What is the Voluntary Leave Bank program (VLBP)?
What are the key terms used in the Leave Bank program?
How can I become a Leave Bank member?
How can I become a Leave Bank recipient?
How do I submit my application?
What are the limits on contributions?
What happens to my contributions?
How much emergency leave can I receive?
How may I use an award of emergency leave?
What are the limits on leave accrual while I'm in a shared leave status?
What forms do I need to participate?
How do I appeal a denial of Leave Bank membership and/or emergency leave by the Leave Bank Board?
Public Law 103-103, the "Federal Employees Leave Sharing Amendments Act of 1993", dated October 8, 1993, established a permanent leave sharing program for Federal employees. The leave sharing programs authorized by this law are the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (see OPM regulations in 5 CFR Part 630, Subpart I), and the Voluntary Leave Bank Program (see OPM regulations in 5 CFR Part 630, Subpart J).
In early 1989, personnel offices throughout the Department of Justice implemented the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) for their employees. In 1994, the Department established a Voluntary Leave Bank Program (VLBP) to work in conjunction with the existing leave transfer programs in the Department. The Leave Bank accepts membership contributions of annual leave, and makes that leave available to qualified members who experience medical emergencies.
An Employee is an active, on-board employee of the Department of Justice, except for employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. Participating employees may be full-time or part-time. Intermittent employees do not qualify for participation as Leave Bank members or as leave recipients because they do not earn or accrue annual leave.
A Medical Emergency is a medical condition of an employee or a family member of an employee that is likely to require an employee's absence from duty for a prolonged period of time and to result in a substantial loss of income to the employee because of the unavailability of paid leave.
A Family Member is a person related to the employee as follows: spouse, parents of the spouse, children and their spouses, parents, brothers and sisters and their spouses, and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.
The Leave Bank is a pooled fund of annual leave established by the Department under 5 CFR 630.1003.
A Leave Bank Member is a leave contributor who has contributed, during an open enrollment period (or individual enrollment period, as applicable) of the current leave year at least the minimum amount of annual leave established by the Leave Bank Board.
A Leave Contributor is an employee who contributes annual leave to the Leave Bank. Such contributions may be made at any time during the leave year within the established limitations.
A Leave Recipient is a Leave Bank member whose application to receive contributions of annual leave (emergency leave) from the Leave Bank has been approved. All members who are approved leave recipients will be considered to be members of the Leave Bank for the duration of the leave year in which their medical emergency terminates.
A Leave Sharing Program Coordinator is an agency representative responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Leave Bank for his or her component. Leave Sharing Program Coordinators provide information, advice, guidance, and assistance, and distribute forms to employees.
Shared Leave Status is the administrative status of an employee while the employee is using transferred (emergency) leave.
Standard Form 71 (SF-71), the application for leave, has been designated for documentation of employee annual leave contributions to the Department's Leave Bank.
A Completed Application is the application of an employee who wishes to become a leave recipient.
Available Paid Leave means the categories and amounts of leave that must be expected to be exhausted before a leave recipient may be approved.
The Open Enrollment Period is a nation-wide campaign, lasting at least 30 calendar days, that is scheduled by the Leave Bank Board for the purpose of providing employees the opportunity to become Leave Bank members.
The Leave Bank provides income protection for employees who experience a personal medical emergency or a medical emergency of a family member which causes them to exhaust their available paid leave and to be absent in what would otherwise be a LWOP status. Employees experiencing medical emergencies may receive leave from the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) and the Voluntary Leave Bank Program (VLBP) simultaneously, provided that they meet the requirements of each program.
Under the Leave Bank program, Leave Bank members have a central bank of leave to draw upon in time of need. Donors can give leave either to the general fund or request that their donated leave be given to specific recipients. The Leave Bank is administered by a three-member Leave Bank Board at the Departmental level. The Leave Bank Board consists of two members designated by the Assistant Attorney General for Administration, and one member designated by a labor organization. All members of the Leave Bank Board have back-ups.
To become a Leave Bank member, you must contribute annual leave to the Leave Bank during an open enrollment period. The Leave Bank Board will establish at least one open enrollment period each year. An open enrollment period will last at least 30 calendar days. Individual enrollment periods are established on an individual basis for employees who were unavailable during the open enrollment periods. Examples would be employees who enter on duty, transfer in from other agencies, or return from extended leave following an open enrollment period. Individual enrollment periods will be thirty (30) calendar days in duration following the employee's entrance on duty or return to duty. If a leave contributor contributes at least the minimum amount of annual leave during an open enrollment period (which is normally held at the end of the leave year), he or she will become a member for the leave year following the open season period. If a leave contributor contributes at least the minimum amount of annual leave during an individual enrollment period, he or she will become a member for the remainder of the leave year the donation was made.
Contributions are made by completing an SF-71, or a form developed by your component and approved by the Leave Bank Board. The minimum contribution required to become a Leave Bank member is one pay period of accrued annual leave (4, 6, or 8 hours) per enrollment period.
The Leave Bank Board may raise or lower the minimum contribution, at its discretion, to meet the needs of the Bank membership. Maximum limits on contributions may be waived under certain circumstances.
Only a Leave Bank member may apply to become a Leave Bank recipient. In addition, to be eligible for Leave Bank recipient status, you must be a member of the Leave Bank at the time of the medical emergency. There has never been any provision in the Program which permits an employee, when he or she experiences a medical emergency, to donate leave and become a member of the Leave Bank.
Applicants must provide the following information in writing:
If you are incapable of making application, a personal representative may make written application on your behalf. To the extent possible, information in each application will be treated confidentially by those involved in administering the program. The completed application may be submitted at any time during a medical emergency or prior to an extended period of absence that is projected to occur as a result of a medical emergency (e.g., surgery scheduled after a physical examination that will require an extended recuperative period).
Completed applications must be received no later than 5 working days following the termination of a medical emergency. (You must be a Leave Bank member at the time you submit an application, or you must qualify for an individual enrollment period.) The 5-day limitation may be waived in individual cases, provided that you or your representative request a waiver in writing. The request must describe the situation which prevented the timely submission of the application and why it was beyond your control. The final decision on such requests rests solely with the Leave Bank Board. In any case, no applications will be considered 45 working days beyond the termination of the medical emergency. You will receive written notification of the action taken on the application within 10 working days following receipt of the completed application.
You must submit a completed application (WordPerfect® 6/7/8/9 format) to your component's Leave Sharing Program Coordinator.
All Leave Bank contributions, whether contributed for individual membership or to a specific leave recipient, will be deposited into the Leave Bank. The Leave Bank Board will not return a contribution to a contributor once the contribution has been received by the Leave Bank support staff.
You must be approved as a leave recipient by the Leave Bank Board before you can receive an award of leave from the Leave Bank. All or any portion of an award of leave may be applied to periods of advanced leave (leave indebtedness), periods of LWOP, or to current and future absences that are a direct result of the medical emergency. The approval and use of emergency leave is subject to all of the conditions and requirements stipulated in the Department's leave administration order, DOJ 1630.1B (Available on the DOJ Intranet). Emergency leave may be:
A Leave Bank member may contribute additional leave at any time during the leave year within the limitations on contributions. An employee (nonmember) may contribute annual leave to the Leave Bank at any time during the leave year. However, if contributions are outside an open or individual enrollment period, the contribution will not entitle the employee to membership in the Leave Bank. In addition, contributions must be within the stated limitations. Employees may also contribute restored annual leave to the Leave Bank. Such contributions must be clearly identified as restored annual leave on the SF-71.
Leave received under the Leave Bank program is dependent upon the level of leave in the Bank. The Leave Bank Board will constantly monitor the quantity of leave in the Leave Bank in order to properly oversee the disposition of leave deposited into the Bank and to ensure that a sufficient quantity is available to meet the projected needs. If, as a result of the Leave Bank Board's monitoring of the Leave Bank, it is determined that there is an inadequate supply of leave in the Bank, the Leave Bank Board may schedule an emergency open enrollment period, or increase the minimum contribution to the Leave Bank for the following year. If a recipient's medical emergency is ongoing, and he or she has received the maximum amount of leave the Board has set, he or she may not reapply for additional leave within a 12-month period. If a recipient's medical emergency is ongoing, and he or she has received less than the maximum amount of leave set by the Board, he or she may reapply for additional leave, which combined with the previous award will equal the maximum amount of leave set by the Board.
A leave recipient may use emergency leave only for the purpose of the approved medical emergency. Even though you may qualify as a leave recipient, your absence from work must still be approved by your supervisor. It is important that you keep your supervisor informed about the status of your medical emergency. Your supervisor is responsible for advising the personnel office about your situation as a leave recipient.
When your medical emergency ends, your accrued leave (annual and/or sick) will be released from your separate accounts and transferred to your regular annual and sick leave accounts, if applicable. If a recipient has received leave through the Leave Bank or the Leave Transfer Program and the Leave Bank, simultaneously, any remaining emergency leave (only those hours equal to the number of hours awarded by the Board) will be returned to the Leave Bank. An award of emergency leave may be used for absences necessitated by the approved medical emergency or substituted retroactively for periods of leave without pay.
In order to maintain balances of leave sufficient to meet ongoing requests for grants from Department employees, it is the practice of the Department of Justice Leave Bank Board not to make grants of donated leave in cases where employees have not had, or will not have, a loss of pay. Leave donations are intended to help employees avoid circumstances in which they might otherwise suffer a loss of pay due to a medical emergency, but are not intended to repay advanced leave.
Employees considering requests that agencies advance them leave should be aware that unless they actually lose pay the Leave Bank Board would not approve a grant of leave to them. Requests by employees for advanced leave may not, therefore, be in their best interest and such employees might want to consider other alternatives.
Emergency leave may not be:
While you are in a shared leave status, you may not accrue more than 40 hours each of annual and sick leave, as appropriate. Once you have accrued 40 hours each of annual and sick leave, you do not continue to accrue leave. The accrued leave is placed in separate accounts and is released to you when your medical emergency ends. If you exhaust all your emergency leave, your accrued annual and sick leave held in your separate accounts will be made available for your use. If you continue in a shared leave status after you have exhausted all your emergency leave and the leave held in your separate accounts (less than 40 hours), you may continue to accrue leave in your separate accounts only those additional hours which will equal 40 hours each of annual and sick leave.
An employee may make voluntary written application to the Leave Bank Board to become a leave contributor. To make a contribution or apply for membership in the Leave Bank, you must submit a completed Request for Leave or Approved Absence (SF-71), which can be accessed through Informs on your computer, or a form developed by your component and approved by the Leave Bank Board.
Employees using the SF-71 should fill in the following Items:
The membership fee for one leave year is set by the Leave Bank Board for a particular enrollment period. The Leave Bank Board may raise or lower this fee, at its discretion, to meet the needs of the Leave Bank membership. All membership and non-membership contributions will be deposited in the Leave Bank.
Employees can become Leave Bank members only during open season; however, you may, if you wish, contribute extra hours beyond your basic membership fee to the Leave Bank any time during the year. Contributions outside an open or individual enrollment period will not entitle you to membership in the Leave Bank. You may request that your donation be given to any approved leave recipient other than your immediate supervisor. If the recipient's medical emergency ends, any unused leave is restored to the Leave Bank. All applications (membership, contributions, and/or specific donations) should be submitted to your Leave Sharing Coordinator via your timekeeper.
The Leave Bank is not an entitlement, but a voluntary membership program. Prospective members donate a specified minimum amount of leave to the Bank during Open Season after which they become members. If they fail to donate the leave, miss the Open Season, or otherwise not meet the requirements of membership, they do not become members.
In order to address the needs of individuals who were potential members but for whatever reasons (in a medical emergency during Open Season, administrative error, etc.) were unable to enroll in the Bank, the Board has determinded that, should these individuals have a medical emergency as defined by Office of Personnel Management regulations, it would consider a petition for waiver of membership. Based upon their explanation of need and reasons why they were unable to join the Bank, the Board would consider granting membership. This may include a waiver of the required membership contribution for the current membership year. The Board will consider only individual requests for waivers of membership, and will decide each request on a case-by-case basis.
If the Leave Bank Board denies your request for emergency leave, you will receive a letter from the Board explaining the reasons for the denial. If you feel that the Board has overlooked some important information regarding your request, you may appeal the Board's decision in writing. Your statement should include relevant information about why your case should be reconsidered, especially any medical information that may have been omitted from your request, and must be signed. Your case will be presented to the Board again for its review. You will again be notified, in writing, of the Board's decision regarding your case.
To appeal any Leave Bank Board decision, write to the Board at the following address:
DOJ Leave Bank Board
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1110
National Place Building
Washington, DC 20530
Its decision on any appeal is final.
Last Updated September 23, 2008
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