• Be a current full-time or part-time FSIS employee, and
• Be experiencing severe adverse effects of a major disaster or emergency.

• To apply to become a recipient, an employee submits Form OPM 1637, Application to Become a Leave Recipient Under the Emergency Leave Transfer Program, to premiumpayandleave@usda.gov.
• Upon receipt of a complete and accurate recipient form, the processing timeline is typically 10 business days.
• Once approved, recipients can receive up to 240 hours of donated leave at any one time. Donations are distributed on a first-come first-served basis and depend on the number of hours that have been donated and the number of recipients approved.

An approved recipient is not required to exhaust their accrued annual and sick leave before receiving donated annual leave under the ELTP. Any donated annual leave an emergency leave recipient receives from an ELTP may be used only for purposes related to the disaster or emergency for which the emergency leave recipient was approved.

Annual leave transferred under the ELTP to a leave recipient may be -

• Substituted retroactively for any period of leave without pay used because of the disaster or emergency; or
• Used to liquidate an indebtedness incurred by the emergency leave recipient for advanced annual or sick leave used because of the disaster or emergency. The Agency may advance annual or sick leave, as appropriate (even if the employee has available annual and sick leave), so that the emergency leave recipient is not forced to use accrued leave before donated annual leave becomes available.

Annual leave transferred under the ELTP to a leave recipient may not be -

• Included in a lump-sum payment;
• Recredited to a former employee who is reemployed by a federal agency; or
• Used to establish initial eligibility for immediate retirement or acquire eligibility to continue health benefits into retirement.

Employees may donate directly to the ELTP but may not donate to a specific ELTP recipient. All donations received are placed in a pool and donations are distributed to approved ELTP recipients.

• Donations can be made by either:
  • Using the timekeeping system, or
  • Emailing Form OPM 1638, Request to Donate Annual Leave Under the Emergency Leave Transfer Program directly to the Financial Services Center at FSCGeneral@usda.gov.

A leave donor may not contribute less than 1 hour nor more than 104 hours of annual leave in a leave year to an ELTP. Annual leave donated to an ELTP may not be applied against the limitations on the donation of annual leave under the voluntary leave transfer or leave bank programs.

An emergency leave recipient using donated annual leave continues to accrue annual and sick leave at the same rate as if the employee were in a paid leave status, and the employee's annual leave will be subject to the annual leave ceiling.

The disaster or emergency affecting the emergency leave recipient terminates at the earliest occurrence of the one of the following conditions:

• When USDA determines that the disaster or emergency has terminated;
• When the employee's federal service terminates;
• At the end of the biweekly pay period in which the employee, or their personal representative, notifies OHR that they are no longer affected by the disaster or emergency;
• At the end of the biweekly pay period in which OHR, after giving the employee or their personal representative written notice and an opportunity to answer orally or in writing, that the employee is no longer affected by the disaster or emergency; or
• At the end of the biweekly pay period in which OHR receives notice that OPM has approved an application for disability retirement for the emergency leave recipient under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Upon termination of a disaster or emergency:

• Any unused annual leave donated to the ELTP must be returned by the employing agency to the emergency leave donors, and if any annual leave was donated by leave banks, it must be returned to those banks;
• Each agency must determine the amount of annual leave to be restored to any leave bank and/or to each of the emergency leave donors who, on the date leave restoration is made, are employed in the federal service. The amount of unused annual leave to be returned to each emergency leave donor and/or leave bank must be proportional to the amount of annual leave donated by the employee or the leave bank to the ELTP for the disaster or emergency;
• Unused annual leave remaining after the distribution that exceeds the leave ceiling is forfeited if not used by the end of the leave year; and
• Annual leave donated to an ELTP for a specific disaster or emergency may not be transferred to another ELTP established for a different disaster or emergency.

The emergency leave donor may choose to have the Agency restore unused donated annual leave by crediting the restored annual leave to their annual leave account in either the current leave year or on the first pay period of the following leave year. Donors designate their preference on their donation forms.