By Reg Jones
14-day furlough, leave and service computation date
April 4th, 2013 | Annual leave DOWNSIZING furloughs LEAVE PAY RETIREMENT Sick leave
Q. If an employee is furloughed 14 days, will he or she lose annual leave time or sick leave time, or will it be as though they worked those days (hours) and were never furloughed. If an employee is furloughed 14 days, will he or she lose retirement time (i.e. will their retirement anniversary date change?)
Annual leave
April 4th, 2013 | Annual leave LEAVE PAY
Q. I will have 30 years with the Postal Service on Dec. 24. I have 450 hours of annual leave. If I were to take a voluntary downgrade — which would reduce my pay rate substantially for my last six months before retirement — would my annual leave buyout be calculated solely at my new lower rate? Or would it correspond to my pay rate when it was earned?
Leave, USPS and retirement benefits
April 2nd, 2013 | Annual leave EMPLOYMENT Leave without pay Postal Service Sick leave Uncategorized
Q. A Postal Service employee had to use all his sick and annual leave because of illness. He used leave without pay. When he retired, he was not entitled to benefits. He received only his contributions. Why did he get back only his funds and not the complete package because of LWOP? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: annual leave, annuity, Deferred annuity, Leave without pay, Postal Service, sick leave
Accrued sick leave and retirement date
April 1st, 2013 | Annual leave FERS annuity computation LEAVE RETIREMENT Retirement date Sick leave
Q. I am a FERS employee who is planning to retire at the end of the year at age 63 with 30+ years of service. I will have a large accrued sick leave balance, and also plan to accrue as many annual leave hours as possible (over and above the 240-hour carryover allowance) to cash out at retirement. I understand that the entire amount of accrued sick leave can be used to increase my time in service during the retirement calculation process but not until 2014. Does that mean I can work through the last pay period of 2013 (ending Jan. 11, 2014) and qualify for the full credit, or will I be required to work at least one pay period of 2014 to qualify for the full credit?
Furlough and leave accrual
April 1st, 2013 | Annual leave DOWNSIZING furloughs LEAVE Sick leave
Q. Will sick and annual leave accrual rates be affected by the furlough? For example, if we were furloughed two days per pay period, would we accrue only 3.2 hours of sick leave per pay period?
Leave accrual
February 23rd, 2012 | Annual leave
Q: I retired from the Air Force in 1998, after 26 years and two months of service. In September 2000 I started a civil service career; and immediately started paying the deposit of the military buyback to secure all of my military service, (completed by April 2003). I am trying to ascertain whether I should have been placed in the CSRS Offset pension program, and started acquiring eight hours annual leave per pay period. I am 57 and preparing for retirement in about three years and trying to ensure my record is accurately reflecting my benefits.
A: Because you were first employed after Dec. 31, 1987, you were automatically placed in FERS. As someone receiving military retired pay, you would only be entitled to credit for that time in determining your leave accrual rate if that pay was awarded on account of a service-connected disability either incurred in combat with an enemy of the U.S. or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war.
Tags: FERS, military buyback
Agency-to-agency sick-leave transfer
February 1st, 2012 | Annual leave LEAVE Sick leave
Q. If someone was to transfer from one federal agency to another (Postal Service to Federal Aviation Administration), would his annual leave and sick leave carry over?
A. Yes.
Annual leave decision out of employee’s hands
January 17th, 2012 | Annual leave LEAVE RETIREMENT
Q. I am in the Senior Executive Service and am eligible to retire in March. I will have over 700 hours of accumulated annual leave at that time. Is there a straightforward way of calculating whether it makes more sense to take a lump-sum payment in March or remain in the government and take several months of annual leave before resigning. In addition to extending my time in service by a few months, are there other factors I should consider when deciding which course to take?
A. You start with the assumption that you have a choice about whether to retire and take a lump-sum payment for your unused annual leave or take annual leave and stay on the rolls until the leave runs out. Well, you don’t. The government makes no provision for what in the military is called terminal leave. Further, your agency would be daft to allow you to occupy a position unproductively for that length of time. If they need that position, they’d want to fill it as soon as possible. If they don’t need it, they’d want to abolish it as soon as possible.
Annual leave payment
December 21st, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I am a letter carrier who is eligible for retirement. What is the maximum amount of annual leave I can receive as a lump-sum payment?
A: You can receive a lump-sum payment for a maximum of 440 hours.
Tags: Postal Service, RETIREMENT
Annual leave hours
December 20th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: According to an OPM chart, the Annual Leave Year for 2012 begins on Jan. 1, 2012, and ends Jan. 12, 2013. If I am counting correctly, that is 27 pay periods. Is this correct? What will be the maximum number of annual leave hours an employee can accrue for Annual Leave Year 2012?
A: As always, the maximum number of annual leave hours you can accrue is the amount you earn during all the pay periods in a leave year. However, with rare exception, the maximum number of hours a nonpostal employee can carry over to the next leave year is 240.
Tags: annual leave
Leave carryover cap
November 1st, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: In a recent response you stated: “Most of you do get paid for all your unused annual leave if you retire before the end of the leave year; however, if you are an employee of the U.S. Postal Service, the amount of leave for which you can be paid is capped.” What is the cap as a postal service employee? And my maximum leave carryover is 440. If I carry over the max, and then earn another 80 hours prior to my retirement date, am I only paid for the 440 max carryover, or do I get paid for the full 520 hours of unused leave?
A: The maximum annual leave carryover for postal bargaining unit employees is 440 hours. For Executive Administrative Schedule employees it’s 560 hours. While either can receive a lump-sum payment for accumulated annual leave carried over from the previous year and accrued annual leave during the year, the total for which payment will be made cannot exceed their maximum: 440 or 560 hours. Any hours beyond those maximums are lost.
Tags: Postal Service
Annual leave and separation
November 1st, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I am thinking about leaving federal service after 18 years and will have at least 240 hours of annual leave accrued. I do not want to cash it out and prefer to leave it should I choose to return to federal service. May I do that?
A: No.
Tags: annual leave, retire
Substituting leave
October 7th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I am a FERS employee and I have an excess of 23 days of use or lose annual leave. I just took three days off of unscheduled sick leave. Can I use my “use or lose annual leave” instead of using up my sick leave so I can eventually put my sick leave toward my retirement service computation date? I understand that the laws have changed and that now sick leave will be credited toward retirement in FERS and not just in CSRS only.
A: You can ask your supervisor to change the leave from sick to annual. As for the change in crediting sick leave, you’ll only receive half credit for that leave in your annuity unless you retire in 2013.
Tags: FERS, sick leave
Unused leave
September 30th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I am a CSRS Air Force employee with more than 37 years of civil service. I am considering retiring on Dec. 31. Can I cash in more than 30 days annual leave when I retire, or do I need to use everything over 30 days annual leave prior to my retirement date to keep from losing it? Will the payment of annual leave be paid in the 2012 tax year? Would I qualify for the buyouts the Air Force is about to offer with the same retirement benefits as if I retired Dec. 31?
A: As long as you retire no later than December 31, the end of the leave year, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment for all your unused annual leave.
Tags: CSRS, RETIREMENT
Retirement date
September 27th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: Does it make a difference if I retire on Dec. 31? I question it because Dec. 31 starts pay-period 2 and I want to cash in my annual leave without losing the amount over the maximum carryover.
A: You are mistaken. The 2011 leave year for non-Postal Service employees ends on Dec. 31. The new leave year begins Jan. 1.
Tags: retire
Leaving service
September 20th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I am a Senior Executive Service member and will be eligible to retire under FERS/Law Enforcement Retirement in December 2012. However, my family would like to move from the Washington D.C. area prior to that time. Can I apply my accrued Annual Leave to leave earlier? I will have approximately two to three months of annual leave to apply.
A: There is no provision in law or regulation that would allow you to do that.
Tags: annual leave, FERS
Annual leave
August 2nd, 2011 | Annual leave LEAVE
Q. After working 26 years for the Postal Service, I transferred to the Defense Department. Postal Service employees have a higher annual leave carryover limit than other federal sectors. I currently have 466 hours of annual leave and the max carryover for DoD is 240. Will I lose all annual leave hours in excess of 240 if not used by Dec. 31?
A: According to OPM, “The Postal Service Reorganization Act provides that an employee transferring between the USPS and other agencies may not lose benefits if the employee transfers without a break in service. The employee is entitled to carry over the higher leave ceiling that he or she had at the USPS. All 466 hours of annual leave will transfer to DoD and only the hours in excess of his or her USPS ceiling will be subject to use or lose.
“An employee transferring from USPS is entitled to the maximum carryover ceiling (personal leave ceiling) provided by USPS upon transfer to another agency. The employee is entitled to the higher carryover ceiling unless the employee’s annual leave balance is reduced at the end of the leave year. Any reduction in the annual leave balance at the end of the leave year will result in a lower personal leave ceiling, and the employee’s personal leave ceiling will be subject to change until it is reduced to the 240-hour ceiling provided in title 5 of the United States Code.
“In your example, the employee’s USPS leave ceiling will serve as the employee’s personal leave ceiling. So if the 466 hours of annual leave is within the employee’s USPS leave ceiling, that will be the employee’s personal leave ceiling as an employee of DoD. The employee’s personal leave ceiling will continue to reduce anytime the employee’s annual leave account has less than that amount at the end of the leave year. As long as the employee’s annual leave balance is under his USPS ceiling at the end of this leave year (December 31, 2011, for this leave year), that will be his or her new personal leave ceiling.’
Tags: leave carryover, USPS
Carryover ceiling
July 28th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: After working 26 years for the U.S. Postal Service, I transferred to the Defense Department. Postal service employees have a higher annual leave carryover limit than other federal sectors. I have 466 hours of annual leave and the max carry-over for DoD is 240. Will I lose all annual leave hours in excess of 240 if not used by December 31st?
A: According to OPM, “The Postal Service Reorganization Act provides that an employee transferring between the USPS and other agencies may not lose benefits if the employee transfers without a break in service. The employee is entitled to carry over the higher leave ceiling that he or she had at the USPS. All 466 hours of annual leave will transfer to DoD and only the hours in excess of his or her USPS ceiling will be subject to use or lose.
“An employee transferring from USPS is entitled to the maximum carryover ceiling (personal leave ceiling) provided by USPS upon transfer to another agency. The employee is entitled to the higher carryover ceiling unless the employee’s annual leave balance is reduced at the end of the leave year. Any reduction in the annual leave balance at the end of the leave year will result in a lower personal leave ceiling, and the employee’s personal leave ceiling will be subject to change until it is reduced to the 240-hour ceiling provided in title 5 of the United States Code.”
In your example, the employee’s USPS leave ceiling will serve as the employee’s personal leave ceiling. So if the 466 hours of annual leave is within the employee’s USPS leave ceiling, that will be the employee’s personal leave ceiling as an employee of DoD. The employee’s personal leave ceiling will continue to reduce anytime the employee’s annual leave account has less than that amount at the end of the leave year. As long as the employee’s annual leave balance is under his USPS ceiling at the end of this leave year (Dec. 31 for this leave year), that will be his or her new personal leave ceiling.
Tags: annual leave, Postal Service
Paid annual leave
July 26th, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I have a question on paid annual leave upon retirement. I will be 59 years and 8 months old and has 37 years seven months on the target retirement date of Dec. 31. I only earned 33 quarters and to earn more credit on Social Security, can paid annual leave be considered as Social Security income for the year 2012, since the paid annual leave is not included as CSRS income for the year 2011? If so, what is the procedure to report it as Social Security income? And will this only be applied at the end of the year of retirement or it can be considered in any month of the year?
A: No, your paid annual leave cannot be used to get Social Security credits. Only earnings from wages or self employment that are subject to Social Security taxes can secure those credits.
Tags: annual leave, CSRS
Annual leave
July 22nd, 2011 | Annual leave
Q: I will have approximately 372 hours of annual leave on the books prior to my retirement date Oct. 31. Can I take all of my leave at once prior to my retirement date, or do I have to accept a lump-sum payment?
A: The civilian federal government doesn’t provide for terminal leave. Therefore, you can only use your annual leave in that manner if it is appoved by your supervisor.
Tags: RETIREMENT