Subpart B—Definitions and General Provisions for Annual and Sick Leave

(a) In section 6301(2)(iii) of title 5, United States Code, the term temporary employee engaged in construction work at an hourly rate means an employee hired on a temporary basis solely for the purpose of work on a specific construction project and paid on an hourly rate.

(b) In subparts B through G of this part:

Accrued leave means the leave earned by an employee during the current leave year that is unused at any given time in that year.

Accumulated leave means the unused leave remaining to the credit of an employee at the beginning of the leave year.

Agency means an Executive agency, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, and any other entity of the Federal Government that employs officers and employees to whom subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, applies.

Committed relationship means one in which the employee, and the domestic partner of the employee, are each other's sole domestic partner (and are not married to or domestic partners with anyone else); and share responsibility for a significant measure of each other's common welfare and financial obligations. This includes, but is not limited to, any relationship between two individuals of the same or opposite sex that is granted legal recognition by a State or by the District of Columbia as a marriage or analogous relationship (including, but not limited to, a civil union).

Domestic partner means an adult in a committed relationship with another adult, including both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships.

Employee means an employee to whom subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, applies.

Family member means an individual with any of the following relationships to the employee:

(1) Spouse, and parents thereof;

(2) Sons and daughters, and spouses thereof;

(3) Parents, and spouses thereof;

(4) Brothers and sisters, and spouses thereof;

(5) Grandparents and grandchildren, and spouses thereof;

(6) Domestic partner and parents thereof, including domestic partners of any individual in paragraphs (2) through (5) of this definition; and

(7) Any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Health care provider has the meaning given that term in § 630.1202.

Leave year means the period beginning with the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending with the day immediately before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year.

Medical certificate means a written statement signed by a registered practicing physician or other practitioner certifying to the incapacitation, examination, or treatment, or to the period of disability while the patient was receiving professional treatment.

Parent means—

(1) A biological, adoptive, step, or foster parent of the employee, or a person who was a foster parent of the employee when the employee was a minor;

(2) A person who is the legal guardian of the employee or was the legal guardian of the employee when the employee was a minor or required a legal guardian;

(3) A person who stands in loco parentis to the employee or stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a minor or required someone to stand in loco parentis; or

(4) A parent, as described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of this definition, of an employee's spouse or domestic partner.

Serious health condition has the meaning given that term in § 630.1202.

Son or daughter means—

(1) A biological, adopted, step, or foster son or daughter of the employee;

(2) A person who is a legal ward or was a legal ward of the employee when that individual was a minor or required a legal guardian;

(3) A person for whom the employee stands in loco parentis or stood in loco parentis when that individual was a minor or required someone to stand in loco parentis; or

(4) A son or daughter, as described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of this definition, of an employee's spouse or domestic partner.

Uncommon tour of duty means an established tour of duty that exceeds 80 hours of work in a biweekly pay period, provided the tour—

(1) Includes hours for which the employee is compensated by standby duty pay under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(1) and § 550.141 of this chapter;

(2) Is a regular tour of duty (as defined in § 550.1302 of this chapter) established for firefighters compensated under 5 U.S.C. 5545b and part 550, subpart M, of this chapter; or

(3) Is authorized for a category of employees by the Office of Personnel Management.

United States means the several States and the District of Columbia.

[61 FR 64450, Dec. 5, 1996, as amended at 63 FR 64595, Nov. 23, 1998; 65 FR 37239, June 13, 2000; 71 FR 54570, Sept. 18, 2006; 75 FR 33495, June 14, 2010]

(a) Full-time employees. A full-time employee earns leave during each full biweekly pay period while in a pay status or in a combination of a pay status and a nonpay status.

(b) Part-time employees. Hours in a pay status in excess of an agency's basic working hours in a pay period are disregarded in computing the leave earnings of a part-time employee.

[33 FR 12475, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 55 FR 6595, Feb. 26, 1990]

An employee paid on other than a biweekly pay period basis earns leave on a pro rata basis for a full pay period.

When an employee's service is interrupted by a non-leave-earning period, he earns leave on a pro rata basis for each fractional pay period that occurs within the continuity of his employment.

(a) The head of an agency or his or her designee may, at his or her sole discretion, provide credit for service that otherwise would not be creditable under 5 U.S.C. 6303(a) for the purpose of determining the annual leave accrual rate of an individual receiving his or her first appointment (regardless of tenure) as a civilian employee of the Federal Government or an employee who is reappointed following a break in service of at least 90 calendar days after his or her last period of civilian Federal employment. The head of the agency or his or her designee must determine that the skills and experience the employee possesses are—

(1) Essential to the new position and were acquired through performance in a prior position having duties that directly relate to the duties of the position to which he or she is being appointed; and

(2) Necessary to achieve an important agency mission or performance goal.

(b) Notwithstanding 5 U.S.C. 6303(a), the head of an agency or his or her designee may, at his or her sole discretion, provide credit for active duty uniformed service that otherwise would not be creditable under 5 U.S.C. 6303(a) for the purpose of determining the annual leave accrual rate of an employee who is a retired member of a uniformed service as defined by 38 U.S.C. 4303. The head of the agency or his or her designee must determine that the skills and experience the employee possesses are—

(1) Essential to the new position and were acquired through performance in a position in the uniformed services having duties that directly relate to the duties of the position to which he or she is being appointed; and

(2) Necessary to achieve an important agency mission or performance goal.

(c) When the head of an agency or his or her designee makes a determination to provide service credit for prior work experience or active duty in the uniformed services under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, he or she must determine the amount of service that will be credited. The amount of service credited may not exceed the actual amount of service during which the employee performed duties directly related to the position to which the employee is being appointed.

(d) An employee must provide written documentation, acceptable to the agency, of his or her prior work experience. An employee must provide written documentation from the military, acceptable to the agency, of his or her uniformed service. The head of an agency or his or her designee must make the determination to approve an employee's qualifying prior work experience before the employee enters on duty.

(e) The agency must establish documentation and recordkeeping procedures sufficient to allow reconstruction of each action.

(f)(1) Credit for prior work experience or experience in a uniformed service under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section is granted to the employee upon the effective date of his or her initial appointment to the agency or reappointment after a 90-day break in service and remains creditable for annual leave accrual purposes thereafter unless the employee fails to complete 1 full year of continuous service with the appointing agency.

(2) If an employee is placed in a leave without pay status during the 1-year period of continuous service required by paragraph (f)(1) of this section, the 1-year period of continuous service must be extended by the amount of time in a leave without pay unless—

(i) The employee separates or is placed in a leave without pay status to perform service in the uniformed services (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 4303 and 5 CFR 353.102) and later returns to civilian service through the exercise of a reemployment right provided by law, Executive order, or regulation; or

(ii) The employee separates or is placed in a leave without pay status because of an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81 and later recovers sufficiently to return to work.

(g) If an employee separates from Federal service or transfers to another agency before completing 1 full year of continuous service with the appointing agency—

(1) Any credit under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section must be subtracted from the employee's total creditable service before the employee transfers or separates, and the agency must establish a new service computation date for leave accrual purposes under 5 U.S.C. 6303(a);

(2) Any annual leave accrued or accumulated by an employee as a result of receiving credit for service under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section remains to the credit of the employee; and

(3) The agency must—

(i) Transfer the annual leave balance to the new employing agency under 5 CFR 630.501 if the employee is transferring to a position to which annual leave may be transferred; or

(ii) Make a lump-sum payment under 5 CFR 550.1205 for any unused annual leave if the employee is separating from Federal service or moving to a position to which annual leave cannot be transferred.

[70 FR 22246, Apr. 29, 2005, as amended at 71 FR 54570, Sept. 18, 2006]

(a) Unless an agency establishes a minimum charge of less than one hour, or establishes a different minimum charge through negotiations, the minimum charge for leave is one hour, and additional charges are in multiples thereof.

(b) When an employee is charged with leave for an unauthorized absence or tardiness, the agency may not require him to perform work for any part of the leave period charged against his account.

[33 FR 12475, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 38 FR 18446, July 11, 1973; 38 FR 26601, Sept. 24, 1973; 89 FR 102290, Dec. 17, 2024]

The travel time granted an employee under section 6303(d) of title 5, United States Code, is inclusive of the time necessarily occupied in traveling to and from his post of duty and (a) the United States, or (b) his place of residence, which is outside the area of employment, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the territories or possessions of the United States. The employee shall designate his place of residence in his request for leave under section 6303(d) of title 5, United States Code.

(a) When the number of hours in a nonpay status in a full-time employee's leave year equals the number of basepay hours in a pay period, the agency shall reduce his credits for leave by an amount equal to the amount of leave the employee earns during the pay period. When the employee's number of hours of nonpay status does not require a reduction of leave credits, the agency shall drop those hours at the end of the employee's leave year. For the purpose of determining the reduction of leave credits under this paragraph when an employee has one or more breaks in service during a leave year, the agency shall include all hours in a nonpay status (other than nonpay status during a fractional pay period when no leave accrues) for each period of service during the leave year in which annual leave accrued.

(b) An employee who is in a nonpay status for his entire leave year does not earn leave.

(c) When a reduction in leave credits results in a debit to an employee's annual leave account at the end of a leave year, the agency shall:

(1) Carry the debit forward as a charge against the annual leave to be earned by the employee in the next leave year; or

(2) Require the employee to refund the amount paid him for the period covering the excess leave that resulted in the debit.

(d) A period covered by an employee's refund for unearned advanced leave is deemed not a nonpay status under this section.

(a) When an employee who is indebted for unearned leave is separated, the agency shall:

(1) Require him to refund the amount paid him for the period covering the leave for which he is indebted; or

(2) Deduct that amount from any pay due him.

An employee who enters active military service with a right of restoration is deemed not separated for the purpose of this paragraph.

(b) This section does not apply when an employee:

(1) Dies;

(2) Retires for disability; or

(3) Resigns or is separated because of disability which prevents him from returning to duty or continuing in the service, and which is the basis of the separation as determined by his agency on medical evidence acceptable to it.

(a) An agency may require that an employee with an uncommon tour of duty accrue and use leave on the basis of that uncommon tour of duty. The leave accrual rates for such employees shall be directly proportional (based on the number of hours in the biweekly tour of duty and the accrual rate of the corresponding leave category) to the standard leave accrual rates for employees who accrue and use leave on the basis of an 80-hour biweekly tour of duty. One hour (or appropriate fraction thereof) of leave shall be charged for each hour (or appropriate fraction thereof) of absence from the uncommon tour of duty.

(b) When an employee is converted to a different tour of duty for leave purposes, his or her leave balances shall be converted to the proper number of hours based on the proportion of hours in the new tour of duty compared to the former tour of duty.

(c) An agency shall establish an uncommon tour of duty for each firefighter compensated under part 550, subpart M, of this chapter. The uncommon tour of duty shall correspond directly to the firefighter's regular tour of duty, as defined in § 550.1302 of this chapter, so that each firefighter accrues and uses leave on the basis of that tour.

(d) In applying § 550.805(g) of this chapter, and §§ 630.306(b), and 630.310(d), the referenced number of hours for full-time employees (416 hours and 208 hours) shall be proportionally adjusted based on the percentage amount by which the number of hours in the uncommon tour of duty exceeds the number of hours in a regular full-time tour of duty. For example, if the uncommon tour of duty consists of 120 hours in a biweekly pay period instead of the 80 hours for a regular full-time employee, the percentage adjustment would be 50 percent [(120/80) − 1]; accordingly, 416 hours would be converted to 624 hours and 208 hours would be converted to 312 hours.

[59 FR 66635, Dec. 28, 1994, as amended at 63 FR 64595, Nov. 23, 1998; 67 FR 15467, Apr. 2, 2002; 85 FR 48101, Aug. 10, 2020]

(a) Authority. (1) Section 6301(2)(xi) of title 5, United States Code, authorizes the President to exclude certain Presidential appointees in the executive branch or the government of the District of Columbia from the annual and sick leave provisions of subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, and from the related provisions of this part.

(2) The President, by Executive Order 10540, as amended, has delegated to the Office of Personnel Management the responsibility for making exclusions under section 6301(2)(xi), and the Office of Personnel Management has delegated responsibility to the head of each agency consistent with the provisions of this section.

(3) Presidential appointees in positions where the rate of basic pay is equal to or exceeds the rate for level V of the Executive Schedule are already excluded from the annual and sick leave provisions by 5 U.S.C. 6301(2)(x). Therefore, no further action by an agency is necessary to exclude these appointees.

(b) Criteria for exclusions. The head of an agency may exclude an officer in the agency from the annual and sick leave provisions only if the officer meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The officer is a Presidential appointee;

(2) The officer is not a United States attorney or United States marshal; and

(3) The officer's responsibilities for carrying out the duties of the position continue outside normal duty hours and while away from the normal duty post.

(c) Revocation of exclusion. The head of an agency may revoke an exclusion from the annual and sick leave provisions which was made under this section.

(d) Reports. The head of an agency must report any exclusion, or revocation of an exclusion, authorized under this section to the Office of Personnel Management.

(e) Continuation of previous authorizations. Any officer in an agency who was excluded by action of the President or the Civil Service Commission prior to February 15, 1979, from the annual and sick leave provisions under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 6301(2)(xi) shall continue to be excluded from annual and sick leave unless the exclusion is revoked by the agency under the provisions of this section.

[44 FR 54694, Sept. 21, 1979, as amended at 56 FR 18663, Apr. 23, 1991]

(a) An employee may elect to use annual leave and remain on the agency's rolls in order to establish initial eligibility for immediate retirement under 5 U.S.C. 8336, 8412, or 8414, and/or to establish initial eligibility under 5 U.S.C. 8905 to continue health benefits coverage into retirement, as provided in:

(1) Section 351.606(b)(1) for an employee who would otherwise have been separated by reduction in force procedures under part 351 of this chapter; or

(2) Section 351.606(b)(2) of this chapter for an employee who would otherwise have been separated by adverse action procedures under authority of part 752 of this chapter because of the employee's decision to decline relocation (including transfer of function).

(b)(1) Annual leave that may be used for the purposes described in paragraph (a) of this section includes all accumulated, accrued, and restored annual leave to the employee's credit prior to the effective date of the reduction in force or relocation (including transfer of function) and annual leave earned by an employee while in a paid leave status after the effective date of the reduction in force or relocation (including transfer of function).

(2) Annual leave that is advanced to an employee under 5 U.S.C. 6302(d), including any advance annual leave that may be credited to an employee's leave account after the effective date of the reduction in force or relocation (including transfer of function), may not be used for purpose of this section.

(3) For purposes of this section, the employing agency may approve the use of any or all annual leave donated to an employee under part 630, subpart I, of this chapter (Voluntary Leave Transfer Program), or made available to the employee under part 630, subpart J, of this chapter (Voluntary Leave Bank Program), as of the effective date of the reduction in force or relocation.

[62 FR 10683, Mar. 10, 1997]