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Applying Restored Annual Leave in Connection with the Termination of the COVID-19 National Emergency and Instructions

MEMORANDUM

DATE: July 31, 2023
TO: FPPS User Group Representatives
FROM: Christine Zertuche-Rocha, Chief, Payroll Operations Division
SUBJECT:  Applying Restored Annual Leave in Connection with the Termination of the COVID-19 National Emergency and Instructions

Please share the following information with the Office of Human Resources (HR) at your agency. Specifically, please share this information with Human Capital Officers, Human Resources Officers, and servicing HR office team members.

On August 10, 2020, Office Personnel Management (OPM) published an interim final rule that provided regulations for employees who would forfeit annual leave in excess of the maximum annual leave allowable carryover because of their work to support the nation during a national emergency. This regulation states that employees will have their excess annual leave deemed to have been scheduled in advance and subject to leave restoration.

Per the guidance (attachment 1) issued by OPM on May 11, 2023, the COVID-19 national emergency exigency ended on April 10, 2023. The guidance advises that an agency may need to take additional action in connection with the termination of the COVID-19 national emergency on April 10, 2023, as follows:

  • If your agency did not have any employees covered under this national emergency, no action is required, and you can disregard this memo.
  • If an agency had employees whose coverage under the ended COVID-19 national emergency exigency and does not determine that those employees are covered by an ongoing exigency as described in § 630.310(h):
    • The agency would need to consolidate all restored annual leave accounts at that time, as required by § 630.310(e), and determine the applicable time limit for using the consolidated restored annual leave under § 630.310(d) (See Table 1 at the end of this document). Under § 630.310(g), an agency may exempt such employees from the requirement to schedule annual leave in advance (as normally required under § 630.308(a)) for this leave year (2023).
  • If the agency had employees whose coverage under the ended COVID-19 national emergency exigency, and determines those employees are covered by an ongoing exigency as described in § 630.310(h):
    • The agency must apply the provisions in § 630.310(h). For the entire period during which the ongoing exigency is in effect, the employee will not be subject to (1) time limits on the usage of any restored leave to the employee’s credit and (2) the advance scheduling requirements in § 630.308(a). When the ongoing exigency ends, all restored leave to the employee’s credit will be consolidated at that time and made subject to a single time limit, as provided in § 630.310(h)(2). (Note: Under § 630.310(h)(4), an ongoing exigency will automatically expire after 12 months unless the agency request and the OPM Director approves, a time-limited waiver based on a critical agency need for the services of the covered employees.)

As the national emergency exigency ended on April 10, 2023, the expiration date for the restored leave would be April 10, 2025. That date is in the leave year (LY) 2025, which will begin on January 12, 2025, and end on January 10, 2026. Thus, if the employee’s excess balance is 416 hours or less, the “use by” date would be the end of LY 2025, January 10, 2026.

The agency is in the best position to determine for whom the restored leave requests submitted applied to the COVID-19 exigency. As a reminder, if any employees are serviced by a Servicing Personnel Office (SPO) outside your Bureau, it is the agency's point of contact’s responsibility to coordinate with the SPO for any restored leave.

In place of individual approvals being sent to the Payroll Operations Division (POD), and to ease manual processing, we will again utilize an automated process to adjust the expiration date of the restored leave related to the termination of the COVID-19 national emergency. The agencies will submit a spreadsheet to the POD in the same manner as the one created for leave restoration. Attachment 2 (Spreadsheet layout) reiterates the standard guidance previously provided for leave restoration and identifies additional columns required to be submitted to the POD.

While agencies generally have their restored leave well documented and tracked, the Datamart can be a good tool to help identify employees who still have restored leave balance or who may potentially had COVID-19 related restored leave expire at the beginning of the 2023 LY.

  • Datamart users with the Author role can modify the Combined File – Leave – Annual Forfeited analysis as shown in the user group meeting to obtain current Restored Leave Balances
  • Create their own analysis.
  • Authors may utilize the XML in attachment 3 (Combined File XML) or 4 (Combined History File XML) to research employee Restored Leave balances.
    • Attachment 3 uses the Combined File to identify balances as of the last pay period calculated.
    • Attachment 4 uses the Combined History file to get a snapshot in time and potentially identify employees whose restored leave has expired (i.e., run for pay period 2023-01 to identify 2020 LY restorations that may have already expired).

Our expectation is, when the approved restored leave data is returned to us for processing, the agencies have done the appropriate certification approvals, in accordance with all applicable restoration guidance/regulations. Agencies will need to provide a statement that authorizes us to extend the restored leave expiration date, and the approved data to process, no later than September 30, 2023. Spreadsheets not returned by September 30, 2023, or in an improper format where corrections are requested of the agency, may take up to two (2) to three (3) additional pay periods to process and will be processed after all other files received on time are processed.

As a result of the above process, agencies must not submit the A-34 form, Request for Restoration of Forfeited Annual Leave requests for manual processing to the Payroll Operations Branch. If the restored leave expiration date needs to be extended for individuals as a result of pending separations, transfers, or retirements, prior to the agency file being processed, please submit the individuals in the same spreadsheet format to Scott Jackson, at the email provided below indicating that this is an advance submission.

Note: To avoid duplicate requests for restored leave expiration extension being received, please do not include those individuals on the larger agency spreadsheet(s) submission.

Table 1:

“Use by” dates for full-time employees whose coverage under a § 630.310 national emergency exigency ended during Leave Year 2023 (the period 1-12-2023 through 1-10-2024)* ;

Balance of excess hours (of consolidated restored annual leave) “Use by” date
1-416 End of LY 2025 (Jan. 10, 2026)
417-624 End of LY 2026 (Jan. 9, 2027)
625-832 End of LY 2027 (Jan.8, 2028)
833-1040 End of LY 2028 (Jan. 6, 2029)

* This date range is based on dates for which the 2-year anniversary will fall in LY 2025, which begins on 1-12-2025 and ends on 1-10-2026.

Employees should not contact the Customer Support Center or the POD, they should only contact their SPO. Some Frequently Asked Questions are addressed in attachment 5, otherwise, FPPS User Group Representatives should feel free to contact the below individuals with any specific questions:

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