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Leave Transfer
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
An employee may donate annual leave directly to another Federal employee who has a personal or family medical emergency and who has exhausted his or her available paid leave. Each agency must administer a voluntary leave transfer program for its employees. There is no limit on the amount of donated annual leave a leave recipient may receive from the leave donor(s). However, any unused donated leave must be returned to the leave donor(s) when the medical emergency ends.
Leave RecipientA potential leave recipient’s employing agency must determine that a full-time employee’s absence from duty without available paid leave because of the medical emergency is (or is expected to be) at least 24 hours. For part-time employees or employees on uncommon tours of duty, the period of absence without paid leave is prorated. An employee may receive donated annual leave when he or she becomes an approved leave recipient.
Limitations on Leave DonationsIn any leave year, an employee may donate not more than one-half of the amount of annual leave he or she would accrue during a leave year. For employees with “use or lose” annual leave, the employee may donate the lesser of one-half of the annual leave he or she would accrue in a leave year or the number of hours remaining in the leave year for which the employee is scheduled to work and receive pay.
Set-Aside AccountsWhile using donated leave, a leave recipient can accrue no more than 40 hours of annual leave and 40 hours of sick leave in “set-aside accounts.” The leave in the “set-aside accounts” will be transferred to the employee’s regular leave accounts when the medical emergency ends or if the employee exhausts all donated leave.
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