§6333 — Title 5 Government Organization and Employees | U.S. Code

Summary

To get donated leave, an employee or someone acting for them must send an application to their agency. The form must say who the person is (name, job title, and pay level) and explain why they need donated leave, including how serious the medical problem is, how long it will last, and how often it happens if it is recurring. If the agency asks, the application must include one or more doctors’ or experts’ notes and any other reasonable information the agency asks for. If the agency requires two or more expert notes, it must pay or reimburse so the employee does not have to pay for more than one. The agency must approve or deny the request in writing within 10 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or legal public holidays. Donated annual leave can be used like regular annual leave under section 6303, but the employee must first use any of their own available annual and sick leave before using donated leave. The one exception is a service member with a combat-related disability who is getting medical treatment; that person may use donated leave without first using their own leave while they are treated, but no longer than 5 years from the start of that treatment. Transferred annual leave can build up even if normal caps under section 6304 would stop it. Donated leave can also be applied retroactively to cover unpaid leave or to pay back advanced leave that began on or after the agency’s chosen start date for the medical emergency. Definitions: “combat-related disability” means what 10 U.S.C. 1413a(e) defines, and “medical treatment” is defined by rules from the Office of Personnel Management.

Title 5, §6333

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)An application to receive donations of leave under this subchapter, whether submitted by or on behalf of an employee—

(A)shall be submitted to the employing agency of the proposed leave recipient; and

(B)shall include—

(i)the name, position title, and grade or pay level of the proposed leave recipient;

(ii)the reasons why transferred leave is needed, including a brief description of the nature, severity, anticipated duration, and, if it is a recurring one, the approximate frequency of the medical emergency involved;

(iii)if the employing agency so requires, certification from 1 or more physicians, or other appropriate experts, with respect to any matter under clause (ii); and

(iv)any other information which the employing agency may reasonably require.

(2)If an agency requires that an employee obtain certification under paragraph (1)(B)(iii) from 2 or more sources, the agency shall ensure, either by direct payment to the expert involved or by reimbursement, that the employee is not required to pay for the expenses associated with obtaining certification from more than 1 of such sources.

(3)An employing agency shall approve or disapprove an application of a proposed leave recipient for leave under this subchapter, and, to the extent practicable, shall notify the proposed leave recipient (or other person acting on behalf of the proposed recipient, if appropriate) of the decision of the agency, in writing, within 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after receiving such application.

(b)(1)A leave recipient may use annual leave received under this subchapter in the same manner and for the same purposes as if such leave recipient had accrued that leave under section 6303, except that any annual leave, and any sick leave, accrued or accumulated by the leave recipient and available for the purpose involved must be exhausted before any transferred annual leave may be used.

(2)(A)The requirement under paragraph (1) relating to exhaustion of annual and sick leave shall not apply in the case of a leave recipient who—

(i)sustains a combat-related disability while a member of the armed forces, including a reserve component of the armed forces; and

(ii)is undergoing medical treatment for that disability.

(B)Subparagraph (A) shall apply to a member described in such subparagraph only so long as the member continues to undergo medical treatment for the disability, but in no event for longer than 5 years from the start of such treatment.

(C)For purposes of this paragraph—

(i)the term “combat-related disability” has the meaning given such term by section 1413a(e) of title 10; and

(ii)the term “medical treatment” has such meaning as the Office of Personnel Management shall by regulation prescribe.

(c)Transferred annual leave—

(1)may accumulate without regard to any limitation under section 6304; and

(2)may be substituted retroactively for any period of leave without pay, or used to liquidate an indebtedness for any period of advanced leave, which began on or after a date fixed by the employing agency of the employee as the beginning of the medical emergency involved.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–181 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 Amendment Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title XVI, § 1675(b), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 484, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 28, 2008], except that, in the case of a leave recipient who is undergoing medical treatment on such date of enactment, section 6333(b)(2)(B) of title 5, United States Code (as amended by this section) shall be applied as if it had been amended by inserting ‘or the date of the enactment of this subsection [probably should be “paragraph”], whichever is later’ after ‘the start of such treatment’.”

§6333 Receipt and use of transferred leave