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Career Opportunities | |
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| Strategic Management of Human Capital | Employment and Benefits | |
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Attachment 2 to OPM Director's Memorandum EMERGENCY LEAVE TRANSFER PROGRAM
As directed by the President in his memorandum of August 12, 1998, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has established an emergency leave transfer program to permit an employee in any executive agency (as this term is defined in 5 U.S.C. 105) to transfer his or her unused annual leave to Federal employees adversely affected by the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The emergency leave transfer program applies only to "employees" as this term is defined in 5 U.S.C. 6331. Section 6391 of title 5, United States Code (as added by section 9004 of Public Law 105-18, June 12, 1997), provides that in the event of a major disaster or emergency, as declared by the President, that results in severe adverse effects for a substantial number of employees, the President may direct OPM to establish an emergency leave transfer program under which an employee in an executive agency may donate annual leave for transfer to employees of his or her agency or to employees in other agencies who are adversely affected by the emergency. The emergency leave transfer program permits employees to donate annual leave to employees who are affected by the declared emergency for personal needs or to care for a "family member" (as that term is defined in 5 CFR 630.902), including physical or mental illness, injury, or loss of life, as a result of the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 7, 1998. Employees approved as leave recipients under the emergency leave transfer program will be able to use donated annual leave without having to exhaust their own accrued and accumulated annual or sick leave. In addition, donated leave may be substituted retroactively (beginning no earlier than the date of the bombing, August 7, 1998) for any period of leave without pay used as a result of the emergency or to liquidate an indebtedness incurred by an employee for advanced annual or sick leave used as a result of the emergency. OPM will coordinate the Governmentwide transfer of leave from leave donors to leave recipients. Agencies will be responsible for determining the need for donated annual leave within their agencies, approving leave donors and/or leave recipients in their agencies, notifying OPM of the aggregate amount of donated annual leave available from their leave donors, estimating the amount of donated annual leave necessary to meet their leave recipients' needs, and distributing donated leave to approved leave recipients. EMERGENCY LEAVE TRANSFER COORDINATORS Each executive agency must identify an emergency leave transfer coordinator who will assist OPM in coordinating the transfer of leave from leave donors to approved leave recipients. The emergency leave transfer coordinator is responsible for notifying OPM that there is a need for donated annual leave and establishing procedures for-- (1) Quickly soliciting donations of annual leave from employees of your agency (e.g., by establishing and maintaining a list of leave donors and the amount of annual leave available); (2) Approving leave donors and leave recipients in your agency; (3) When requested, notifying OPM of the amount of donated annual leave that may be transferred from your agency;
(4) Identifying the amount of donated annual leave needed by your approved leave recipients; and (5) Transferring donated annual leave to approved leave recipients in your agency. For the immediate emergency, affected employees will be covered by workers' compensation benefits (for injuries) or granted excused absence. The emergency leave transfer program will be in place to assist approved leave recipients as the need for donated leave becomes known. When a Federal agency notifies OPM that it needs donated annual leave to meet the needs of employees affected by the bombings, OPM will alert the agency emergency leave transfer coordinators and facilitate the transfer of donated leave to the appropriate Federal agencies for transfer to approved leave recipients. The following information is provided to assist agencies in transferring donated annual leave to employees affected by the bombing of the U.S. embassies. OPM's Responsibilities OPM is responsible for coordinating with executive agencies affected by the emergency to determine whether there is a need for assistance. Once the need for donated annual leave has been established, OPM will maintain the emergency leave transfer program. The emergency leave transfer program will contain the aggregate amount of annual leave donated by emergency leave donors throughout the Government. OPM will-- (1) Notify all agencies of the need for donated annual leave; and (2) Coordinate the transfer of donated annual leave from each agency to the emergency leave transfer program. Agencies' Responsibilities Each Federal agency is responsible for establishing and administering procedures to permit the voluntary transfer of annual leave to employees adversely affected by the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. An employee may volunteer to become an emergency leave donor by submitting a written request to his or her employing agency that a specified number of hours of his or her accrued annual leave be transferred from his or her annual leave account to the emergency leave transfer program. The minimum amount of annual leave an emergency leave donor may contribute in a leave year is 1 hour, and the maximum amount is 104 hours. (If the amount of annual leave donated to the emergency leave transfer program is not sufficient, OPM will consider changing these limitations.) Each Federal agency will-- (1) Notify employees of the need for donated annual leave; (2) Approve emergency leave donors and debit the amount of annual leave donated to the emergency leave transfer program from each emergency leave donor's annual leave account; (3) Maintain records on the amount of leave donated by each emergency leave donor (for the purpose of restoring unused transferred annual leave); and (4) Report to OPM the aggregate amount of annual leave donated by the agency's emergency leave donors. An emergency leave donor may not contribute annual leave for transfer to a specific emergency leave recipient. However, an employee may continue to donate his or her unused annual leave to a specific leave recipient under the separate authority for voluntary leave transfer in 5 U.S.C. 6332, but must follow the rules governing that program. OPM's Responsibilities OPM is responsible for facilitating the transfer of donated annual leave to affected Federal agencies. OPM will-- (1) Determine the amount of annual leave in the emergency leave transfer program available for transfer to agency leave recipients; and (2) Notify each affected agency of the amount of donated annual leave that will be credited to the agency for transfer to its approved emergency leave recipient(s). Agencies' Responsibilities Each agency will accept written applications from employees who have been adversely affected by the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (or from the employee's personal representative) to become emergency leave recipients. Each application must include a statement describing the employee's need for leave from the emergency leave transfer program. An emergency leave recipient may receive a maximum of 240 hours of donated annual leave at any one time from the emergency leave transfer program. The 240-hour limit is not a guaranteed entitlement to leave recipients. Each agency must make a determination based on evidence that is administratively acceptable to the agency as to how much leave each leave recipient may receive. Since agencies do not actually receive additional funds for the donated annual leave, they may wish to transfer donated leave in increments to manage costs. Each affected agency will-- (1) Take action to approve or disapprove a request to become an emergency leave recipient based on evidence administratively acceptable to the agency. The agency must make this determination based on whether the potential leave recipient, or his or her family member, is or was directly affected by the bombings (e.g., because of loss of life, serious injury, or other medical or mental illness). "Family member" is defined in 5 CFR 630.902. (2) Determine the amount of donated annual leave to be transferred to each emergency leave recipient. (The amount may vary according to individual needs.) (3) Notify OPM of the total number of approved emergency leave recipients and the aggregate amount of donated annual leave needed for transfer from the emergency leave transfer program. (4) Credit the annual leave account of each approved emergency leave recipient with the amount of donated leave transferred. An emergency leave recipient may use donated annual leave only for purposes related to the bombing of the U.S. embassies. Donated annual leave may be substituted retroactively (beginning on the date of the bombing, August 7, 1998) for any period of leave without pay used as a result of the emergency or to liquidate an indebtedness incurred by the emergency leave recipient for advanced annual or sick leave used as a result of the emergency. However, donated annual leave cannot be substituted retroactively for annual leave, sick leave, or excused absence previously used during the emergency. While an employee is using donated annual leave transferred from the emergency leave transfer program, he or she will continue to accrue annual and sick leave at the same rate, subject to the limitations imposed by 5 U.S.C. 6304(a), (b), (c), and (f). Donated annual leave may not be-- (1) Included in a lump-sum payment under 5 U.S.C. 5551 or 5552; (2) Recredited under 5 U.S.C. 6306 upon reemployment by a Federal agency; or (3) Used to establish initial eligibility for immediate retirement or to acquire eligibility to continue health benefits into retirement under 5 U.S.C. 6302(g). The emergency leave transfer program will terminate-- (1) When OPM determines, after consultation with affected agencies, that the disaster or emergency has terminated; (2) When the emergency leave recipient's Federal service terminates; (3) At the end of the biweekly pay period in which the emergency leave recipient, or his or her personal representative, notifies the employing agency that he or she is no longer affected by the emergency; (4) At the end of the biweekly pay period in which the employing agency determines, after written notice from the agency and an opportunity for the emergency leave recipient, or his or her personal representative, to answer orally or in writing, that the emergency leave recipient is no longer affected by the emergency; or (5) At the end of the biweekly pay period in which the emergency leave recipient's employing agency receives notice that OPM has approved an application for disability retirement for the emergency leave recipient under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees' Retirement System. Donated annual leave that is not used by the emergency leave recipients will be returned to the donating agencies for restoration to its emergency leave donors. The amount of donated leave returned will be proportional to the amount of annual leave donated by the agency to the emergency leave transfer program. Each agency is responsible for determining the amount of returned annual leave to be restored to each of its currently employed emergency leave donors based on agency records of the amount of annual leave donated by the leave donor. An emergency leave donor may elect to have restored annual leave credited to his or her annual leave account in the current leave year or as of the first day of the first leave year beginning after the date of election. FORMS FOR RECEIVING/DONATING/TRANSFERRING LEAVE Attachment A provides three forms (OPM Forms 1637, 1638, and 1639) that may be used for receiving donated annual leave, donating annual leave, or transferring annual leave under the emergency leave transfer program established to assist Federal employees adversely affected by bombing of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We believe these forms will be very useful in administering this program. Last Modified: 2:38:10 PM on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 |
