U.S. Code > Title 5 Government Organization and Employees > PART III—EMPLOYEES (§§ 2101—10210) > Subpart E—Attendance and Leave (§§ 6101—6506) > CHAPTER 63—LEAVE (§§ 6301—6391) > SUBCHAPTER I—ANNUAL AND SICK LEAVE (§§ 6301—6312) > § 6304. Annual leave; accumulation

§ 6304. Annual leave; accumulation

(a) Except as provided by subsections (b), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of this section, annual leave provided by section 6303 of this title, which is not used by an employee, accumulates for use in succeeding years until it totals not more than 30 days at the beginning of the first full biweekly pay period, or corresponding period for an employee who is not paid on the basis of biweekly pay periods, occurring in a year.
(b) Annual leave not used by an employee of the Government of the United States in one of the following classes of employees stationed outside the United States accumulates for use in succeeding years until it totals not more than 45 days at the beginning of the first full biweekly pay period, or corresponding period for an employee who is not paid on the basis of biweekly pay periods, occurring in a year:
(1) Individuals directly recruited or transferred by the Government of the United States from the United States or its territories or possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for employment outside the area of recruitment or from which transferred.
(2) Individuals employed locally but—
(A)
(i) who were originally recruited from the United States or its territories or possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico but outside the area of employment;
(ii) who have been in substantially continuous employment by other agencies of the United States, United States firms, interests, or organizations, international organizations in which the United States participates, or foreign governments; and
(iii) whose conditions of employment provide for their return transportation to the United States or its territories or possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; or
(B)
(i) who were at the time of employment temporarily absent, for the purpose of travel or formal study, from the United States, or from their respective places of residence in its territories or possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
(ii) who, during the temporary absence, have maintained residence in the United States or its territories or possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico but outside the area of employment.
(3) Individuals who are not normally residents of the area concerned and who are discharged from service in the armed forces to accept employment with an agency of the Government of the United States.
(c) Annual leave in excess of the amount allowable—
(1) under subsection (a) or (b) of this section which was accumulated under earlier statute; or
(2) under subsection (a) of this section which was accumulated under subsection (b) of this section by an employee who becomes subject to subsection (a) of this section;
remains to the credit of the employee until used. The excess annual leave is reduced at the beginning of the first full biweekly pay period, or corresponding period for an employee who is not paid on the basis of biweekly pay periods, occurring in a year, by the amount of annual leave the employee used during the preceding year in excess of the amount which accrued during that year, until the employee’s accumulated leave does not exceed the amount allowed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section, as appropriate.
(d)
(1) Annual leave which is lost by operation of this section because of—
(A) administrative error when the error causes a loss of annual leave otherwise accruable after June 30, 1960;
(B) exigencies of the public business when the annual leave was scheduled in advance; or
(C) sickness of the employee when the annual leave was scheduled in advance;
shall be restored to the employee.
(2) Annual leave restored under paragraph (1) of this subsection, or under clause (2) of section 5562 (a) of this title, which is in excess of the maximum leave accumulation permitted by law shall be credited to a separate leave account for the employee and shall be available for use by the employee within the time limits prescribed by regulations of the Office of Personnel Management. Leave credited under this paragraph but unused and still available to the employee under the regulations prescribed by the Office shall be included in the lump-sum payment under section 5551 or 5552 (1) of this title but may not be retained to the credit of the employee under section 5552 (2) of this title.
(3)
(A) For the purpose of this subsection, the closure of, and any realignment with respect to, an installation of the Department of Defense pursuant to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note ) during any period, the closure of an installation of the Department of Defense in the Republic of Panama in accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, and the closure of any other installation of the Department of Defense, during the period beginning on October 1, 1992, and ending on December 31, 1997, shall be deemed to create an exigency of the public business and any leave that is lost by an employee of such installation by operation of this section (regardless of whether such leave was scheduled) shall be restored to the employee and shall be credited and available in accordance with paragraph (2).
(B) For the purpose of subparagraph (A), the term “realignment” means a base realignment (as defined in subsection (e)(3) of section 2687 of title 10) that meets the requirements of subsection (a)(2) of such section.
(4)
(A) For the purpose of this subsection, service of a Department of Defense emergency essential employee in a combat zone is an exigency of the public business for that employee. Any leave that, by reason of such service, is lost by the employee by operation of this section (regardless of whether such leave was scheduled) shall be restored to the employee and shall be credited and available in accordance with paragraph (2).
(B) As used in subparagraph (A)—
(i) the term “Department of Defense emergency essential employee” means an employee of the Department of Defense who is designated under section 1580 of title 10 as an emergency essential employee; and
(ii) the term “combat zone” has the meaning given such term in section 112(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(e) Annual leave otherwise accruable after June 30, 1960, which is lost by operation of this section because of administrative error and which is not credited under subsection (d)(2) of this section because the employee is separated before the error is discovered, is subject to credit and liquidation by lump-sum payment only if a claim therefor is filed within 3 years immediately following the date of discovery of the error. Payment shall be made by the agency of employment when the lump-sum payment provisions of section 5551 of this title last became applicable to the employee at the rate of basic pay in effect on the date the lump-sum provisions became applicable.
(f)
(1) This subsection applies with respect to annual leave accrued by an individual while serving in—
(A) a position in the Senior Executive Service;
(B) a position in the Senior Foreign Service;
(C) a position in the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service;
(D) a position in the Senior Cryptologic Executive Service;
(E) a position in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Service;
(F) a position to which section 5376 applies;
(G) a position designated under section 1607 (a) of title 10 as an Intelligence Senior Level position; or
(H)  [1] a position in the Library of Congress the compensation for which is set at a rate equal to the annual rate of basic pay payable for positions at level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314.
(H)  [1] a position in the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division at the rank of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief, or Chief.
(2) For purposes of applying any limitation on accumulation under this section with respect to any annual leave described in paragraph (1)—
(A) “30 days” in subsection (a) shall be deemed to read “90 days”; and
(B) “45 days” in subsection (b) shall be deemed to read “90 days”.

[1] So in original. Two subpars. (H) have been enacted.