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While many federal employees will have an extra pay period in 2023 and accrue extra annual leave, it is important they understand how this may affect the “use or lose” policy for annual leave.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo on June 26 detailing how 2023 will have 27 pay periods instead of 26 pay periods.
“Most federal employees will accrue an additional four, six or eight hours of annual leave in the 2023 leave year based on each individual employee’s annual leave accrual rate,” OPM wrote. “Employees with three years but less than 15 years of service accrue 10 hours of annual leave in the last full biweekly pay period of the year.”
OPM also wrote:
“Although affected employees will earn an additional pay period’s worth of leave during the course of the 2023 leave year, the maximum carryover ceiling on annual leave still remains in effect (e.g., for most employees 240 hours, 360 hours (overseas), 720 hours (Senior Executive Service (SES) and senior level (SL) and scientific and professional (ST) employees).
As a result, agencies should advise affected employees that they will accrue an additional 4, 6, or 8 hours of annual leave in the 2023 leave year and that they must use any annual leave above the maximum leave ceiling (“use or lose“) before the final day of the leave year (January 13, 2024, for most employees).
Any accrued annual leave in excess of the maximum allowed by law will be forfeited if not used by the final day of the leave year. As provided in statute, an agency may restore annual leave that was forfeited due to an exigency of the public business or sickness of the employee only if the annual leave is scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year (i.e., by December 2, 2023).”
Annual Leave Ceilings
Maximum Annual Leave That May Be Carried Over into the New Leave Year:
* Employees stationed overseas must meet the requirements at 5 U.S.C. 6304(b) in order to receive the 45-day annual leave ceiling.
** Employees in SES/SL/ST equivalent systems, as determined by OPM, do not receive a 90-day annual leave ceiling by virtue of their being deemed by OPM to be SES/SL/ST equivalent employees.
OPM said that for further information on the dates and number of pay periods in a leave year, the agency’s payroll providers should be contacted.
To read the full memo from OPM, go here.
More information on leave dates from OPM is here.