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

Summary

Employees can ask their agency to receive donated leave. The request must go to the employee’s agency and give the recipient’s name, job title, and pay level, explain why the leave is needed (including how serious it is, how long it may last, and how often it happens if it recurs), and any other information the agency reasonably asks for. If the agency asks for doctor or expert notes, those must be included. If the agency requires two or more expert opinions, the agency 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, but the employee must first use any available annual and sick leave they already have. An exception applies to 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, but only while they keep getting treatment and for no more than 5 years from the start of that treatment. Donated leave can build up without normal caps and can be used retroactively for unpaid leave or to repay advanced leave that began on or after the employer’s stated start date of the medical emergency. Combat-related disability: meaning given in 10 U.S.C. 1413a(e). Medical treatment: meaning defined by 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