Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-102

§6337 Accrual of Leave

Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart E — Attendance and Leave › CHAPTER 63 — LEAVE › SUBCHAPTER III — VOLUNTARY TRANSFERS OF LEAVE › § 6337

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employees using transferred leave keep earning annual and sick leave at the same rate as if they were on regular paid leave, but the extra leave they can earn for any single medical emergency is limited to 5 days of annual leave and 5 days of sick leave. Leave earned while on transferred leave goes into a separate leave account and cannot be used until it is moved into the employee’s regular leave account. Paid leave status under subchapter I: when an employee is on regular sick or annual leave. Transferred leave status: when an employee is using leave given under this program. The separate leave is moved into the regular account at the start of the first pay period after the medical emergency ends, or sooner if the employee uses all transferred leave first. If the emergency ends in the special way described in the rules, any untransferred leave is not credited, and any leave already made available because the employee exhausted transferred leave stops being available. For a continuing medical emergency, more donated leave can be transferred later after the accrued leave is used up.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §6337

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)For the purpose of this section—
(1)the term “paid leave status under subchapter I”, as used with respect to an employee, means the administrative status of such employee while such employee is using sick leave, or annual leave, accrued or accumulated under subchapter I; and
(2)the term “transferred leave status”, as used with respect to an employee, means the administrative status of such employee while such employee is using transferred leave under this subchapter.
(b)(1)Except as otherwise provided in this section, while an employee is in a transferred leave status, annual leave and sick leave shall accrue to the credit of such employee at the same rate as if such employee were then in a paid leave status under subchapter I, except that—
(A)the maximum amount of annual leave which may be accrued by an employee while in transferred leave status in connection with any particular medical emergency may not exceed 5 days; and
(B)the maximum amount of sick leave which may be accrued by an employee while in transferred leave status in connection with any particular medical emergency may not exceed 5 days.
(2)Any annual or sick leave accrued by an employee under this section—
(A)shall be credited to an annual leave or sick leave account, as appropriate, separate from any leave account of such employee under subchapter I; and
(B)shall not become available for use by such employee, and may not otherwise be taken into account under subchapter I, until, in accordance with subsection (c), it is transferred to the appropriate leave account of such employee under subchapter I.
(c)(1)Any annual or sick leave accrued by an employee under this section shall be transferred to the appropriate leave account of such employee under subchapter I, and shall be available for use—
(A)as of the beginning of the first applicable pay period beginning after the date on which the employee’s medical emergency terminates as described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 6335(a); or
(B)if the employee’s medical emergency has not yet terminated, once the employee has exhausted all transferred leave made available to such employee under this subchapter.
(2)In the event that the employee’s medical emergency terminates as described in section 6335(a)(3)—
(A)any leave accrued but not yet transferred under this section shall not be credited to such employee; or
(B)if there remains, as of the date the emergency so terminates, any leave which became available to such employee under paragraph (1)(B), such leave shall cease to be available for any purpose.
(d)Nothing in this section shall be considered to prevent, with respect to a continuing medical emergency, further transfers of leave for use after leave accrued under this section has been exhausted by the employee.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1993—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 103–103 amended subsec. (c) generally and added subsec. (d). Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: “(1) Any annual or sick leave accrued by an employee under this section shall be transferred to the appropriate leave account of such employee under subchapter I, effective as of the beginning of the first applicable pay period beginning after the date on which the employee’s medical emergency terminates as described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 6335(a). “(2) If the employee’s medical emergency terminates as described in section 6335(a)(3), no leave shall be credited to such employee under this section.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1993 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–103 effective as of the 120th day after Oct. 8, 1993, or such earlier date as the Office of Personnel Management may by regulation prescribe, see section 6 of Pub. L. 103–103, set out as a note under section 6331 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 6337

Title 5, Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102