Employees who had an excess of 240 annual leave hours by the end of the leave year, may be eligible to have their annual leave restored.
To be considered for leave restoration, an employee must be able to show that the initial leave request(s) was approved in writing on or before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year.
Restoration of forfeited annual leave occurs in certain situations when an employee can demonstrate that they were unable to take scheduled annual leave during the leave year due to public exigency, administrative error, or illness. Restored Leave must be used within two years.
Understanding Restoration of Leave
Restoration of forfeited leave is available only for annual leave that meets ALL of these required conditions:
| The leave was requested, scheduled, and approved in Quicktime, or in writing, prior to the 3rd biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year. | + | The leave was later canceled because of public exigency* or illness. | + | The leave could not be rescheduled before the end of the leave year. |
*Public Exigency Example:
- On November 1, 2025, an employee submits a written request for 72 hours of annual leave to be used the last two pay periods of the leave year.
- However, due to an unexpected project, the employee’s scheduled annual leave request is canceled, and they are required to work to complete the project.
- IBC determines that the project constitutes an exigency of the public business.
- The employee forfeits the 72 hours of annual leave.
- Since their annual leave was canceled because of an exigency of the public business, the requirements for the restoration of forfeited annual leave are met. 6. The agency restores their forfeited annual leave usually by end of March or April.
To learn more about Restored Leave and see other examples of restored leave requests, please click on the OPM Restored Leave Fact Sheet.