By Reg Jones
Disability and leave without pay
March 5th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Q. If an employee has a disability (schizophrenia), can the employee request two years of leave without pay to get away from a hostile work environment due to co-workers?
A. An employee may make such a request. Whether it would be granted would be up to the agency. Depending on the employee’s ability to provide useful and efficient service, the agency might recommend that the employee file for disability retirement instead.
Tags: disability, Disability retirement, hostile work environment, Leave without pay
Facing a hostile work environment
July 6th, 2011 | Annual leave LEAVE Leave without pay
Q: I am a 48-year-old employee with 18 years of government service in the U.S. Postal Service and the Veterans Affairs Department. I am on a two-week leave of absence due to stress from my supervisor and would like to resign without filing action so that I may find other government employment. What is the longest unpaid absence I can take so that I may try another type of employment while on unpaid leave status?
A: If you didn’t report to work, you’d be considered to be absent without leave and your agency could begin the process of separating you by adverse action. On the other hand, if you requested leave without pay (LWOP), you’d be able to do that only for as many days as had been approved by your supervisor. Once again, if you failed to report for work at the end of that time period, your supervisor could begin adverse action proceedings to separate you.
Tags: absent without leave, AWOL, hostile work environment, Leave without pay, LWOP, resignation, separation, unpaid leave