Federal employees who scheduled “use-or-lose” annual leave at agencies affected by the partial government shutdown can have that time restored, according to a new memo released Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Personnel who scheduled their leave prior to November 24, 2018, are entitled to have the scheduled leave restored.
“As long as the leave was properly scheduled in advance, agencies must restore any annual leave that was forfeited because of the lapse in appropriations–regardless of whether the affected employees were furloughed or excepted from the furlough,” the memo, written by OPM Acting Director Margaret Weichert, says.
However, not all employees will see their scheduled leave restored.
“We remind agencies, however, that any previously restored annual leave that was due to expire at the end of the 2018 leave year … and was subsequently forfeited, may not be restored again–even if the forfeiture was due to the lapse in appropriations,” the memo notes.