1. PURPOSE
   This notice provides the annual instruction for employees and supervisors regarding their mutual responsibility to plan and schedule annual leave throughout the leave year. This notice also provides the conditions under which forfeited annual leave may be restored, procedures to request a declaration of an exigency of the public business (e.g., operational emergency), procedures and required documents to request restoration of forfeited annual leave, and the timeframes for scheduling annual leave, compensatory time, travel compensatory time, and credit hours.
2. SCHEDULING ANNUAL LEAVE
   1. Employees are responsible for requesting and using leave to avoid forfeiture at the end of the leave year. Employees are to regularly monitor the “Projected Use or Lose” block on Form AD-334, Statement of Earnings and Leave. Leave balances are available on the Employee Personal Page of the National Finance Center’s web site and in the timekeeping system. The maximum hours of annual leave that can be carried from one leave year to the next are 240 hours for General Schedule (GS) employees, 360 hours for GS employees in overseas posts of duty, and 720 hours for employees in Senior Executive Service (SES) and Senior Leader positions).
   2. Employees (except SES) are expected to use compensatory time and credit hours before using annual leave unless doing so results in the forfeiture of excess annual leave that is not eligible for restoration. Therefore, employees are to request to use annual leave before using compensatory time, travel compensatory time or credit hours if they would otherwise forfeit annual leave.
   3. Supervisors and employees are to ensure use-or-lose annual leave is scheduled and approved prior to the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year (November 20, 2022).
      1. This scheduling requirement is established in regulation (5 CFR 630.308) and cannot be waived under any circumstances.
      2. Leave that is scheduled and approved in accordance with the scheduling requirement establishes eligibility to request restoration if any annual leave is forfeited.
      3. If supervisors are unable to approve the leave for the date(s) requested, they and their employees are to make every effort to reschedule the leave for another time during the current leave year.
      4. Employees who are designated as essential during a national emergency are deemed to have met the scheduling requirement. The Department has granted FSIS the authority to determine which employees are automatically covered by the OPM guidance. Covered employees include in-plant food inspectors, consumer safety inspectors, public health veterinarians, and laboratory employees performing bench work. Program areas with employees who volunteered for this work and were directed to perform on-line or bench work or were otherwise deemed to be essential due to COVID-19 and want to be covered by this guidance are to document the performed work in a brief memorandum signed by the Assistant Administrator and provide it to the Chief Human Capital Officer by December 31, 2022.
      5. Hours of leave that are forfeited as a result of employees voluntarily canceling their scheduled/approved annual leave are not eligible to be restored.

   4. Employees with access to the timekeeping system are to utilize the timekeeping system or follow methods acceptable to their supervisor. Employees unable to access the timekeeping system are to request leave in writing following methods acceptable to their supervisor (i.e., OPM-71, Request for Leave or Approved Absence, or other written means such as leave rosters, calendars, or memoranda). 

   5. Employees unable to use the timekeeping system are to ensure that the following information is contained in their written request for leave:

      1. Their organizational unit;
      2. The specific dates and clock hours within the assigned tour of duty for which leave is being requested;
      3. The total number of hours requested; and
      4. Their signature and date.

   6. Supervisors are to notify employees in a timely manner when approving or denying leave requests and provide a reason if leave requests are denied.

   7. Employees who began the 2022 leave year at their annual leave ceiling (i.e., 240, 360, 720 hours) are to use all annual leave earned in the new leave year by the end of the leave year, December 31, 2022, to avoid forfeiture.

3. MEETING CONDITIONS FOR RESTORATION

   1. Forfeited annual leave can be restored for any of the following reasons:

      1. Administrative error that caused the forfeiture of annual leave to be more than the carryover amount.
         
         NOTE: Math errors made by employees and timekeepers are not a basis to restore forfeited annual leave (e.g., employees in the 6-hour leave earning category who fail to account for the extra 4 hours of leave earned in the last full pay period of the calendar year).
      2. Unjustified or unwarranted personnel action that caused the forfeiture of annual leave.
      3. Illness of employees, occurring so late in the year, or of such duration that the annual leave approved prior to November 20, 2022 could not have been rescheduled for use before the end of the leave year. When sick leave extends during a period when annual leave was scheduled, and the annual leave is subsequently forfeited because of the use of sick leave, supervisors and employees are responsible for rescheduling the annual leave as described in subparagraph II.D. of this notice. Employees who are ill may elect to remain on scheduled annual leave instead of using sick leave. Forfeited annual leave can be restored because of illness when the request for restoration is supported by medical certification for the period of incapacitation.
      4. Exigency of the public business (see FSIS Directive 4630.2, Leave) when the annual leave was approved by appropriate officials in writing by November 19, 2022. Only a genuine operational emergency of such importance that FSIS cannot effectively conduct its public business will support canceling scheduled and approved annual leave. Heavy workload, such as a year-end report, is not a condition under which forfeited annual leave can be restored. A furlough because of a lack of funds or work (which results in the cancelation of scheduled leave) could constitute an exigency of the public business if employees made every effort to reschedule the use or lose annual leave and were prevented from actually taking the leave because there was insufficient time left in the leave year in which to take the leave (see 5 CFR 630.308).

   2. Supervisors and appropriate management officials are to take the following steps to document approval or denial of the exigency in writing prior to canceling scheduled and approved annual leave of their employees:

      1. Prepare an approval memo that includes the beginning and ending dates of the exigency, if applicable;
      2. Submit the approval memo to the appropriate higher-level management official for approval; and
      3. Notify employees after receiving the decision on the exigency that the approved annual leave has been canceled because of the operational emergency, and then take action to reschedule the leave for use during the current leave year, if it can be rescheduled.

   3. Supervisors and appropriate management officials are to:

      1. Document the approval or denial of the exigency in writing;
      2. Notify employees of the decision; and
      3. Maintain the paperwork documenting the exigency.

4. REQUESTS FOR RESTORATION OF FORFEITED ANNUAL LEAVE

   1. Requests for restoration of forfeited leave may be initiated by supervisory officials or employees and are to be submitted through the supervisory channels to the Chief, Human Capital Planning and Accountability Branch (HCPAB), HR Business Systems Division, Office of Human Resources, Office of Management via email to PayandLeaveGuidance@usda.gov by the end of pay period 5, March 11, 2023. Requests are to include the supervisor’s recommendation on the merits of the request and the information listed in subparagraph IV.B.

   2. Restoration requests, as described in FSIS Directive 4630.2, are to include the following information:

      1. The employee’s name, title, grade, organizational unit, and location.
      2. A leave audit covering the leave year in question that includes accurate hours of leave balances and leave forfeited. The timekeeper is to identify and take the necessary steps to correct all leave discrepancies before the leave audit is submitted to HCPAB.
      3. Details of the specific circumstances that caused the forfeiture of annual leave because of one or more of the following circumstances:
         1. Administrative error that caused the forfeiture of annual leave;
         2. Unjustified or unwarranted personnel action that caused the forfeiture of annual leave;
         3. Nature of employee’s illness that resulted in cancelation of scheduled annual leave, including the medical certification, date the illness began, and the date the employee returned to duty; and
         4. Exigency that resulted in cancelation of the scheduled leave, including the beginning and ending dates.

      4. Copies of forms or documents used to schedule or reschedule forfeited annual leave (e.g., approved leave request, leave rosters or memorandums) are to include:

         1. The date the supervisor approved the leave;
         2. The specific dates of scheduled leave and the total number of hours;
         3. Copies of the employee’s time and attendance records for the last pay period of the leave year for which leave was forfeited and the first pay period of the following leave year;
         4. The specific dates annual leave was canceled, and the total number of hours forfeited;
         5. An explanation of why annual leave could not be rescheduled and used during the leave year;
         6. An explanation of options other than cancelation of leave that were considered and rejected (e.g., reschedule leave, reassign work to other employees, and request extension of a project deadline);
         7. In cases where restoration is requested because of an exigency of public business, a copy of the paperwork documenting the exigency, and its approval by appropriate management officials. Documentation is to be approved at the time the exigency is known or expected, and before canceling the employee’s leave; and
         8. The date the leave was rescheduled.
      5. The Chief, HCPAB, is authorized to approve or deny restoration requests. Form AD-582, Authorization for Restored Annual Leave, serves as notification to employees, timekeepers, Human Resources Business Systems Division (HRBSD), and the Financial Services Center on restored leave amounts and time limits for use.

5. ADDITIONAL OPTION FOR USE-OR-LOSE ANNUAL LEAVE
   An option for employees who expect to forfeit use-or-lose annual leave is to consider donating it to an approved leave recipient under the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) or donating to the Leave Bank Program (LBP). These leave sharing programs allow Federal employees to donate annual leave for use by other Federal employees who need it because of personal or family serious health conditions or medical emergencies. Under the VLTP and LBP, Federal employees can voluntarily donate unused, accrued, or restored annual leave to other Federal employees or the leave bank at any time during the leave year. For information and instructions for donating to the VLTP and/or LBP, please contact the Financial Services Center (FSC) at FSCGeneral@usda.gov with the subject “Donating Annual Leave.” A list of current VLTP recipients can be found on the OHR Portal (Current list of approved recipients).

6. QUESTIONS
   Refer questions regarding this notice to FSISHR1@usda.gov with the subject “Restoration of Forfeited Leave” or call 877-FSIS-HR1 (877-347-7471) and select option 4.

See PDF for further information:

Attachment 1 - Flowchart for Automatic Restoration of Forfeited Leave Due to National Emergencies 

Attachment 2 - Sample

Attachment 3 - Flowchart for Requesting Declaration of Public Exigency