does not have or does not wish to use annual leave
3. Under the Family Medical Leave Act, an employee is entitled to up to 12 weeks of LWOP during any 12-month period to provide care for certain family and medical needs
4. To an employee receiving workers' compensation payments from the Department of Labor.
The employee's immediate supervisor is the leave approving authority. Employees must make a request for leave. Employee requests for leave may be made on OPM Form 71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence. An employee who is absent from duty and not in an approved leave status is Absent Without Approved Leave and may be subject to disciplinary action.
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