Washington, DC
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Leave Claim Decision
Under section 3702 of title 31, United States Code
Department of the Air Force
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
Damon B. Ford
Compensation and Leave Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance
09/11/2018
Date
The claimant is employed by the 355th Civil Engineer Squadron, Department of the Air Force (AF), at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona. He seeks the restoration of 121 forfeited annual leave hours for the 2016 leave year. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received the claim request on July 20, 2017, and the agency administrative report (AAR) on November 17, 2017. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.
In his claim request, the claimant includes a copy of a leave restoration request that was submitted to the servicing personnel office regarding the claimant by his supervisor. However, the personnel office staff member assigned the request could not “endorse” it because the required documentation listed in Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-815 was not provided. The claimant’s subsequent appeal to AF was denied. He states he was unable to use his annual leave in excess of the amount allowable in leave year 2016 because he was assigned multiple site surveys “for potential mission changes/increases and new missions” for the AFB and was not told he needed to schedule his annual leave subject to forfeiture in the time system. The claimant submitted a copy of a “Bullet Background Paper,” which lists his site survey assignments from May to October 2016. He alleges the memorandum provided by his previous supervisor meets the AFI36-815 requirements and supports his assertion that restoration of his leave was improperly denied.
The agency denial regarding the claimant’s leave restoration request states his previous supervisor’s memorandum does not provide documentation covering all of the required elements listed in AFI36-815 for leave restoration due to an exigency of the service. The elements are: (1) the specific beginning and ending dates of the exigency period, (2) the dates and number of hours scheduled which must be cancelled and when his leave was scheduled and approved, (3) a description of the exigency showing that it was of such importance that he could not be excused from duty, (4) a statement as to why there was no alternative to cancellation of the scheduled leave and why use of the leave could not be rescheduled during the remainder of the leave year, and (5) the designated official renders a decision on the request and returns it through the servicing personnel office to the originating supervisor. The decision states the claimant did not provide supporting documentation showing he scheduled his excess annual leave. It also states he could have scheduled his excess leave after completing his site survey assignments in early October 2016, through the end of the leave year in early January 2017. In response, the claimant states he did schedule some of his leave during this time frame but could not schedule all of it due to the assignment of a new supervisor.
Under title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), Chapter 63, section 6304, a Federal employee may accrue and carry over a maximum of 30 days annual leave into the next leave year. Accumulated annual leave is forfeited when it exceeds the maximum amount and is not used before the end of a leave year. Section 6304(d)(1) specifies forfeited annual leave may be restored when it was lost because of administrative error, or when the leave was scheduled in advance and was lost because of the exigencies of the public business or the sickness of the employee. OPM leave regulations at title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section 630.308(a) require that, before forfeited annual leave may be considered for restoration, use of the annual leave must have been scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year. AFI36-815, effective July 8, 2015, states:
4.4. Scheduling Annual Leave to Avoid Forfeiture. Employees should take positive action before the beginning of the third full pay period prior to the end of leave year to schedule or reschedule canceled leave so as to avoid situations where employees approach end of leave year with a significant amount of annual leave that must be used or forfeited.
4.4.1 Written leave schedules should be used to certify required scheduling was accomplished when requesting restoration of forfeited annual leave.
4.4.2 When employees choose not to request or use annual leave to avoid forfeiture, they are not entitled to have forfeited leave restored for later use.
AFI36-815, 4.5.4., also states:
Requests for annual leave must be submitted to approving official in writing on OPM 71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence, or by using an approved automated timekeeping system, unless otherwise prescribed by a collective bargaining agreement.
The documentation submitted by the claimant fails to show that the forfeited annual leave was scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of leave year 2016, i.e., requested and approved, as required by statute and regulation. Thus, further inquiry is unnecessary with regard to whether the claimant’s annual leave was canceled due to exigencies of the service since the documentation submitted by the claimant fails to meet the statutory requirements at 5 U.S.C. 6304(d)(1), regulatory requirements at CFR 630.308(a), and agency leave administration requirements in AFI36-815. Accordingly, the claim for restoration of forfeited annual leave is denied.
This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the claimant’s right to bring an action in an appropriate United States court.