A program that allows eligible employees to become members by donating the required number of annual leave hours to a pooled fund. Eligible members can request leave from the bank to cover approved absences due to personal or family-related medical emergencies.

A program that allows eligible employees to apply for donated annual leave to cover absences due to personal or family-related medical emergencies.

Both are leave sharing programs that depend on generous annual leave donations to provide paid leave to employees experiencing personal and/or family-related medical emergencies. The primary difference is that the VLTP requires a direct donation from the donor to the recipient, while under the LBP, donations go into a pool or bank and are distributed by the Leave Bank board.

Under the VLTP, donors must specify people for leave donations. Not all recipients approved for the VLTP receive sufficient donations to cover their absences. Under the LBP, all donations go into a central bank and the donated hours are available to all LBP members who are approved to be leave recipients.

Yes.

Yes. However, the leave from the bank will be provided to the employee before donations from the VLTP. If there is not sufficient leave in the bank to cover the employee’s medical absence, donations from the VLTP will then be transferred to the employee for use during the medical emergency.

Full-time and part-time FSIS employees who are eligible to earn leave.

Eligible employees donate the minimum hours of annual leave as described in the annual FSIS Notice announcing open enrollment. New employees and employees returning from an extended absence may enroll within 30 days of their EOD date with FSIS, or their return to duty from an extended absence, respectively.  

Yes. If an applicant does not have sufficient leave to make the membership contribution, they may request a waiver from the minimum enrollment contribution requirement. Waiver requests should explain the reason the employee does not have sufficient leave (e.g., the employee has exhausted all available leave due to a medical condition, or the employee is currently a recipient under VLTP) and should be sent to LeaveBankProgram@usda.gov.

You can enroll in the LBP during the annual open enrollment period that coincides with the annual Federal Employee Health Benefits open season, or within 30 days of your EOD or return to duty after an extended absence. If the LBP board determines that not enough leave is being donated to the Bank, they may establish an additional open enrollment period.

Membership is for 1 year and begins the first pay period of the leave year and ends on the last day of the leave year. Since all memberships terminate at the end of the leave year, the membership period would be less than 1 year for an employee who enters on duty with FSIS after the start of the leave year.

Membership is automatically renewed each year for current members. The minimum leave contribution is deducted from your leave balance during open enrollment. If you choose not to join the LBP the next leave year, you must opt out of the program by November 30 prior to the next leave year.

Yes, but only during an open enrollment period.

No.

Yes. You may donate up to one-half of the leave you are projected to earn during the leave year.

Any full-time or part-time federal employee who earns leave.

• Spouse, and parents thereof;
• Sons and daughters, and spouses thereof;
• Parents, and spouses thereof;
• Brothers and sisters, and spouses thereof;
• Grandparents and grandchildren, and spouses thereof;
• Domestic partner and parents thereof; including domestic partners of a spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren; and
• Any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is equivalent of a family relationship.

You must:

1. Be a current LBP member;
2. Be experiencing a qualifying medical emergency, in which you are currently or projected to be in a non-pay (or advanced leave) status for at least 24 hours; and
3. Complete and submit an LBP recipient package to the LBP Coordinator at the time of the medical emergency, but no later than 60 calendar days following the termination of the medical emergency at LeaveBankProgram@usda.gov.

You must:

1. Be experiencing a qualifying medical emergency, in which you are currently or projected to be in a non-pay (or advanced leave) status for at least 24 hours; and    
2. Complete and submit a VLTP form along with supporting medical documentation to the VLTP Coordinator, no later than 60 calendar days following the termination of the medical emergency at premiumpayandleave@usda.gov.

You will be notified within 10 business days of receiving the completed application. The decision notification will include the pay periods you are approved to use donated leave. For recipients under the LBP, your decision notification will also include the number of hours you will receive from the bank. If your recipient request is denied, you may appeal that decision. Information on the appeal process will be provided with the decision notification.

Under VLTP, you may discuss the denial with the VLTP Coordinator or the Branch Chief, Human Capital Planning and Accountability Branch, Human Resources Business Systems Division, Office of Human Resources.

Under LBP, you may directly appeal to the LBP board following the instructions provided in the denial letter. The LBP board may request a 3rd party review by Federal Occupational Health on a case-by-case basis.

NOTE: If there is insufficient leave in the bank, recipients may be approved for direct employee donations only. Denials due to insufficient annual leave in the bank cannot be appealed.

Bargaining unit employees must follow the negotiated grievance procedures.

When you discuss applying for disability retirement with your Benefits Specialist, you should inform them that you are an approved leave recipient. This information is important to share with the Benefits Specialist because leave donations can adversely impact your entitlements to retroactive pay if you are approved for disability retirement.

Unused hours are returned to the leave bank once your medical emergency has ended.

Being on leave restriction does not preclude you from applying for donated leave under the leave share programs.

No, federal regulations prohibit employees from donating sick leave to leave share programs or to individual recipients.

No, by law, donations to a leave bank or to a leave recipient may not be returned to the donor after the donation has been processed.

Your membership in the LBP is automatically cancelled if you resign, retire, transfer to another federal agency, or pass away. The cancellation is effective the day of the action and there is no refund of the membership contribution or leave donation.

Yes, a recipient’s status may be terminated for reasons associated with:

• Fraud, such as falsifying medical documentation;
• Agency’s inability to verify leave used or an employee’s refusal to cooperate with efforts to verify leave usage;
• Falsifying time and attendance information; or
• Using donated leave for absences unrelated to the medical emergency for which the recipient was approved.

NOTE: Falsifying or altering any government or medical document(s) may lead to disciplinary action, including suspension from work or termination of employment.

A request to become a leave recipient is not a request to be absent on leave. The applicant must obtain approval for the time off from work for the medical emergency, according to the standard procedures for requesting leave. If the employee has received approval to be absent from work and has received donated leave from one of the leave share programs, you are to approve the use of the donated leave for the time the employee is in an approved leave status for the medical emergency.

No, there is no requirement to invoke FMLA to receive donated leave under any of the leave share programs.

No, you are not obligated to approve the employee’s annual leave request.

Yes. You can donate use or lose annual leave to the leave bank but must do so no later than the last day of the pay period of the leave year.

Yes, an approved recipient must first exhaust all available paid leave before donated leave can be used.

Paid leave includes:

• Annual Leave
• Sick Leave
• Restored Annual Leave