Idaho Bulletin 360-5-1

October 22, 2004

SUBJECT:  PER - Attendance and Leave

TO:  All Employees, NRCS, Idaho

Purpose.  To communicate policy regarding use and restoration of annual leave

Expiration Date.  September 30, 2005

Employees are reminded that a maximum of 240 hours of annual leave may be carried over from one leave year to the next.  All “use or lose” annual leave (annual leave over 240 hours) must be used by the end of the leave year (January 8, 2005) or the employee will lose this leave.  This “use or lose” annual leave must be scheduled and approved in writing no later than three pay periods before the end of the leave year (November 27, 2004) in order for forfeited annual leave to be considered for restoration.  Forfeited annual leave may be restored only under the following three conditions:

• Administrative error.
• Annual leave was scheduled in advance and approved in writing but its use was denied because of exigency of public business.  An exigency must be dated and include a beginning and ending date, a description of the emergency situation, and be signed by either the State Conservationist or the Regional Assistant Chief.    An official cannot make the exigency in the immediate organizational unit affected by the decision (i.e., the supervisor).  Employees seeking restoration of annual leave due to exigency must provide proof of exigency and written documentation showing that the forfeited leave was scheduled and approved in advance in accordance with regulations.  Note that there are no current exigency situations in Idaho.
• Annual leave was scheduled in advance and approved in writing but use was precluded because of illness or injury.

Restoration of annual leave may not be requested until forfeiture after the end of the leave year, but no later than April 1, 2005.  In order for forfeited annual leave to be restored, the scheduled leave must be canceled, or disapproved, in writing.  This can be done by memorandum to the employee indicating that the scheduled leave is being canceled, or by indicating “disapproved” on the SF-71 if the leave is not approved when the employee submits the request for annual leave.  There are other documentation requirements, as well.  If you are submitting a request for restoration of forfeited annual leave, please contact Human Resources in the Idaho State Office, Boise, for a list of items to include with your request.

Completed leave restoration requests should be sent to Human Resources for review for accuracy and adherence to policy.  Leave restoration requests for employees not reporting directly to the State Conservationist may be approved by the State Conservationist.   Leave restoration requests by those individuals supervised by the State Conservationist must be approved by the Regional Assistant Chief.  

/s/                                           
RICHARD SIMS                                         
State Conservationist               

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