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Federal employees have option to donate leave

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Federal civilian employees have until Jan. 4, 2020, to use annual leave exceeding the carryover limit.

According to the Office of Personnel Management website, ‘use or lose’ annual leave, which is the amount in excess of the carryover limit [typically 240 hours], is generally forfeited if not used by the end of the final pay period.

The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program may be an alternative for those unable to use all of their annual leave.

“The program allows federal civilian employees to donate annual leave to other federal civilian employees who are experiencing personal or family medical emergencies,” said Carmen Aguiar, 66th Force Support Squadron human resource specialist, who manages the program at Hanscom.

Eligible employees must exhaust all of their accrued or paid sick and annual leave before they are eligible to apply for donated hours.

“To be eligible to receive leave, employees must submit an application to a first-level supervisor,” said Aguiar.

According to program officials, employees must also provide a description of the hardship along with documentation from a health care provider and consent to the release of this information to those involved in the review process.

“The supervisor determines if the employee’s absence from duty without available paid leave will result in a substantial loss of income to the employee because of the unavailability of paid leave,” Aguiar said.

Once the supervisor approves the employee’s application, Civilian Personnel reviews and approves the application.

Personnel may submit their application anonymously, but Aguiar cautions that doing so might limit donations.

While there is flexibility in the donation process, Aguiar said there are some restrictions.

“The maximum amount of leave someone can donate to another employee is no more than one-half of the amount of annual leave someone would be entitled to earn during the leave year,” she said. “In addition, an immediate supervisor is not allowed to receive donated leave from a subordinate employee.”

For more information about donating leave or qualifying to be a recipient of leave donation, contact your local human resources team for options.